WordPress installation: complete guide for beginners

WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, and for good reason. The platform is user-friendly, flexible, and suitable for websites of any size. In this guide, we explain step by step how to install WordPress on your hosting.

Method 1: The 1-click installer (recommended for beginners)

Most modern hosting providers offer a 1-click installer, allowing you to have WordPress running within minutes.

Step-by-step:

1. Log in to your control panel (DirectAdmin, cPanel, or Plesk)
2. Find the app installer (Softaculous, Installatron, or similar)
3. Select WordPress
4. Fill in the details:
   • Installation URL
   • Site name
   • Admin username (NOT "admin")
   • Strong password
   • Email address
5. Click install
6. Done! Log in at yoursite.com/wp-admin

Providers with 1-click WordPress:

• TransIP
• Antagonist
• Vimexx
• mijn.host
• Hostnet

Method 2: Manual installation

For more control or when 1-click isn't available.

What you need:

• FTP client (FileZilla)
• Text editor
• phpMyAdmin access
• WordPress download

Step-by-step:

1. Download WordPress Go to wordpress.org and download the latest version.

2. Create database

• Log in to phpMyAdmin
• Create new database
• Note: database name, username, password

3. Upload files

• Extract WordPress zip
• Upload all files via FTP to public_html
• Wait for upload to complete

4. Run installation

• Visit your domain in browser
• Select language
• Enter database details
• Fill in site information
• Create admin account

5. Complete setup

• Remove installation files if prompted
• Log in to dashboard
• Start customizing!

Method 3: Local installation (for development)

Install WordPress on your computer for development.

Using LocalWP (recommended)

1. Download LocalWP
2. Create new site
3. Automatic setup
4. Access at yoursite.local

Using XAMPP/MAMP

1. Install XAMPP (Windows) or MAMP (Mac)
2. Start Apache and MySQL
3. Create database in phpMyAdmin
4. Install WordPress in htdocs folder

Post-installation checklist

After installing WordPress:

Security

• Delete default "admin" user
• Use strong password
• Install security plugin
• Change database prefix (if possible)

Settings

• Set correct timezone
• Configure permalinks (/%postname%/)
• Set site title and tagline
• Configure email settings

Essential plugins

• Security: Wordfence or Sucuri
• SEO: Yoast SEO or Rank Math
• Caching: LiteSpeed Cache or WP Rocket
• Backup: UpdraftPlus

Cleanup

• Delete "Hello World" post
• Delete sample page
• Remove unused themes
• Remove unused plugins

Troubleshooting

"Error establishing database connection"

• Check database credentials in wp-config.php
• Verify database exists
• Check database user permissions

White screen of death

• Enable debug mode
• Check for plugin conflicts
• Increase memory limit

Can't access wp-admin

• Clear browser cache
• Try incognito mode
• Check .htaccess file

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Find hosting with easy WordPress installation.