How To Install WordPress with Fantastico

This is Part 5 in the series, How Do I get a Blog?

You’ve bought a domain name, a web host, you’ve inspected the cPanel, and you’ve issued your name servers for your domain. Now you’ve hit the big time– time to install THE BLOG!

By far, the most popular blogging authoring tool is WordPress. There are other tools out there: Joomla, Injader, Drupal, b2Evolution, and others. WordPress, however, is the largest. It’s got a large community built around it, with loads of themes, plugins, tweaks, and more. Plus, it’s a beautiful piece of software.

There are two ways to install WordPress: manually, or using a scripting program called Fantastico that will do all the dirty work. Guess which one we’re going to use?

Fantastico is a common WordPress installer. Depending on your host and on Fantastico, you may not get the latest WordPress software installed. In the video I made, you’ll notice that this Fantastico offers only WordPress 2.8.4. It is STRONGLY advised that you update WordPress to the most current version after you have installed it. To upgrade your WordPress version, see my tutorial here: How to Upgrade Your WordPress Blog.

In just a few clicks, you will be blogging on your WordPress blog. I hope it is helpful to you. I also have a text version instruction, below.

Once you have logged into your cPanel at your web host, scroll down and look for Fantastico. Usually the icon is a big blue smiley face, some web hosts may have it as something else. Click the link and it will load the Fantastico installation page.

You can see that you can install all sorts of stuff using Fantastico. Look for the “Blogs” section, and you’ll see “WordPress” in the list. Click the link to start the WordPress installation.

The next page will load, and you will see a link for “New Installation.” In parentheses, you’ll see which WordPress version is available. At the time, Fantastico was able to install WordPress 2.8.4. Since then (and that was only a short time ago, as WordPress seems to undergo lots of upgrades), WordPress 2.9.1 is available. More on that later. It’s no problem installing the 2.8.4 version of WordPress that Fantastico offers. Go ahead and click “New Installation.”

The next page has all the options for you to fill in.

Fantastico needs to know on which domain you want to install WordPress. If you have only one domain, the choice is easy– and therefore, the first box should be already filled in with your domain name.

In the second box, Fantastico is asking into which directory you want this WordPress installation. Leave this box empty; Fantastico will automatically create a new directory (naming it after your domain; for example, Fantastico created a directory named “theoldergeek” where WordPress was installed and where all my related WordPress files (such as themes and images) will go.

The third and fourth boxes ask you to create an Administrator username and Password. I recommend that you make these complex. Please don’t use the default “admin” or “username.” Hackers look to crack WordPress accounts with easy-to-cipher names such as those. You can choose a variety of hexadecimal characters for both username and password: letter, numbers, and symbols such as ^&@(%!”>. Important: REMEMBER the data. You will need it to sign in to your WordPress blog, later.

Next is the Base configuration. These things can be changed within WordPress after you’ve installed it; but if you can, go ahead and create it now. The admin nickname will be the name that people will know you by on your blog. “Admin” is pretty impersonal. “The Ultimate Blogging God” is, um, interesting. You can add more nicknames later through the WordPress options.

Enter an email for your admin email. Usually, the web host provides an email for the domain, but I rarely use it (I prefer to use my own personal email accounts, rather than have to log in to access web mail or have it forwarded). Do whatever, but be sure to enter an email address. If you ever forget your password, it will be sent using this email. And if you receive comments notifications, they will arrive via this email. Again, you can change the email address through the WordPress options page, later.

Site name is easy: type in the name of your blog. I do try to make my domain names and site name match, to avoid confusion and “create a brand.” It would be more difficult for people to find me if I called my blog The Older Geek for my domain name that was http://rebecca23456.blog.technologystuff.com. Just doesn’t have that ring to it.

Finally, you may enter a description. You can leave this blank if you wish (I usually do, too). Again, you can enter it or change it once we’re in WordPress, later. Most WordPress themes use the description as a small subtitle underneath your blog title.

Once you have filled this in, it’s time to make the leap! INSTALL WORDPRESS!

The next page will have confirmation data, showing you into which directory WordPress was installed. Go on to the next page by clicking “Finish Installation.” The next page shows the configuration data that you entered. You’ll see your username and password. You can have this information sent to you by email for safe keeping if you wish. Enter it and click “Send Email.”

Now you can go back to the Overview, where you can see the link to visit your new website. Or, you can just open your browser tab and type in your domain name. You will see your new blog with it’s shiny new WordPress installation. (The default theme is the WordPress “Kubrick” theme. It’s very utilitarian. You may decide to install additional themes to design your blog and make it reflect your blogging style or niche.) Look for the “Meta” category in the sidebar. Click on the link that says “Login.”

This will take you to the WordPress Admin Page. I recommend that you bookmark it– not all themes will have the Meta “Login” in link. Enter your admin username and password… and you’re in to the WordPress dashboard! Congrats, you’re a WordPress user!

<<< Return to Part 4: How To Issue Name Servers For Your Domain.