Manually Install WordPress
Learning how WordPress works helps build stable, fast and responsive websites. This guide is for people who would like to understand WordPress in more detail, if you would like to Install WordPress with a One-Click Installer please check our other guides
Understanding WordPress: Sites Files + Databases
There are two parts to a WordPress: Site Files and a Database. In straight forward terms the site files are editable text files and the database is a set of tables used to organize the contents of the website. These files on a web server can be found in public_html. The site files can be downloaded from wordpress.org and this guide provides step-by-step instructions:
Download WordPress Core Files
Upload WordPress Core Files via cPanel File Manager
Create a Database in cPanel
Configure wp-config File to use correct Database details
public_html/
Here is a list of the files that is included in the download from the wordpress.org/download page, the majority of the files are PHP scripts and this is the scripting language used to power WordPress
All of the themes, plugins and uploads are found in the wp-content/ directory and the database credentials are added to the wp-config.php file. You will notice there is no wp-config.php file and you would copy and rename the wp-config-sample.php to be the wp-config.php files
public_html/wp-content
When uploading themes, plugins and images they will be stored in the wp-content/ directory. Files can be uploaded directly to these folders using FTP
The folders above are the WordPress core files inside public_html/ and the contents of wp-content. The first step is downloading and uploading these files to the webservers document root. This guide uses cPanel, which is a popular and widely available webserver control panel. Overall this manual guide for installing WordPress would work universally across hosting platforms although the user interface may vary the core files in the document root are the same
How To Download WordPress Core Files
wordpress.org/download
The core files be downloaded directly from the WordPress.org Download page this will download them to your local machine and they can then be uploaded to a webserver
Upload WordPress Core to cPanel
1/ cPanel > File Manager
In cPanel all of the files are managed in File Manager, the easiest way to find this is by using the search bar at the top and searching for ‘file manager’ and selecting it from the drop down list
2/ File Manager > public_html/ > upload
File manager will open in a new tab, in the left hand directories list click on public_html/ and once inside the directory click on Upload in the top ribbon of options
3/ Select Zip File to Upload
File manager will open in a new tab, in the left hand directories list click on public_html/ and once inside the directory click on Upload in the top ribbon of options
4/ Go Back to File Listings
Once cPanel confirms the file has successfully been uploaded, click on the blue link that says:
Go Back to: ‘/home/blogging/public_html’
5/ Right Click on Zip and Select Extract
Locate the WordPress zip file that has just been uploaded, right click and from the menu slect Extract
6/ Click on Extract Files
A pop up will appear asking where to save the extracted files, using the default option ‘/public_html/’ will make the wordpress directory they are extracted to easy to find
7/ Once Extracted Click on Close
The pop up window will show a list of the extracted files, to complete the extraction click on close
8/ Double Click on the WordPress Directory
The extracted files will be in a directory called ‘wordpress/’
Double click on the directory to open it
9/ Select All, Right Click and Select Move
The extracted files will be in a directory called ‘wordpress/’
Double click on the directory to open it
10/ Edit the Path for Moving the Files
The pop up box will provide the option to edit the path where the files should be moved to, removing the ‘wordpress’ part will move the files into /public_html/
11/ After Editing Path Click on Move Files
Once the path has been edited and it just shows /public_html/ clcick on Move Files in the bottom right corner of the pop up box
12/ WordPress Core Files in Document Root
Once the files have been moved, clicking on public_html/ in the left hand directory listing will bring up the wordpress core files in the document root
WordPress Core Files have been uploaded
The WordPress core files have now been uploaded and placed inside the document root of the website, the document root is where the webserver loads the website files from. This has been done via cPanel File Manager as it helps maintain correct file permissions
Create a Database
The next step is to create a database, WordPress will manage the database contents and the key three peices of information are the database name, the database username and the users password. Once both database and user have been created the final step is add the user with full permissions to edit the database E)4h#^zdUtbJ
1/ cPanel > MySQL Databases
In cPanel search for the word ‘databases’ and select it from the dropdown menu
2/ Create Database
Enter a database name and click Create Database
3/ Go Back to Databases Page
Once the database has been created click on Go Back to return to the manage databases page
4/ Create Database User
Enter the database user and then click on Generate Password to create a secure password for the database user
5/ Create Strong Password
cPanel will generate a secure password, copy this password (as it will be required later), tick the box to confirm it’s been copied and click Use Password
6/ Create User
Once a secure password has been created click on Create User
7/ Go Back to Databases Page
Once the database has been created click on Go Back to return to the manage databases page
8/ Add User to Database
Once the database and user have been created, the user needs adding to the database and given the ability to control the database. Select both the database and user from the dropdown menu’s and click Add
9/ Give User All Privileges
Check the box to give the database user all privileges and click Make Changes
Database and User have been created
The database and user have now been created with the user being given permissions to edit the database. The following details will be required to get WordPress working: Database name, Database User name and Database User password
Editing wp-config.php
This final step is to configure the website files to use the database, this is done in the wp-config.php file. By default the WordPress core files don’t have a wp-config.php file so this will need copying from the wp-config-sample.php and updating to have the correct database details. The guide will also show how to add WordPress Salts to help keep passwords and logins secure.
1/ cPanel > File Manager
In cPanel all of the files are managed in File Manager, the easiest way to find this is by using the search bar at the top and searching for ‘file manager’ and selecting it from the drop down list
2/ Copy Sample File to WP-Config
Locate the wp-config-sample.php file, right click and click Copy
3/ Edit Path to wp-config
In the pop up box edit the path to:
/public_html/wp-config.php
4/ Edit wp-config File
Right click on the new created wp-config.php file and click on Edit
5/ Add Database Details to wp-config
In the editor page lcoate the database name, database user and the password. Update these details, if the database password is unknown this can be reset via How to reset a database password in cPanel
6/ Get URL for WordPress Salts
Further down the wp-config file there is a URL to generate WordPress Salts, copy this from the file and paste it into a new tab on the web browser
7/ Copy WordPress Salts from URL
Copy the WordPress salts generated when visiting the URL
8/ Paste WordPress Salts in wp-config
Replace the default WordPress Salts with the ones generated via the URL
9/ Save Changes to wp-config
Click Save Changes on the text editor page and click OK to confirm that the file can be overwritten
10/ Visit Main Sites URL
Now when visiting the websites primary domain it will load the default WordPress setup page
Editing the wp-config File to Use Database
The wp-config file has now been configured to use the database details setup in the previous section. When visiting the website now it will show the default WordPress setup wizard
