How to install WordPress ; the do-it-yourself way

Installing WordPress by hand takes about fifteen minutes and teaches you exactly where your site lives: the files in one folder, the content in one database, and one file, wp-config.php, that joins the two. This guide walks through the manual install on Domain India shared hosting, from downloading WordPress to switching the finished site to HTTPS.

1. Manual install or app installer?

There are two ways to put WordPress on shared hosting. An app installer does every step below for you in one form. The manual method takes longer, but you choose every name and password yourself, and you learn how the pieces fit together, which helps later when you move a site, restore a backup or fix a database error.

Our cPanel servers have both Softaculous and WP Toolkit installed, and our DirectAdmin and Webuzo plans include Softaculous. Each can install WordPress in one form, so if you only want a working site, you can use one of them and skip this guide. See How to install WordPress on cPanel, on DirectAdmin or on Webuzo.

2. What you need before you start

• An active hosting account. Sign in to the client area and open My Hosting. The button on your domain's row, labelled cPanel, DirectAdmin or Webuzo, signs you straight into your control panel.
• Your domain pointing at the hosting. The installer runs in the browser at your domain, so the domain must already reach our server. If it does not yet, see How to change your domain's DNS settings.
• A current PHP version. Our cPanel servers offer a wide range of PHP versions up to 8.5, selectable per account. Choose a recent version that WordPress supports; the current minimum and recommended versions are listed on wordpress.org's requirements page. On cPanel, set it in MultiPHP Manager: see How to change PHP versions in cPanel.
• A password manager or somewhere safe to note the database password and the WordPress admin password you are about to create.

3. Download WordPress

Always download WordPress from the official site, never from a third-party "free download" page, which can carry hidden malware.

1. Go to wordpress.org/download.
2. Download the latest release as a .zip file. Do not unzip it on your computer: uploading one zip file is much faster than uploading thousands of small files.

4. Upload and extract the files

When you finish, public_html should directly contain wp-admin, wp-content, wp-includes, index.php and wp-config-sample.php. If you want WordPress at yourdomain.com/blog instead, leave the files in a folder named blog rather than moving them up.

For more on the tool itself, read How do I use the File Manager. If you prefer FTP, the connection details are in What settings do I need to upload my website.

5. Create the database and database user

WordPress stores every post, page, setting and user in a MySQL database. You need three things: a database, a user, and permission for that user on that database.

In cPanel: Database Wizard

1. Open Databases › Database Wizard.
2. Step 1: type a database name, for example wp1, and click Next Step. cPanel adds your account username as a prefix, so the full name becomes cpanelusername_wp1.
3. Step 2: type a user name and use the Password Generator for a long random password. Copy the password before you continue.
4. Step 3: tick ALL PRIVILEGES and click Next Step.

If you prefer, Databases › Manage My Databases does the same thing on one page: create the database, create the user, then use Add User To Database and grant all privileges. Forgetting that last step is the most common reason the installer fails; see Installer could not find database user.

In DirectAdmin: Databases

Open Account Manager › Databases, type a database name in the Create Database form and click CREATE. DirectAdmin creates a user with the same name, a secure password and access to that database in the same step (open Advanced mode to choose your own user name and password), and also prefixes both names with your account username. Full steps: Creating and managing MySQL databases in DirectAdmin. On Webuzo, see Create and manage MySQL in Webuzo.

Write down these four values. You need them in the next step.

6. Run the WordPress installer

Open https://yourdomain.com in your browser (or http:// if the SSL certificate is not issued yet). WordPress detects that it is not configured and starts its setup screens.

If the installer cannot write wp-config.php

WordPress then shows the configuration text and asks you to create the file yourself. In File Manager, copy wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, edit it, and fill in these lines:

define( 'DB_NAME', 'cpanelusername_wp1' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'cpanelusername_wpuser' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'your-generated-password' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

$table_prefix = 'ds7k_';

Replace the block of lines that say put your unique phrase here with a fresh set of keys from WordPress's secret-key generator. Save, reload your domain, and the installer continues at the site-setup screen.

If you see "Error establishing a database connection" instead, one of the four values is wrong or the user was not added to the database. Work through Troubleshooting the error establishing a database connection.

7. Secure the new install

A fresh WordPress site is a target within days of going online. These steps take a few minutes and remove the easiest ways in.

To set permissions in cPanel's File Manager, select a file or folder and click Permissions; in DirectAdmin, see How to manage file permissions in DirectAdmin.

Our shared servers add a server-wide layer on top: Imunify360 with its web application firewall and WordPress protection turned on by default, and automatic removal of malicious code from infected files (measured on our cPanel servers, 20 September 2026). That helps, but it does not replace your own updates and passwords. For the full checklist read The complete WordPress hardening guide and Why and how your WordPress website gets hacked.

8. Switch the site to HTTPS

Every Domain India shared hosting plan includes a free SSL certificate. On our cPanel servers, AutoSSL issues Let's Encrypt certificates automatically once your domain points at the server (measured 20 September 2026). On DirectAdmin, see How to enable Let's Encrypt SSL certificates in DirectAdmin.

Only switch WordPress to HTTPS after the certificate is issued. Open https://yourdomain.com first: if the browser shows a padlock without warnings, continue.

The .htaccess redirect for Apache, which runs on all our shared hosting, is:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

More detail: AutoSSL in cPanel and Force HTTPS redirect.

9. First settings after install

• Permalinks. Go to Settings › Permalinks and choose Post name for clean URLs. If pages then show "404 Not Found", see How to create a default .htaccess file for WordPress.
• Caching. Our shared hosting runs the Apache web server, so use a cache plugin that works with Apache, such as WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache.
• Email from WordPress. Some PHP functions that SMTP plugins rely on are disabled on shared hosting. Read PHP disabled functions on shared hosting and PHP sendmail settings before choosing a mail plugin.
• Uploads. If a large theme or media file fails to upload, see PHP upload file-size limit.
• Backups. Shared hosting includes weekly backups. Before big changes, such as a theme switch or a major update, also download your own copy of the files and database.

Next steps for building the site itself are in Mastering WordPress: a step-by-step guide.

10. Which Domain India hosting fits a WordPress site

Any of our Linux shared hosting plans runs WordPress. Every plan includes MySQL databases, free SSL, SSH access, WP-CLI and the Imunify360 security stack. The two starting points:

cPanel Starter gives you 25 GB NVMe storage and 5 MySQL databases for one website. DA Starter is the lower-cost option with 10 GB NVMe storage. Both include Softaculous for one-click installs, and cPanel also has WP Toolkit. If you plan to run several WordPress sites, look at the Growth plans, which allow 5 websites. Prices on the cards are live; on 19 September 2026 they started at ₹125 a month for cPanel and ₹100 a month for DirectAdmin, excluding 18% GST. Most hosting accounts are created automatically within a couple of minutes of payment; a small number need a manual check and take longer.

If you would rather not manage WordPress, plugins and updates at all, the AI Website Builder builds and hosts a business site for you.

Ready to install? Sign in and open My Hosting to reach your control panel. Need hosting first? Compare cPanel hosting and DirectAdmin hosting. Stuck on a step? Open a support ticket.