How to Install WordPress on cPanel Hosting

WordPress powers a large share of all websites and runs very well on cPanel Hosting. You can install it by hand, which works on every cPanel account and teaches you where everything lives, or with a one-click installer such as Softaculous or WP Toolkit if your plan includes one.

Before you start

• Your domain should point to the cPanel server, with SSL active in Security » SSL/TLS Status. You can install first, but the site address must use your final domain.
• Decide where WordPress goes: public_html for the main domain, or the document root of an addon domain or subdomain. The folder should be empty (delete any default index.html).

Option A: One-click installer (if available)

Search cPanel for Softaculous or WP Toolkit. If you find one:

1. Open it and choose WordPress » Install.
2. Choose the protocol https:// and your domain. Leave the directory field empty to install at the domain root.
3. Set the site name, and an admin username (not admin), strong password and your email.
4. Click Install. The installer creates the database for you.

If neither tool is present, use Option B below; the result is the same.

Option B: Manual installation

1. Create a database

In cPanel, open Databases » Database Wizard, create a database (for example username_wp) and a user (for example username_wpuser) with a strong password, and give the user ALL PRIVILEGES. Note all three values.

2. Upload WordPress

1. Download the latest ZIP from wordpress.org/download.
2. In File Manager, open public_html (or your addon domain folder), click Upload and upload wordpress-x.y.z.zip.
3. Right-click the ZIP and Extract it. This creates a wordpress folder.
4. Open the wordpress folder, click Select All, then Move, and move everything up to /public_html (or your domain folder).
5. Delete the empty wordpress folder and the ZIP file.

3. Run the installer

1. Visit https://yourdomain.com. Choose your language and click Let’s go!
2. Enter: Database Name username_wp, Username username_wpuser, Password, Database Host localhost, and change the Table Prefix from wp_ to something like wpx7_ for a little extra security.
3. Click Submit, then Run the installation.
4. Enter the site title, an admin username (avoid admin), a strong password and your email, then click Install WordPress.
5. Log in at https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

If WordPress cannot create wp-config.php itself, it shows the file contents: create wp-config.php in File Manager, paste the text and save.

After installing

• In Settings » General, check that both addresses start with https://. Turn on Force HTTPS Redirect in Domains » Domains.
• In Settings » Permalinks, choose Post name and save.
• Set your time zone to Dhaka (or your city) in Settings » General.
• Delete the default plugins and themes you will not use, and keep everything updated.
• Install a caching plugin (if your server uses LiteSpeed, the LiteSpeed Cache plugin is the natural choice), an SMTP plugin to send mail through a real mailbox, and a backup plugin or regular cPanel backups.
• Set wp-config.php permissions to 640 or 600.
• Consider replacing WP-Cron with a real cron job (see our Cron Jobs guide).

Common problems

• “Error establishing a database connection”: the database name or user is missing the username_ prefix, or the user was not added to the database.
• You see the old “Index of /” or a default page: files are still inside the wordpress subfolder, or an old index.html is present.
• Upload size too small for themes: raise upload_max_filesize and post_max_size in MultiPHP INI Editor.

Need help?

If anything in this guide does not match what you see, or you get stuck, open a support ticket (choose the Support department) or message us on WhatsApp at 01818160926. Tell us your domain name and what you have tried so far, and never send your password in a ticket or chat.