How to install WordPress

You'll need a domain pointed at your WebX service — if that's not done yet, see our guide on pointing a domain to WebX. You don't need to wait for full DNS propagation to install WordPress itself; you just won't be able to reach it at your domain until DNS catches up.

• Find the WordPress installer (usually under an "Applications" or "Website" section) and start it.
• Choose the domain (or subdomain) you want WordPress installed on.
• Set an admin username, a strong password, and the site title — you can change the title later, but pick a real username now (see below on why).
• Start the install. It typically finishes in under a minute.

The installer also issues your SSL certificate and turns on server-level caching automatically, so there's nothing extra to configure before you start building.

WordPress sites are a common target simply because there are so many of them, and most successful attacks exploit the same handful of avoidable mistakes. Before you start adding content:

• Don't use "admin" as your username. It's the first guess in every automated attack, so a different username alone removes a huge share of the risk.
• Remove the default "Hello Dolly" plugin and any theme you're not using — inactive code is still code that can have a vulnerability found in it later.
• Install a security plugin that handles login-attempt limiting and file-integrity checks, if you don't already have a preferred one.
• Keep automatic updates on. WebX hosting keeps WordPress core updated automatically, but plugin and theme updates are still on you unless you turn on automatic updates for them too, from the Plugins screen.

From here it's a normal WordPress site: log in at yourdomain/wp-admin with the credentials you set during install, choose a theme, and start adding pages. WordPress plans include daily backups stored off-site, so you can restore quickly if a theme or plugin change breaks something while you're building.

If you're moving an existing WordPress site rather than starting fresh, see our migration page instead — we copy the whole site across for you at no cost, and you review it on a temporary URL before anything changes for your visitors.

See our WordPress hosting plans.