This page was linked from Building a WordPress website from scratch
WordPress needs certain technologies to work so you can just upload WordPress to a website and expect it to work.
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Choosing a Host
Generally, if a web host says they offer CPanel web hosting plans you are half way there, but beware some older web host may be running older versions of CPanel/PHP/MySQL and you may need to talk to your hosts to have this rectified before installing WordPress.
You can expect to pay about $5 a month for a raw hosting plan that you manage, you will pay more if your hosts update your sites for you. In Australia I would use and recommend the hosting company https://www.jumba.com.au/hosting/starter (who are owned by https://www.uber.com.au/products/web-hosting/cpanel/ ) to host websites as they offer full access to CPanel and have upgrade paths to migrate your server to dedicated Virtual Private Servers (VPS) if you need a super faster servers if you site takes off.
I would not recommend dumbed down hosting wizards like http://www.squarespace.com or http://www.wordpress.com (jump in and get a real CPanel domain and services that you control).
If you don’t want to worry about updating or backing up your WordPress site, WordPress Plugins then seek a trusted web company and they can help you manage your site.
PHP
PHP is a general purpose scripting language that runs on the server and processes commands from scripts or applications. Generally, you cannot install PHP on the web server (only the website administrator can do that). Hopefully your vendor can install PHP (you probably want PHP 5.4 or above). WordPress, many plugins, and website features need PHP, you an even create custom widgets and features on your page with PHP.
- fyi: View the http://php.net website.
MySQL
The next thing WordPress needs is a MySQL Database engine. This should be enabled and at least version 5.2.
- fyi: Read the MySQL 5.5 Documentation
FTP
We also need File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access to allow us to easily upload (and download backups) to the server.
- fyi: Read the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Wikipedia Page
CPanel
The last thing we need are management screens to allow us to create and manage the database. Most hosts offer CPanel access where you can check all of the pre requisites above.
- fyi: Read the CPanel Documentation
If you have not purchased a domain yet I would strongly recommend you choose a hosting plan/service with full CPanel access. If you have had a domain for a long time your hosts may not have CPanel or may have older versions available. If you don have CPanel you may still be able to install WordPress but have a chat with your host or web master (they may need to create the database for you).
CPanel Overview
I can get to my domain via https://www.fearby.com/cpanel and have full access to my management screens.
If you have access to CPanel on your domain you should be able to verify the installation of PHP and MySQL.
CPanel Features Overview
CPanel has a nice easy to use interface (read the CPanel documentation if you get stuck).
FTP Access
You may already have an FTP account (provided by your host or web master), if you don’t use the FTP Accounts icon to create an FTP account to allow you to connect and upload files to your server (CPanel FTP Help).
MySQL Databases
The MySQL App is where you go to create the database on your host that WordPress will use (CPanel MySQL Help).
PHPMyAdmin
PHPMyAdmin is the Microsoft Access of the CPanel world, it will allow you to modify databases, import and export databases on your server (PHPMyADmin Docs). You only need to learn how to use this app if you wish to backup, restore or bulk edit WordPress data directly in the database.
This page is just a quick summary of the main applications in CPanel that you need to access to setup and backup WordPress. Dedicated guides are available later in this guide.
Go back to Building a WordPress website from scratch
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