How to install WordPress with one click

Installing WordPress by hand means creating a database, creating a database user, downloading the release, uploading it, and editing wp-config.php. Softaculous does all of that in one form, and there is no practical downside to letting it — the result is an ordinary WordPress install you can manage or move like any other.

This works on shared hosting from €6 a month and on managed WordPress from €7. On managed WordPress the caching, core updates and staging are configured for you afterwards.

Before you start

• Your domain should already point at HostPowr, or you will install onto an address nobody can reach.
• Decide the admin username before you start, and do not use 'admin' — it is the first thing every bot tries.
• Have a password manager open. The installer generates a strong password and you want somewhere to put it.

Steps

1. Log in to cPanel from your HostPowr client portal.
2. Open Softaculous Apps Installer, then select WordPress.
3. Click Install Now.
4. Choose your domain, and leave the directory field empty so the site installs at the domain root rather than at /wp.
5. Set your site name, admin username, a strong password and a real admin email address.
6. Click Install. The installer reports the site URL and the wp-admin URL when it finishes.

Check that it worked

• Open your domain in a browser. You should see a fresh WordPress theme rather than a directory listing or a default page.
• Log in at yourdomain.com/wp-admin with the credentials you set.
• Check Settings → General and confirm the WordPress Address and Site Address both use https:// and match how you want the site reached.

If it goes wrong

The installer finished but the domain shows a default page

Almost always DNS: the domain has not finished pointing at us yet. Check with the DNS Checker before assuming the install failed. The site is genuinely there, and it will appear when propagation completes.

Mixed content warnings, or the site loads without styles

WordPress recorded an http:// address at install time. Change both fields in Settings → General to https://, or install a free SSL certificate first if you have not already — see our SSL guide.

You installed into a subdirectory by mistake

Do not move the files manually. Uninstall from Softaculous and reinstall with the directory field empty. A two-minute reinstall is faster and safer than repairing paths in the database.

Delete the default 'Hello World' post, the sample page, and any themes or plugins you are not using. Unused plugins still receive updates and still carry vulnerabilities, and an abandoned plugin is one of the most common ways a WordPress site gets compromised.

Free daily backups run on every hosting plan with multiple restore points, recoverable yourself from cPanel without opening a ticket. Keep an independent copy somewhere else as well — a backup that lives only on the same platform as the original is one incident away from being no backup.