docs/content/wordpress/install-shared.md

title, description, section, order

title	description	section	order
Install WordPress on Shared Hosting	Install WordPress on Arcline shared hosting with cPanel — from one-click installers to manual setup and WordPress Toolkit.	wordpress	1

Install WordPress on Shared Hosting

WordPress can be installed on Arcline shared hosting in a few minutes. This covers the one-click installer (fastest), the manual method (for full control), and WordPress Toolkit (for managing multiple sites).

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Option 1 — Softaculous one-click installer (recommended)

Softaculous is included with every Arcline cPanel account. It installs WordPress with one click and lets you choose the install location, admin credentials, and all settings upfront.

1. cPanel → Software → WordPress Manager by Softaculous
2. Click Install at the top
3. Fill in the form:

Field	What to enter
Choose Protocol	https:// (recommended) or https://www.
Choose Domain	your domain from the dropdown
In Directory	leave blank (for the root of your domain) or enter a subdirectory like blog
Site Name	your site's title (can be changed later)
Site Description	short tagline (optional)
Admin Username	pick a unique username — not admin
Admin Password	use a strong password or click the key icon to generate one
Admin Email	your email address

Scroll down and click Install. WordPress is ready in under a minute.

Do not use admin as your username — it's the most targeted name for brute-force attacks. Pick something unique.

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Option 2 — Manual install

A manual install gives you full control over file placement, database setup, and the initial configuration.

Step 1 — Create a database

1. cPanel → Databases → MySQL Databases
2. Under Create New Database, enter a name (e.g., wp_yoursite) and click Create Database
3. Under Add New User, create a user with a strong password
4. Under Add User To Database, select the user and database, then click Add
5. Check All Privileges and click Make Changes

Write down the database name, username, and password.

Step 2 — Upload WordPress

1. Download the latest WordPress .zip from wordpress.org
2. cPanel → Files → File Manager
3. Navigate to public_html (or the subdirectory where you want WordPress)
4. Click Upload, select the .zip, and wait for it to finish
5. In File Manager, select the uploaded .zip and click Extract
6. Move the extracted wordpress/ folder contents into public_html/ (or keep it in a subdirectory)
7. Delete the .zip file and the now-empty wordpress/ folder

Step 3 — Run the installer

1. Visit https://yourdomain.com in your browser
2. WordPress will detect no config file and show the setup screen
3. Click Let's go!, then enter your database details:

Field	Value
Database Name	the database you created in Step 1
Username	the database user you created
Password	the database user's password
Database Host	localhost
Table Prefix	wp_ (default is fine, or change it for extra security)

4. Click Submit → Run the installation
5. Fill in the site info: site title, admin username (not admin), password, and your email
6. Click Install WordPress

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Option 3 — WordPress Toolkit (for multiple sites)

WordPress Toolkit is included in cPanel and is ideal if you manage several WordPress sites on one account.

1. cPanel → Software → WordPress Toolkit
2. Click Install
3. Choose your domain, directory, and basic settings
4. Click Install

After installation, WordPress Toolkit lets you:

• Clone a site to a subdomain or another domain
• Create staging sites (copy production to a test area)
• Run WordPress, plugin, and theme updates from one screen
• Reset passwords and toggle debug mode without logging into WordPress

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After installation

Enable SSL

Your site should use HTTPS immediately. cPanel's AutoSSL will issue a certificate within a few minutes of installation. If it doesn't:

1. cPanel → Security → SSL/TLS Status
2. Click Run AutoSSL
3. Wait a few minutes and refresh

Once the certificate is issued, install Really Simple SSL in WordPress to automatically redirect HTTP to HTTPS and fix mixed content.

Update permalinks

WordPress's default permalink structure (?p=123) is bad for SEO and usability. Change it immediately:

1. WordPress admin → Settings → Permalinks
2. Choose Post name (the most common and SEO-friendly option)
3. Click Save Changes

If you see a 404 error after switching permalinks, WordPress couldn't write to .htaccess. Copy the code WordPress shows at the bottom of the Permalinks page and paste it manually into .htaccess in File Manager.

Install essential plugins

Start with these free plugins (install after you've confirmed the site works):

• Really Simple SSL — handles HTTPS redirect and mixed content
• Wordfence Security — firewall, malware scanner, and login protection
• UpdraftPlus — automated backups to remote storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)

Set up automated backups

Don't rely on manual backups. Configure UpdraftPlus to run daily backups to off-server storage. See Back Up and Restore a MySQL Database for database backup details.

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Installing in a subdirectory

If you want WordPress at https://yourdomain.com/blog/ rather than the root of your domain:

1. In Softaculous or during manual setup, enter blog as the directory
2. WordPress files go into public_html/blog/
3. Your homepage at yourdomain.com can be a static site or an HTML landing page

This is a common setup when your main site is not WordPress (e.g., a static business site with a separate blog).

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Common setup issues

Error establishing a database connection — the database credentials in wp-config.php don't match what you created in cPanel. Double-check the database name, username, and password. Note that all three are prefixed with your cPanel username (e.g., cpaneluser_wp_yoursite).

White screen after install — a PHP error. Enable debugging temporarily by adding this to wp-config.php:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );

Check wp-content/debug.log for the specific error. Remove or set to false after debugging.

Can't upload files — the wp-content/uploads/ directory may have incorrect permissions. In File Manager, right-click the uploads folder and set permissions to 755. If that doesn't fix it, try 775.

404 on all pages except home — permalink rules aren't being applied. Go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes twice (this forces WordPress to regenerate .htaccess rules). If it still doesn't work, check that your .htaccess file exists in public_html/ and is writable.