install, then click Run the Install.
5. You need to provide a title for your WordPress installation, along with an administrator username and password. Do NOT use “admin” or “administrator” because hackers automatically try these. And make sure your password is a strong one; weak passwords are the number-one way hackers get into WordPress. When you're ready, click Install WordPress.
6. Screen #6 tells you you've successfully installed WordPress and offers to take you to the login screen.
NOTE If you plan to use the multisite feature of WordPress – the capability to run multiple sites from a single installation – you can find the additional installation instructions here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network.
Auto-Installing WordPress
Most hosting companies offer some form of automatic WordPress installation. In a few cases, this means that they'll actually do the installation for you, but mostly it means that they have a program that you use to do the auto-install.
The two most common auto-installer programs are Softaculous and Quick Install, but there are others, and some hosts have their own proprietary installers. They all work in mostly the same way: You enter a bit of information and press a button.
NOTE For many years Fantastico was the auto-installer used by most hosting companies, but it has since been discontinued.
The first step is to tell the auto-installer where you want it to put the WordPress files. Referring to Figure 3.2, Quick Install offers a choice of existing domains or subdomains that are on your hosting account with the opportunity to enter a subdirectory. (If that subdirectory doesn't exist, the installer creates it.)
After the location is chosen, you need to enter information such as your e-mail address and username – information varies by programs. Referring to Figure 3.3, you can see that Quick Install also needs the title of your site (ignore that it says Blog Title), your first name, and last name.
Although Quick Install creates a password for you (you can change it later in WordPress), other installers ask you for a password. Some also allow you to choose the database prefix for WordPress.
NOTE Auto-installers should install the latest version of WordPress, but if yours doesn't, don't worry. WordPress will tell you if it needs updating, and that process is easy – especially after installation when you have no content or plugins. The steps for updating are outlined in Lesson 32, “Keeping Up to Date.”
When the Installation Is Finished
Whether you do an auto-install or a manual install, your WordPress site is now up and running. You can check by going to your domain name (or subdirectory, depending on where you did the install) and looking at your new site (see Figure 3.4).
It may not have much – a sample post and a sample page – but this is a fully operational website waiting for you to add content and customize the look and the functionality. But before getting to that, become familiar with the way WordPress works in the back end. That's the subject of the next two lessons.
PLUGINS
There are no plugins to help install a new WordPress site because WordPress isn't running yet. However, there may be times when you need to move an existing WordPress site within your hosting account (perhaps to a new directory) or to a new server. In that case, here are some plugins that can help:
● Duplicator– takes care of the entire process of copying your site and restoring it in a new location.
● WP Clone by WP Academy– utility for copying and moving your WordPress site to a subdomain, a new server, or a new domain.
Try It
There's nothing additional to try in this lesson – hopefully, you completed the installation using these instructions. If you don't plan on doing the installation right now, you could always set up an FTP program if you don't have one or download WordPress for use later.
REFERENCE Please select the video for Lesson 3 online at www.wrox.com/go/wp24vids. You will also be able to download resources for this lesson from the website.
Lesson 4
Admin Area Overview
One of WordPress's greatest strengths is the user-friendliness of its administration interface. From both an organizational and a design standpoint, it's laid out in a way that's intuitive. As with any system, of course, you need to take some time and learn how it works, where things are, and so on, and that's what this lesson is about: helping you become familiar with the WordPress administration area.
Logging In
At the end of the installation process, you're either sent automatically to the default login page, as shown in Figure 4.1 A, or there will be a link to take you there.
It's a good idea to bookmark this page in your browser. Some themes include a login link – often in the footer area – but even without a bookmark or a link, you always have this fallback: add /wp-admin to the end of your site URL, like this:
http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin
This takes you to your login screen. Of course if you installed WordPress in a subdirectory, you'll add /wp-admin at the end of that subdirectory URL.
WARNING If you can't login, double-check that you're not at WordPress.com. A common mistake – and not just for newbies – is to think that because you have a WordPress site, you have to log in at WordPress.com. If you installed WordPress on a hosting account, the login will be through the domain name for that account.
Logging in is a matter of entering the username and password you chose during the installation process. If you forget or can't find your password, there's a link on the login page for setting a new password, as shown in Figure 4.1 B. You can use either your e-mail address (the one given during installation) or your username to set a new password. In either case, the instructions for setting the new password are sent to that e-mail address, so always make sure it's a functioning address. In Lesson 5, “Basic Admin Settings,”
