Installing WordPress: manual install vs one-click

There are two ways to get WordPress running on Omega Digital: Softaculous (one click, two minutes) and manual install (ten minutes, more control). Most users should use Softaculous. This article covers both, and explains when the manual path is worth the extra time.

Option 1: One-click install via Softaculous

1. 01. Log into cPanel.
2. 02. Scroll to the Software section and click WordPress Manager by Softaculous (or Softaculous Apps Installer → WordPress).
3. 03. Click Install Now.
4. 04. Set the install URL: choose HTTPS and your domain. Leave the In Directory field empty to install at the root.
5. 05. Site name and description. Fill or leave as defaults; you can change them later.
6. 06. Admin credentials: pick a username (not 'admin') and a strong password.
7. 07. Admin email: your real email, not the same one you use as a user.
8. 08. Leave everything else default and click Install.
9. 09. Two minutes later, you'll see a success screen with the admin URL: yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

Option 2: Manual install

Pick manual when you want: a non-standard database prefix, custom salt keys you control, a specific WordPress version (not just latest), or install into an existing Git repo. Everyone else, use Softaculous.

Step 1: Create a database

1. 01. In cPanel, open MySQL Databases.
2. 02. Create a new database. Call it something like wpsite. It will be prefixed with your cPanel username: cpuser_wpsite.
3. 03. Create a new MySQL user with a strong password (generate one, store in password manager).
4. 04. Add the user to the database with All Privileges.
5. 05. Note the final database name, username, and password.

Step 2: Upload WordPress

# Via SSH (cleaner and faster than File Manager)
ssh [email protected]
cd public_html
wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar -xzf latest.tar.gz --strip-components=1
rm latest.tar.gz

# Or via File Manager: upload wordpress.tar.gz, extract, move contents up one level

Step 3: Configure wp-config.php

cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php
nano wp-config.php

Update these lines:

define('DB_NAME',     'cpuser_wpsite');
define('DB_USER',     'cpuser_wpuser');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'YourLongGeneratedPassword');
define('DB_HOST',     'localhost');
define('DB_CHARSET',  'utf8mb4');
define('DB_COLLATE',  '');

// Replace salts — generate fresh at https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/
define('AUTH_KEY',         '...');
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  '...');
// ... and six more

// Non-default prefix makes SQL injection attacks a little harder
$table_prefix = 'wp9x_';

Step 4: Run the installer

Visit yourdomain.com in a browser. WordPress detects the empty database and launches the installer. Fill in the site title, admin username (not 'admin'), strong password, and admin email. Click Install WordPress. Log in.

Install via WP-CLI (for the comfortable)

ssh [email protected]
cd public_html

# Core download
wp core download --locale=en_US

# Config
wp config create \
  --dbname=cpuser_wpsite \
  --dbuser=cpuser_wpuser \
  --dbpass='YourPassword' \
  --dbhost=localhost \
  --dbprefix=wp9x_

# Install
wp core install \
  --url=https://yourdomain.com \
  --title="My Site" \
  --admin_user=janedoe \
  --admin_password='YourAdminPassword' \
  [email protected]

# Add security plugin immediately
wp plugin install wordfence --activate

Post-install checklist

• · Change the permalink structure to Post name under Settings → Permalinks.
• · Install a caching plugin (LiteSpeed Cache if available, WP Rocket otherwise).
• · Enable AutoSSL in cPanel and force HTTPS via .htaccess.
• · Delete Hello Dolly and the default Akismet plugin unless you're using them.
• · Delete unused default themes, keeping the current default as a fallback.
• · Set up automated backups.

Common gotchas

• · Leaving 'admin' as the username. Every bot on the internet brute-forces this. Pick anything else.
• · Using a weak or reused password. Force a generated one and store it in a manager.
• · Skipping permalinks. Default URLs like ?p=123 hurt SEO and look unprofessional.
• · Installing into /blog when you meant root. Softaculous has an 'In Directory' field; leave it empty for root installation.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with the exact error and which installation path you chose.