WordPress.org
WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two ways of hosting a WordPress site.
The thing that varies between these two methods is the actual host. By using WordPress.org, you may download the script free of charge and host it yourself on a local machine or with a hosting provider (such as Hostinger).
On the other hand, WordPress.com takes care of all that by hosting the site for you. You don’t have to manage a web server, pay for hosting or download software, however, ads are shown on your site.
Both WordPress.org and WordPress.com have certain pros and cons.
If you are not interested in having your own hosting or managing a web server, then WordPress.com may be the way to go.
It is free and can be quickly set up. You will also have various features and options for your site’s customization.
However, it comes with downsides. Your website will include WordPress.com in the URL and you will not be able to upload custom themes or plugins.
The ability to edit or modify PHP code behind your site will also not be possible.
Using a self-hosted version from WordPress.org provides more flexibility and control over your site. You will be able to use your own domain name, upload themes and plugins and install them.
Local Server WordPress Installation Guide Click Here to Know More.
Installing WordPress on Hostinger by Using Auto Installer
Let’s start with the simplest and fastest way to install WordPress – the Hostinger auto installer. The steps below show how to install WordPress on the Hostinger control panel:
- Access the Hostinger control panel.
- Locate Auto Installer and open it.
- Enter WordPress in the search field and click on its icon.
- Now fill in the website details:
- URL – The URL where WordPress should be installed. If you want to install it on the root domain name (example.com) then leave it empty.
- Language – Choose WordPress language.
- Administrator Username – Your WordPress admin username. You will use it to access the WordPress admin area.
- Administrator Password – Your WordPress admin password. You will use it to access the WordPress admin area.
- Administrator Email – Enter your email address.
- Website Title – The title of your WordPress website.
- Website Tagline – A short sentence or slogan explaining what your website is about.
- Press the Install button.
Option 1.2 – Installing WordPress Manually
If you want to understand the basics and learn how WordPress works, you can install it manually. WordPress is famous for its 5-minute installer.
The process is straightforward and similar to any other software installation. So if you have ever installed any computer program – it won’t be hard for you to complete the WordPress installation.
What you need before proceeding:
- FTP client or File Manager
- The latest version of WordPress
First of all, download the latest WordPress from the official WordPress.org website.
Once the download is complete, you can start uploading WordPress files to your hosting account. You can use either a File Manager provided by your hosting provider or an FTP client.
There is no difference in which tool you will use to upload WordPress files, besides ease of use. The only thing that you should take into account is the destination directory.
For example, if you want to have WordPress on a root domain name, files should be uploaded to the public_html folder. If you want to serve WordPress from a subdomain name or a subfolder, upload the files to the appropriate directory.
WordPress stores information in the database. Thus, it’s mandatory to create one. On Hostinger, a new database can be created in the MySQL Databases section. Be sure to write down the database details as you will need them later.
Now visit your domain name to start the installation process. You’ll be asked to fill in the MySQL database information, administrator details, and site information.
Step 2 – Navigating in WordPress Dashboard
Once the installation is complete, the first thing you would want to do is log in to the WordPress administrator dashboard.
Usually, there is a link to the login page on the front end of the WordPress blog. However, some themes don’t have this link. In this case, the easiest way to log in to WordPress is by adding wp-admin at the end of your website’s address like this:
- http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin
This URL will direct you to the login screen where you will be asked to enter the administrator’s username and password. Remember, you have entered these details during WordPress installation. If you have forgotten your password, click on Lost your password? Link.
- A toolbar is at the top of the page. It contains links to the most commonly used administrative functions and resources. For example, if you hover over your website’s name, you will get a link to the public view of your site. It also displays simple notifications like updates and new comments count.
- The main navigation menu is on the left-hand side. It contains links to all administrative screens of WordPress. If you hover over a menu item, a submenu with additional items will be displayed.
- The main work area.
The first time you log in to the WordPress admin panel, you will see a welcome module which contains some useful links to help you get started.
Once you are comfortable with the dashboard, press the Dismiss button to hide this module.
Other Modules:
- A Glance box will tell you how many posts, pages and comments you have. It also shows the WordPress version and theme you are running.
- The activity box gives you a bit more information about your latest posts and comments. It shows the status of all comments and a short list of the most recent comments.
- Quick Draft box. Entering content into this box will start a new blog post. However, you cannot publish one from here as this box is only for taking blog post ideas for you to come back to later.
- WordPress News. This module displays the latest WordPress news.
Each of these windows has little arrows which you can use to quickly hide the box. You can also drag and drop them to different positions.
Step 3 – Publishing Content
Creating a website with WordPress starts with publishing a new post or a new page. You may wonder – what is the difference between posts and pages?
The answer is simple. WordPress posts can be categorized, tagged, and archived. WordPress posts are used to publish time-sensitive content.
In contrast, pages are mainly for static, dateless content. They don’t have categories or tags. Contact us or About pages are good examples of pages.
Step 3.1 – Creating a New Post
To create a new WordPress post open the Add New section under Posts or choose the New -> Post option from the top toolbar.
You will be presented with an editing screen with an array of posting features. The first thing you should do is enter a title for your post.
Secondly, enter the actual content of your post in the field below. If you want to format your text, use the toolbar options.
It’s similar to the one you can find in MS Word or any other popular text editor.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you can see the so-called meta-boxes. Each box has a particular function.
- Publish. Here you can change the status and visibility of your post, and schedule it. By clicking the Publish button your post will go live. If you decide to delete the post, press the Move to Trash button.
- CategoriCategoriess Inx, you can add, delete, or edit the category of your post tags box allowing you to quickly add
- .Featured Image. Here you can assign a featured image to a post. It will be visible at the very top of the post (image location can be different
Step 3.2 – Creating a New Page
To create a new WordPress page, open the Add New section under the Pages menu or click the New -> Page button at the top toolbar.
Add New page section has an identical WYSIWYG text editor just like the Posts section has. Thus, the process of text input and formatting is the same.
You may also notice that the Pages section does not have Tags and Categories meta-boxes. Instead, it has a box called Page Attributes.
In this section, you can change the order of your pages and set parent pages. This is useful if you want to have several pages under one parent page.
Step 4 – Installing WordPress Plugins
The primary purpose of WordPress plugins is to expand WordPress functionality. Just by installing and activating a plugin, you can add new features to WordPress site without any coding.
There are thousands of free and paid plugins built for different purposes: from social media sharing to security. Thus, you will surely find a plugin that fits your needs.
Installing WordPress plugins is an easy task even for a beginner. Free and freemium plugins are available on the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Just like themes, these can be installed by using the inbuilt WordPress installer.
To install a WordPress plugin press the Add New button under Plugins and enter the name of the plugin you want to install in the search field. Hit Install and then Activate button.
There are thousands of premium (paid) WordPress plugins which cannot be installed from the official WordPress plugin directory. If you purchased a premium plugin, you must manually upload it to WordPress.
The process is quite similar to themesthemellation. To proceed, press the Add New button under Plugins and hit Upload Plugin. Now select a plugin archive and upload it. Finally, install and activate the plugin.
Essential WordPress Plugins
There are so many WordPress plugins – it could be hard to choose the right one. In fact, many of the plugins serve the same purpose, for example, there are dozens of WordPress caching plugins.
That is why we decided to list the best WordPress plugins that are essential for every WordPress blog.
- Google XML Sitemaps. This plugin will automatically generate XML site maps for better search engine optimization. It’s easy to use and update it regularly.
- Yoast SEO. Probably the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress. It will help you improve search engine optimization. From meta tags to writing suggestions – the Yoast SEO plugin has it all.
- Wordfence Security. This plugin will keep your WordPress safe from hackers and malware. It has a firewall and malware scanner modules which are super useful.
- Contact Form 7. Simple but very powerful WordPress contact form plugin. Create any contact or even lead generation forms with this plugin.
Step 5 – Installing WordPress Themes
The look of a WordPress site can be changed by applying themes. There are free and premium WordPress themes. Some of them are universal and can be used on any website. Others are built for a very specific purpose, for example, e-commerce themes.
WordPress made theme installation super easy. It literally takes just a few minutes to install free WordPress themes.
In order to proceed, access the Appearance section and search for some nice-looking free WordPress themes. You can even filter themes by features or colours.
The theme preview feature lets you see how your website will look with a selected theme. This is useful, as it will save your time – you will not have to install multiple themes just to find the theme that fits your needs.
The above method is suitable for free and freemium themes only. What if you purchased a nice-looking premium theme? In this case, you will have to upload the theme files manually.
Access the same Appearance section, press the Upload Theme button and select the theme’s .zip file. It can take up to a few minutes for the uploading process to complete. Once it’s done, simply Activate the theme.