Installing WordPress via Softaculous

Softaculous installs WordPress in about thirty seconds, creating the database, the configuration file and your admin user in one step. It is considerably more reliable than installing by hand.

Before you install

Make sure your domain already resolves to Traxio. Installing before DNS has propagated means WordPress records the wrong site address, which produces broken links and redirect loops that are irritating to unpick afterwards.

Installing

1. Log in to DirectAdmin and open Softaculous Apps Installer.
2. Select WordPress and click Install.
3. Set the protocol to https:// if your SSL certificate has already issued. If not, issue it first — changing protocol afterwards means updating the site URL in two places.
4. Leave the "In Directory" field empty to install at your domain root. Anything typed here puts WordPress in a subfolder, so wp would give you yourdomain.co.uk/wp.
5. Choose an admin username that is not "admin" — automated attacks target that username specifically.
6. Set a strong password and a real email address; password resets go there.
7. Click Install.

The first five minutes after installing

Four settings worth changing straight away:

• Permalinks. Settings → Permalinks → Post name. The default numeric URLs are poor for search and awkward to change later once links exist.
• Site title and tagline. The default tagline is "Just another WordPress site", and it does get indexed.
• Timezone. Settings → General. Otherwise scheduled posts publish at the wrong time.
• Discussion. If you do not want comments, disable them now rather than moderating spam later.

Keeping it secure

The overwhelming majority of compromised WordPress sites on shared hosting are broken into through outdated plugins — far more often than through anything server-side. Enable automatic updates for core and plugins, delete plugins and themes you are not using rather than merely deactivating them, and use a unique admin password.

If something goes wrong

• "Error establishing a database connection" — usually a partial install. Remove it in Softaculous and reinstall rather than trying to repair it.
• Redirect loop — typically a mismatch between the site URL and the protocol actually being served. Check Settings → General shows https://.
• Blank white page — a PHP error. Check the error log in the file manager; it is nearly always a plugin.

The full WordPress walkthrough covers themes and setup in more depth.

Not hosting with us yet? The WordPress hosting plan this guide assumes is free for the first 30 days — long enough to follow every step and decide afterwards.

What Softaculous does for you after installation

The installer is also a manager. Open Softaculous later and your installation is listed with three genuinely useful options:

• Automated backups — schedule regular copies of the files and database together, and restore either from the same screen. Worth enabling on day one; it quietly implements half of any security checklist.
• Auto-upgrade — keep WordPress core (and optionally plugins and themes) updated on a schedule. Outdated plugins are the overwhelming cause of compromised sites on shared hosting, so this setting does more for your security than most security plugins.
• Clone / staging — copy the install to a subdirectory or subdomain to test a risky change against a real copy of the site, then discard it. Far safer than experimenting on the live site.

Importing an existing WordPress site

If the site already exists elsewhere, you have two workable routes:

1. Migration plugin. Install fresh WordPress here via Softaculous, then use a migration plugin to package the old site and restore it over the new install. Simplest for most people, and it handles the database URL changes for you.
2. Manual copy. Copy the files into public_html, import the database export through phpMyAdmin, and update wp-config.php with the new database credentials. More steps, no plugin dependency — the full migration guide walks through the order that avoids downtime.

Uninstalling cleanly

Remove an install through Softaculous rather than deleting the files by hand: the installer also drops the database and its user, whereas manual deletion leaves an orphaned database counting against your storage. If you installed manually and Softaculous does not list it, delete the files, then remove the database and database user separately in DirectAdmin.

Frequently asked questions

Can I install more than one application?

Yes — installs in different directories or on subdomains coexist happily. The practical constraint is the account’s 5GB storage and the fact that every application you run is one more thing to keep updated. Fewer, maintained installs beat many neglected ones.

How much space does WordPress use?

A fresh install is under 100MB including the database. Growth comes almost entirely from media uploads — a site that resizes and compresses images stays small for years; one uploading camera originals does not. The speed guide covers image handling, which helps storage and load times equally.

Which PHP version should WordPress use?

PHP 8.3 for current WordPress — it is the fastest option available here and fully supported. If an old plugin objects, drop to 8.1 while you replace it; see Changing your PHP version.

Softaculous says the install succeeded but the site shows another host’s page

DNS has not propagated yet — you are seeing a cached answer pointing at the old server. Wait for propagation, then hard-refresh. This is exactly why the guide says to point the domain before installing.