Task 8: Install WordPress

Once you have opened a hosting account you can install WordPress. Some hosting plans come with WordPress pre-installed, but in most cases you will be doing the initial installation yourself using a simple procedure.

To complete this task…

If your hosting plan was with a WordPress-specific vendor, and WordPress was pre-installed, all you need to do is verify that you can log on to your WordPress site and can see the Dashboard. You will learn about the Dashboard in detail in later Tasks, but right now you just need to be able to see one!

If your hosting plan did not pre-install WordPress for you, the vendor should offer a “one-click” installation option. Determine where that option is and do it. You may need help from another team member for this, and you could do it together using screensharing in a Google Hangout. Don’t worry too much about the appearance of the default site that will be created. You will change the appearance later. All you need at this stage is to verify that WordPress is alive and well.

About the username and password for the Administrator account

When setting up WordPress the first user account is of special importance. It will be the default account for the person with Administrator rights on the site. It is best not to name the Administrator account something obvious, such as “Administrator” or “admin”. Hackers keep lists of obvious account names and may attack your site by trying password combinations for standard usernames. When WordPress asks you how to name the first account, use something that is not obvious, and include at least one capital letter and at least one number in the username. That will defeat many standard attacks on the Administrator account. The password on that account should also be a strong one, and should not be anything you use as a password on other web sites. If your account is hacked somewhere else, a hacker could gain access to any web service where you use the same password.

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