WP runbook · Beginner · 10 min
How to install WordPress — Install in Ten Minutes, Then Fix the Six Defaults
You can have WordPress running in ten minutes; what you cannot easily undo later are the table prefix, the site URL and the admin account you accepted without reading.
The short answer
Install it from Softaculous in cPanel, or with wp core download and wp core install over SSH if you do this more than occasionally. Either way it takes about ten minutes. The value of this page is the six defaults you change immediately afterwards, three of which are painful to change later.
The hard-to-reverse three are the table prefix, the site URL — with or without www, in a subdirectory or at the root — and the administrator username. The easy three are the PHP version, permalinks and the server cache. Take a TTFB reading before you install a single plugin, because that number is the only honest baseline you will ever get.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
Beginner
Skill floor
10 minutes
Hands-on time
5
Steps in total
24/7
Support on call
You need cPanel access, a domain resolving to the account, and ten minutes. SSH with WP-CLI is available on the shared plans if you would rather script it.
The install itself is safe to repeat, so nothing here is high-stakes. The decisions that persist are called out as they arrive rather than at the end.
Softaculous or WP-CLI, and how to choose
Softaculous is the right tool if you install WordPress occasionally: it creates the database and the user, writes wp-config.php, sets the salts and gives you a form for the admin account. It is in cPanel under Software, and it will also handle updates and cloning afterwards.
WP-CLI is the right tool if you do this often or want it in a script. wp core download, then wp config create with the database credentials, then wp core install with the URL, title and admin details is three commands and about forty seconds. Full SSH with Git and Composer is on the shared plans, so this is available without moving to a VPS.
The three decisions that are awkward to reverse
The table prefix is written into wp-config.php and into every table name. Changing it later means renaming tables and rewriting rows inside wp_options and wp_usermeta where the prefix appears in the key. Set something short and non-default now and never think about it again.
The site URL is the second. Decide www or bare, and root or subdirectory, before the install writes it into the database — changing it afterwards is a search-replace across every table plus a redirect. The third is the administrator username: create the account you actually want, because renaming a user later means a database edit or a second account and a migration of its content.
The three you should change before the first visitor
Set the PHP version for this site in the control panel rather than accepting whatever the account defaulted to; per-site switching means you can pin it deliberately. Set permalinks to post name, because changing that later generates a redirect map you did not want. Then turn the server cache on, since LiteSpeed sits in front of NVMe storage on every tier and an uncached WordPress install is doing PHP work for every anonymous visitor.
While you are there, clear the sample post, page and comment, and check that the search engine visibility box is not still ticked from a staging copy. That one hides the entire site from crawlers and is the single most expensive checkbox in WordPress.
Take the baseline before anything else touches it
An empty install is the fastest this site will ever be, so measure it now: curl -o /dev/null -s -w '%{time_starttransfer}\n' https://yoursite/ a handful of times and take the median. From a UK connection the indicative round trip to our London origin is 5 to 15 milliseconds, so on a cached response that latency should dominate rather than PHP.
Write the number down. Every theme and plugin decision from here is a change against that baseline, and without it you are guessing. Google treats under 800 milliseconds as the good band for time to first byte; a bare install that cannot beat that comfortably has a configuration problem rather than a hardware one.
The stack these steps were measured on
Every walkthrough here is run against the platform we operate — cPanel, LiteSpeed in front of NVMe, Softaculous, WP-CLI over SSH — so the field names in the instructions are the field names on your screen.
NVMe storage sits behind a LiteSpeed cache on every tier including the smallest, so speed is the baseline rather than the upsell.
- Both install routes, with a reason to pick each
- The irreversible decisions marked as such
- A measured baseline before plugin one
- Engineers on support at any hour
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
Two routes, honestly compared
Softaculous and WP-CLI are both described with the case each one suits, rather than the page pretending only one exists.
Reversibility labelled
Table prefix, site URL and admin username are marked as hard to change later, which is exactly when nobody is paying attention.
A baseline you keep
The page has you measure the empty install, so every later change can be judged against a number instead of a feeling.
5 steps, no padding
Five actions, each finishing in something observable, and the boring ones acknowledged as boring.
The expensive checkbox flagged
Search engine visibility left ticked from a staging copy hides a whole site, and the page catches it in the sequence.
Engineers on call
Stuck halfway through at midnight? Support answers at any hour, mid-walkthrough included.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Choose your installer and open it
Softaculous lives in cPanel under Software and handles the database, wp-config.php and the salts for you. Over SSH, wp core download followed by wp config create and wp core install does the same in three commands, which is the better option if this is a repeat job.
- 2
Set the directory, the URL form and the table prefix
Decide root or subdirectory, and www or bare, before you submit — both are written into the database. Replace the default table prefix with something short of your own. These three fields are the ones you will regret leaving alone.
- 3
Create the admin account you actually want
Pick a username that is not admin, a genuinely random password from a manager, and an email address on a domain other than the one you are installing on, so a mail misconfiguration cannot lock you out of your own password reset.
- 4
Set the PHP version, permalinks and the cache
Pin the PHP version for this site in the control panel, set permalinks to post name, and enable the LiteSpeed cache. Then delete the sample content and confirm search engine visibility is not still disabled from a staging copy.
- 5
Take a TTFB baseline before installing anything
Run curl -o /dev/null -s -w '%{time_starttransfer}\n' https://yoursite/ five times and record the median. This is the fastest the site will ever be, and it is the number every later decision gets measured against.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- NVMe storage on every tier, not only the expensive ones
- LiteSpeed caching in the server, not bolted on by plugin
- Softaculous for one-click application installs
- SSH with Git and Composer on the developer plans
- Per-site PHP version switching in the control panel
- WordPress Toolkit, with updates applied for you
- Daily backups with self-service restores from the panel
- Staging environments for testing before you ship
- Support staffed by humans, every hour of the day
- Accounts live minutes after checkout, not next working day
Frequently Asked
What people ask us most often
Softaculous or WP-CLI for a fresh install?
Softaculous if you install occasionally: it creates the database and user, generates the salts and gives you a form, so there is nothing to remember. WP-CLI if you do it regularly or want it scripted, because wp core download, wp config create and wp core install take under a minute and are repeatable. Both end up with the same install; the difference is whether you want a form or a shell history.
What is a reasonable time to first byte for an empty install?
Measure it rather than trusting a number from an article: curl -o /dev/null -s -w '%{time_starttransfer}\n' https://yoursite/, five runs, take the median. From a UK connection the indicative round trip to the London origin is 5 to 15 milliseconds, so a cached response should be dominated by network latency rather than by PHP. Google's good band for TTFB is under 800 milliseconds, and an empty install should be nowhere near it.
Does the table prefix actually matter?
Not much for security — an attacker with SQL injection can read the prefix from the schema — but it matters a great deal for whether you can ever change it. It is written into wp-config.php, every table name, and keys inside wp_options and wp_usermeta. Choosing something short and non-default at install costs nothing; changing it on a live site is an afternoon and a backup.
Can I move the install from a subdirectory to the root later?
Yes, and it is a known job rather than a nightmare: move the files, update siteurl and home, run wp search-replace for any hardcoded paths, and redirect the old subdirectory URLs one hop each. It is still an hour you did not have to spend, which is why the directory question belongs in step two rather than in a later ticket.
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