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WordPress on your hosting

Our hosting is sized for WordPress. It has the PHP extensions WordPress needs, .htaccess works with the Apache web server, and OPcache is enabled on every PHP version.

Installing

If the installer is available on your site's WordPress tab, you can install from there directly: it needs a verified main domain and an empty web/ folder.

To install by hand:

  1. Download WordPress from wordpress.org and unpack it.
  2. Create a database on the Databases tab and note its name, user, password and server.
  3. Upload the unpacked files into the web/ folder over SFTP. Copy the files themselves, not the wordpress folder.
  4. Open the site in your browser and give the installer the database details. For the host, enter the server name shown on the card, not localhost.

Recommended settings

Scheduled tasks. WordPress's built-in scheduler (WP-Cron) runs only when someone opens the site. A real cron job is more reliable:

  1. Add this to wp-config.php: define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true );
  2. On the Cron jobs tab, add a job with the WordPress template. It runs wp-cron.php every fifteen minutes. Details: Scheduled tasks (cron).

Upload size and memory. For large media files or plugin packages, raise upload_max_filesize, post_max_size and memory_limit on the PHP settings tab. See PHP version and php.ini settings.

Updates. Keep WordPress, your themes and your plugins up to date, and use a supported PHP version. The great majority of compromised sites are broken into through an outdated plugin.

Sending mail

On a hosting site, PHP cannot send mail directly. WordPress's built-in mail therefore does not work: contact forms, password reset emails and WooCommerce notifications do not go out on their own.

Install a mail plugin that sends through an external email provider, and configure it with that provider's details. Most such providers accept mail through an HTTPS API, which these plugins support directly. Add the SPF and DKIM records the provider gives you to the sending domain as well, or your mail may end up in spam folders.

Backups

Before a bigger change (an update, a new theme or plugin), take a backup on the Backups tab with Back up now, and download it. See Backups.