If you are in business you need your own website. I believe a self-hosted WordPress website is the easiest way to get online and start building up your business online.
I loved the infographic from CopyBlogger, until I got to step 5…
I’ve republished it at the end of this blog post with a warning – when you get to step 5, think carefully!
Why I prefer to manually install WordPress
Download your copy of How to Install WordPress and Build a Secure WordPress Blog from Amazon UK.
I never used to have a problem with one-click WordPress installs. In fact I had several blogs, all one-clicked.
Then I got hacked.
Not just a “you plank leaving the login as admin” hacked, but the database invaded too.
Because my WordPress websites were on a shared space, the problem bounced from website to website.
They were all set up with the same email, the same username (admin!) and yes, the same password too
Needless to say, I was in a mess. Days of downtime….
Hostgator were fabulous and helped me clean everything and get back up and running again. (I still use Hostgator here on MLBO and highly recommend them. They are US based. If you are looking for great US based hosting try them out and use the code 25OFFwithjan for extra discount. My other UK websites and client sites are hosted on European servers with Webhosting Buzz, who are also fabulous)
The 1-click install you get varies from host to host. Some give you a mass of extra themes that you will never use. Others install plugins as standard. Some do not allow you full admin access, or allow you to change things like the wp-config or .htaccess file.
Securely Install Your WordPress Website
You may be tempted to shout that WordPress is insecure. But the reality is it was MY FAULT.
- I went for the easy install
- I was stupid and didn’t use different names and passwords
- I had themes and plugins I didn’t use just sat there – and not updating them either because I didn’t use them…
So despite keeping my WordPress installations up-to-date I was waving a flag that basically was yelling, “Come and get me!” Unfortunately, many WordPress users do that too.
I learnt my lesson the painful way.
For the sake of a few minutes and some basic security I lost DAYS of time and a lot of data. Data that I am sure I would not have lost if I went to my host for help in the first place!
While you cannot ever guarantee that you will never be hacked you can reduce the risk. Manually installing your WordPress website, adding a few simple security features and keeping everything (including themes and plugins) up-to-date are all simple steps.
It’s not difficult to manually install WordPress, although the WordPress instructions can be a little overwhelming – I have a guide available on Amazon Kindle that walks you through the process, step-by-step with screenshot images too
Now I have my hacked story out of the way, without further ado here’s the infographic!
Like this infographic? Get more WordPress and hosting tips from Synthesis.
Download your copy of How to Install WordPress and Build a Secure WordPress Blog from Amazon UK.
It’s also available on Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.es and Amazon.it.
Self-Hosted WordPress Website Setup Step-By-Step by Jan Kearney
Thanks Jan
This is good if you are starting from scratch … but what happens if you have already set up your site?? Is there anything you can do to make it safer ??
cheers
xxxxcarlxxxx
Hello Carl, There’s loads of things you can do to make it safer – and I walk through several in my Kindle guide too. It’s not too late to make the changes once you have installed, but it is more fiddly.
On a very basic level, get rid of the admin login and use an original password, add some basic security plugins like login lockdown, wp firewall. Limit access to your wp-admin in your htaccess file. Remove the WP version from your header – while this doesn’t make it more sucure it does stop the bot opportunists from seeing which version you run and walloping you if you’re out of date. That’s NO excuse not to update regularly!
Just for info – this is what is in my guide and it’s written so non-techy people can work through it too
Why do you need this workbook?
Why people want to hack your website
Is it your fault – PC security
Hosting WordPress
Installing WordPress the secure way
Extra security
Staying up to date
Backing up your blog
Help I’ve been hacked!
Resources and further information
What great advice – and since its based on your actual experience it has more value. That said, I am negligent myself about many of the items you list except for the updating – I do that religiously. Guess I better go fix some of this on my sites 🙁
Lynn
Hi Lynn, oh I was religous with updating WP – just nothing else! I’ve learnt the hard way, hopefully you will learn from my mistakes 🙂 Get fixing!
Super stuff – Jan. After installing a custom theme, and making a number of changes to the CSS, I’ve always been nervous about version updating – I know you can take back-ups – but I don’t want to risk losing all the mods. You don’t need to tell me – I’m off to get your Kindle guide.
Hi Alan, updating a WordPress version won’t change your CSS, it may change some settings if you’ve customised core WP files rather than used a theme. Of course, updating a theme when you’ve customised it will lose your customisations. It’s always best to use a child theme for customisations – or keep a note of what you have changed so you can re-customise afterwards.
Hope the guide helps too 🙂