Today’s blogging and content management software like WordPress and Drupal are very easy to use - certainly much easier than software built even just a few years ago. Almost all the “geek speak” has been beaten out of the process. The one exception to this can be at installation time when you have to know a little of that geeky stuff to get the site up and running.

Let’s look at your installation options for WordPress. You can choose from WordPress.com or WordPress.org and the differences have confused many a first time blogger.

WordPress.com
A blog on Wordpress.com is free and the easiest setup. WordPress.com serves as the host for your website and as your website software. Everything is taken care of: setup, upgrades, backups, security, etc. Your blog is on hundreds of servers, so it’s highly unlikely it will go down due to traffic. Your posts are backed up automatically. It all sounds great, but - you knew a “but” was coming - you can only use the themes they provide - no custom themes to uniquely brand your site. No cool WordPress plugins. All the tools that allow you to make your blog truly unique are limited. Also by default you will get a website at WordPress.com you address is something like “yoursite.wordpress.com” and not “www.yoursite.com.”

WordPress.org
With WordPress.org, you can install themes and plugins, run advertisements, edit the database and even modify the PHP source code - everything you need to make a 100% unique site for your blog or business. Anyone can download the WordPress software from WordPress.org for free, but it must be installed on a web server before it will work.

You have to purchase and setup your web site on a reliable web host. This can be as little as $5-12 USD a month all the way up to thousands of dollars per month for a high traffic site. While the web hosting companies are working to make setup as easy as possible, this path requires more technical knowledge to set up and run a WordPress site. In addition you’re responsible for stopping spam (but there are great plugins to assist) and you have to handle backups (but again there are tools to help you out).

Wordpress Hosting Requirements
When you go to select a web hosting partner most of the sites will claim they support WordPress. But to be sure you should check that they meet the following requirements:

Any installations on Unix/Linux OS based systems should be able to host WordPress.
PHP version 4.2 or greater
MySql version 4.0 or greater
(Optional) Apache mod_rewrite module enabled (for clean URL)

As you consider which web hosting partner to use, also consider that there are many ways to install WordPress and the functionality offered by the web hosting company will determine your path.

This advanced WordPress tutorial walks you through all the detail of a WordPress installation. If you follow all the detail in this tutorial than you obviously enjoy the technical side of life and you could install WordPress yourself. You should pick a web hosting option based on price or load capacity if you are expecting heavy traffic.

Using this approach you might also need to adjust Default File Permissions. If you have to change ANY file or folder permission, your installation is insecure. These guides may help you in changing file permissions

http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions

http://samdevol.com/wordpress-troubleshooting-permissions-chmod-and-paths-oh-my/

http://blogbuildingu.com/wordpress/install-wordpress-securely

This next WordPress tutorial is from WordPress itself and is designed for less technical users to get WordPress installed in less than 5 minutes. This is written with more explanation assuming the installer is not a technology guru – but you still have to be willing to learn a bit. The following videos give you a visual perspective on this installation process.

Now one of the easiest ways is to install WordPress Blog via Fantastico in your cpanel. This step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to install Wordpress, using Fantastico in cPanel which really starts to make this a very simple process. However, this becomes important in your selection of web hosting companies as not all companies support this option. The following video gives you a visual perspective on this installation process.

If you don’t have time to learn and install your WordPress, then you might consider the WordPress installation service from CustomWeb2. We take care of all the details and ensure that you get up and running without any hassle. Truly there are many options with WordPress - ones to fit every type of user from beginner to advanced. Choose the one that best fits your needs and get started on a blog or website to grow your business!

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