Walkthrough · Beginner · 10 minutes
How to Use the Softaculous Installer
Put any of hundreds of applications live in a click, and configure it properly on the way — a hands-on walkthrough in plain words that names the classic mistake before you reach it.
The short answer
One line covers it: put any of hundreds of applications live in a click, and configure it properly on the way — a beginner-level job of roughly 10 minutes.
Below is the full run of steps, the error most people trip over, and the short cut worth remembering. On Hosting & Domains plans several steps are already automated away — the guide marks each one.
By the Hosting & Domains team · Reviewed 18 August 2026
Beginner
Skill rating
10 minutes
Time budget
5
Steps in total
24/7
Support on call
No technical background needed. This walkthrough was written for first-timers, proven on our own hardware, and honest about which parts are genuinely tricky rather than merely unfamiliar.
A promise before step one: nothing here is a one-way door. Any step with teeth is flagged, and the way back is printed beside it.
The route, mapped end to end
The work falls into a few clean stages: look through the whole catalogue, fill the settings in carefully, switch the maintenance options on, run everything from the installations list and remove apps through softaculous too.
No part of this needs code or a terminal unless the guide says so plainly — and where it does, the exact commands are printed. The step-by-step is below, with the surrounding sections supplying the context that makes it hold.
The well-worn snag
The abandoned experiment. A forum installed on a curious afternoon and never patched again slowly becomes the weakest software on the account. Read the installations list as a decommissioning schedule rather than only an inventory.
It earns a section of its own because it is no obscure edge case — it is the single commonest reason this task reaches a support queue. Knowing it in advance turns the whole job from risky into routine.
What we tell every customer
Cloning an install in Softaculous turns one configured app into a template you can reuse. Build a single WordPress exactly as you like it, then clone it for each new project and skip the setup ritual altogether.
A minute spent now repays itself every time this job comes round again — and like almost every hosting job, come round it will.
Where this platform takes work off you
Steps that never deserved your time are taken out: certificates issue and reissue themselves, the installer handles application setup, the daily copy absorbs the what-ifs, and per-site settings live in a panel rather than a configuration file. The guide covers the remainder — the part that is actually about your site.
Should a step still misfire, support answers at any hour with an actual fix rather than a knowledge-base link and a shrug. Half the guides on this site began as repeat patterns in our ticket queue.
A quick platform makes for a short guide
Every walkthrough in this library is run on the platform we actually operate — cPanel, LiteSpeed, NVMe, one-click installs — so the instructions match your screen rather than gesturing at it from a distance.
Hosted somewhere else already? We move the whole site at no charge, usually within 24 hours, and it goes on answering visitors throughout.
- Every step checked exactly as published
- The snag named before it arrives
- The dull steps taken out of your way
- People reachable at any hour you stall
Why Hosting & Domains
Standard on every plan
5 steps, nothing padded
Each stage is a few minutes of steady clicking, and the fiddly moments are labelled fiddly.
Taken from real tickets
These guides came out of the support queue, so every snag flagged is one people genuinely hit.
Every undo written out
Any step that could bite is marked, together with the exact way to wind it back.
Works exactly as printed
Every step is proven on the platform we run — none of the 'your host may vary' hedging.
Jargon never charges you
Every term is defined on the spot or linked to the jargon buster — nothing assumes prior knowledge.
Honest about how big it is
Put any of hundreds of applications live in a click, and configure it properly on the way is a beginner-level job — set aside 10 minutes, with the platform-absorbed steps marked.
Quick Start
Order placed to site online
- 1
Look through the whole catalogue
WordPress takes the headline, but forums, wikis, CRMs, learning systems and shop software are all in there: hundreds of open-source applications, packaged and waiting.
- 2
Fill the settings in carefully
Choose the domain and directory, root for the main site, set real admin credentials, and give the site a proper title. The default values are the only genuine hazard on this screen.
- 3
Switch the maintenance options on
Auto-update and automatic backup at install time cost nothing and repay a great deal, most of all on the apps you honestly intend to install and then never think about again.
- 4
Run everything from the installations list
Softaculous records every install it performs. Updates, clones, staging copies and removals all start from that one list.
- 5
Remove apps through Softaculous too
Uninstall with the tool rather than deleting directories. It clears the database and config as well, whereas deleting the folder alone leaves an orphaned database sitting on the account.
Built In
Fitted to every plan
- DDoS filtering absorbed at the network edge
- Softaculous included for one-click application installs
- Money back within 30 days on hosting plans, 7 on reseller
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, not only the dear ones
- WordPress Toolkit, with the updates seen to for you
- PHP versions set per site from the control panel
- Free SSL on every plan, reissued before the old one lapses
- A renewal figure identical to the one you registered at
- SSH, Git and Composer on the developer plans
- Staging copies for trying a change before it goes live
Frequently Asked
The questions that come up most
Is the Softaculous version of an app different somehow?
It is not. You get the same official software; Softaculous simply creates the database, puts the files in place and writes the config in one pass. There is no stripped-down edition lurking anywhere: the same application, arriving sooner.
Which entries in the catalogue are worth a look?
Whichever match your need. Self-hosted analytics in Matomo, shared notes in DokuWiki or BookStack, forums in phpBB, project boards in Kanboard. Come to the catalogue with a problem and it usually has an answer.
Is the free SSL certificate genuinely free?
Entirely, on every plan. The certificate is issued as soon as the name points here and reissues itself well before it lapses. On encryption it matches any paid DV certificate — the paid options exist for wildcard coverage or organisation validation, which most sites never need.
What is the refund position if I change my mind?
Shared, business, WordPress and WooCommerce hosting get thirty days, and reseller gets seven. VPS and dedicated servers are built to order the moment payment lands, so they sit outside the guarantee — as do domain registrations, where the registry charges the instant the name is secured. Inside the window one request returns the hosting fee, with no retention script to sit through.
Keep reading
How to Use phpMyAdmin
Read, export and carefully change your database through the panel's built-in window — intermediate level, about 20 minutes to learn.
How to Fix the WordPress White Screen
Identify what's producing the blank page and clear it step by step — intermediate level, about 20–40 minutes.
Softaculous (Glossary)
A single term without the jargon: what it means, why it counts, and where it catches people out.
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