When I first started this endeavor I was swayed by the simplicity of 1and1’s (my host) touted ‘Click & Build’ feature. I was so swayed by it that I made the mistake of first attempting to set up WordPress like that. What I got was a husk of WordPress, an outdated, impossible to update or fully customize version. After removing this version with 1and1’s much more useful feature, the one click uninstall, I set about to set up WordPress on my own. As it turns out this is not a difficult task at all. The following guide should show anyone using 1and1 as their host how to set up WordPress, unfortunately I was not able to get it down to one click.

1. The first thing you want to do is create a new database from the “MySQL Administration” page in the admin center. The reason for doing this first is because the setup is not instant and may take a while. You will be prompted for a description and a password. Feel free to put anything in description, and make sure you remember your password as you will need it to configure WordPress later on. Before moving on also make sure you have credentials set up for both FTP and SSH as these may also take a while.

2. You want to download the latest copy of WordPress. You may do so at http://wordpress.org/download/, as of the time of this writing version 3.4.1 is the latest. Once downloaded just unzip the folder into the directory of your choice.

3. Navigate to the unzipped WordPress folder and you should find a file called “wp-config-sample.php”. This is the file you will modify to configure WordPress. Open the “wp-config-sample.php” file in your text editor of choice.

4. The four fields of immediate importance in the file are:

• ‘DB_NAME’ : The name of the database. This was generated in the 1and1 setup so you should get it from there. Note that the name is not what you wrote in for the database description.
• ‘DB_USER’: The main user for the database. This was also generated in the 1and1 setup.
• ‘DB_PASSWORD’: The database password for the above user. This is the one you put in earlier and were not supposed to forget.
• ‘DB_HOST’: URL for database access. This is provided by 1and1 in the same page where you may view your databases (where you got both the database name and user).

5. This is all that is necessary to modify in the config file but I suggest going a bit further. You should also modify all the authentication information for added security. Thankfully this is extremely easy, just use their online generator. Copy the generated keys/salts into the config file section where the empty ones used to be. If you need further convincing for adding this, feel free to read about WordPress security keys.

6. There are more options in the configuration, but you can read those on your own. Save your changes and rename “wp-config-sample.php” to “wp-config.php”. WordPress looks for a file with that name during initial setup.

7. Return to 1and1 and go to your “Domains” screen. Click the domain you will be using to host your WordPress site, this will take you to the settings screen. Click “Edit” on “Destination” and create a new directory with the name of your choice.

8. Using your favorite FTP client (I prefer Coda which offers Transmit in disguise, but FileZilla is also a great option) to upload your files to the directory you created. If you would like to transfer over secure FTP you can find the necessary information at 1and1 FTP support.

9. Once the file transfer is complete, navigate from your browser to the URL for your WordPress site plus “/wp-admin/install.php” and you should be guided from here on by WordPress.

Overall, I have been very satisfied with 1and1’s service, and I can see how these one click installations may be helpful for some of their customers. However, from now own I will be doing my own setups.