What is the WordPress Toolkit?

The WordPress Toolkit is used to manage all your WordPress sites in one place. Use this app to install WordPress for any of your domains or subdomains, install themes and plugins, and keep them all up to date.

Using the WordPress Toolkit can save you time by allowing you to update your WordPress install, theme, and plugins without needing to log in to each installation individually.

How do I install WordPress with the WordPress Toolkit?

Step 1: Go to: https://manage.christianwebhost.com/ or click the "Login" button located at the top right of our website. Unless you change them, your login details are the email address and password used when the account was created.

Step 2: Once logged in, click the Services block and choose your cPanel service to access its management page.

Step 3: From the Actions menu on the left, click Login to cPanel (you do not need your cPanel credentials for this method).

Step 4: Once logged into your cPanel, scroll down to the Domains section and click the WordPress Toolkit app.

Step 5: Once you are in your WordPress Toolkit, you will see an overview of all of your WordPress sites.

  • If you do not have any WordPress installations, you can Install WordPress from here, or click Scan for WordPress installations that were installed using other tools, manually installed, or migrated from another server. This will allow you to add the installation to your WordPress Toolkit for future management.

Step 6: Click either the Install button in the upper left or the Install WordPress button in the center of the screen (this button will only appear if there are no WordPress sites installed currently).

Step 7: The Install WordPress menu will slide in from the left. This menu is divided into four sections with two hidden by default. The two hidden sections can be left at the default settings without any issues.

Step 8: In the General section, choose which domain and directory to install your WordPress site and your Admin account.

  • Installation Path: 
    • First, you can select whether to use HTTP (non-encrypted) or HTTPS (encrypted). Encrypted is recommended, but will require an SSL certificate.
    • Then, you will select the domain you wish to install WordPress on. Choose your domain or subdomain from the drop-down box. 
    • You can also enter the subfolder in which you wish to install WordPress.
    • If you wish to install your site in the document root for the domain, leave the Installation Directory field blank.
  • Website Title: Set the name of your WordPress site here. The tool will generate a random one for you by default. You can always update it later if needed.
  • Plugin/Theme Set: Choose from any of the common plugin/theme sets that are included with the WordPress Toolkit. You can add or remove themes and plugins later as needed.
  • Website Language: Set the default language of your WordPress site.
  • Version: Choose what version of WordPress you would like to install. It is recommended to use the newest version at all times.

Step 9: In the WordPress Administrator section, create the Admin account for your WordPress installation. 

  • The Toolkit will generate a Username and Password for you by default, but you can enter your preferred settings here or use the Password Generator to create a secure password. DO NOT USE “admin” as your username, or you will get hacked.
  • The Toolkit will automatically fill in your email address with the one set in cPanel. You can change it here if needed.

Step 10: In the Database section, set your database name and credentials. This will be used to create the database in your cPanel and set up in your WordPress installation. You can customize these if you like, but it is fine to let the Toolkit set these randomly for you. It is rare that you will ever need these settings.

Step 11: In the Automatic Update Settings section, you can choose how and when your WordPress installation, plugins, and themes update. This section is divided into three parts:

  • Update WordPress automatically: Choose whether your WordPress installation will update automatically. You can set it to update whenever a new version is released, or only when minor security updates are released.
    • No: For example, neither 4.7.1 nor 4.8 will be automatically installed.
    • Yes, but only minor (security) updates: For example, automatically install 4.7.1 but not 4.8.
    • Yes, all updates (minor and major): For example, automatically install 4.7.1 and 4.8.
  • Update Plugins automatically: Choose whether your Plugins are updated automatically or if they are allowed to use their own update settings. You can also restrict vulnerable plugins from being updated.
    • Defined individually: Each plugin uses its own autoupdate settings. Enable automatic updates by default for new plugins installed via the WordPress Toolkit.
    • Defined individually, but security updates are autoinstalled: Each plugin uses its own autoupdate settings, but vulnerable plugins will be updated automatically regardless of their settings:
      • Enable autoupdates by default for new plugins installed via WordPress Toolkit.
      • Deactivate vulnerable plugins instead of updating them.
    • Forced: All plugins will be automatically updated regardless of their individual update settings. You can deactivate vulnerable plugins instead of updating them.
  • Update themes automatically: Now, you can choose your automatic update settings for your themes. You can choose whether your theme is allowed to use its own update settings, is updated automatically only when security updates are released, or is forced to be updated.
    • Defined individually: Each theme uses its own automatic update settings. You can enable automatic updates by default for new themes installed via the WordPress Toolkit.
    • Defined individually, but security updates are autoinstalled: Each theme uses its own automatic update settings, but vulnerable themes will be updated automatically regardless of their settings. You can enable automatic updates by default for new themes installed via the WordPress Toolkit.
    • Forced: All themes will be automatically updated regardless of their individual update settings.

Step 12: Once you have set all your settings to your preference, click the Install button at the bottom left to begin the installation.

Step 13: Once the installation is complete, you will be returned to the WordPress Toolkit Installations page, where you will find a summary of each of your WordPress installations and be able to manage them.

WordPress Toolkit Installation Tab Walkthrough

Here is a walkthrough of the WordPress Toolkit installation tab.

Top Menu Bar

Along the top of each installation, you will see several options.

  • Hide arrows: You can click this icon to hide this site summary, or click here to show if it is already hidden. It can be helpful if you have several installations.
  • Domain name: The name of the domain for this installation.
  • Open: This link will open your website in a new tab.
  • Add Label: Add a label to help sort and manage your installations (e.g., Production, Staging, Testing).
  • Issues: This will show you what issues this installation currently has that should be addressed
  • Links: You will see links for the Logs, File Manager, and a refresh button. There is also a drop-down menu that contains other options:
    • Check Updates
    • Check Security
    • Update Site URL: Change the site address
    • Detach: Remove the site from the WordPress Toolkit (site will still be live)
    • Remove: Remove the site, delete the files, and delete the database.

Left Column

  • In the left column, you will see a thumbnail of the home page for the site.
  • Below this, you will see a Log In button that will automatically log you into your WordPress dashboard.
  • You will also see a Setup button that allows you to view your username and password, as well as update your password or email address if needed.
  • You will also see the cPanel username and the domain for the installation.

Right Column

You will see four tabs, each containing more information regarding your installation.

Dashboard

In the Dashboard, you will see a summary of your WordPress installation, as well as several management links.

Upper Menu Bar: Here, you will find links to help manage your WordPress site.

  • File Manager: This will open your file manager in the WordPress install folder.
  • Copy Data: This feature allows you to copy one of your WordPress installations to another.
  • Clone: This feature allows you to create a copy of your WordPress installation and install it on a new or existing domain or subdomain. This can also be used to create staging sites.
  • Backup / Restore: This menu allows you to create a backup of your WordPress installation or restore it from a previous backup.
  • Logs: This section displays the logs for this WordPress installation. It can be used for troubleshooting issues.

Status: Here, you can see details on your WordPress installation. You will see warnings on any part of this summary that needs attention.

  • WordPress: The current WordPress version.
  • Plugins: The update status of your Plugins.
  • Themes: The update status of your Themes.
  • Security: The security status of your WordPress install and any potential issues.
  • PHP: The current PHP version of your installation and whether it is up to date.
  • SSL/TLS: The SSL/TLS status of your site, as well as the SSL certificate type.

Tools: Here, you can toggle some of the many tools that can help manage and secure your WordPress Installation. Click the “?” icon for each option for more information. If you click the settings icon to the right of the tool, you will see the advanced options for that tool.

  • Search engine indexing
  • Debugging
  • Take over wp-cron.php
  • Enable hotlink protection

Plugins

From the Plugins tab, you can:

  • View all your currently installed plugins, including their names and version numbers.  Click the “i” icon to see a description of the plugin.
  • Add new plugins by clicking the +Install button.
  • Remove plugins by clicking the trash can to the right.
  • Enable or disable plugins by using the toggle to the right.
  • Enable Autoupdate on all of your plugins by using the toggle to the right.
  • Make bulk actions to multiple plugins by using the checkboxes on the left.

Themes

From the Themes tab, you can:

  • View all your currently installed themes and their corresponding version numbers. Click the “i” icon to see a description of the theme.
  • Install new themes. 
  • Remove themes by clicking the trash can on the right. Note: You cannot remove an active theme.
  • Choose which theme is active.
  • Enable Autoupdate on all of your themes by using the toggle to the right.
  • Make bulk actions to multiple themes by using the checkboxes on the left.

Database

The Database tab displays the settings. There are also some helpful links to the database management section in cPanel.

  • Database name:
    • This is the database name for the WordPress install.
    • Clicking the database name will open it in the cPanel Database section.
    • You can also open the database in phpMyAdmin by clicking the link. This should only be done by advanced users.
  • Database table prefix: This is the prefix used in the database for this installation
  • Database user name: The username used for the WordPress database. You can change the username here if needed.
  • Database server: This is the address of the database server. This should always be localhost:3306.

Bottom Menu Bar

The bottom menu bar contains several options for maintaining and updating your WordPress installation.

  • Updates: This will check your installation and any plugins or themes for updates.
  • Autoupdate Settings: This feature allows you to modify your auto-update settings.
  • Smart Update: This will toggle the Smart Update system, which creates a full staging site for your installation and runs several tests and screenshots to allow you to check for issues before modifying your existing site.
  • Check WordPress Integrity: 
    • Use this tool to check the WordPress installation files to ensure that the base files have not been modified.
    • You should do this if you think your site has been compromised.
    • Verify Checksum: This feature checks your files against known WordPress files and identifies any discrepancies.
    • Reinstall WordPress Core: This will reinstall your WordPress core files. It should not affect your existing site, but we recommend backing it up first as a precaution.
  • Maintenance Mode:
    • When you turn on Maintenance mode, any visitors to your site will be redirected to a maintenance page instead of your home page.
    • This is used when updating your WordPress site or temporarily hiding the site from the public.
    • Maintenance mode is automatically activated when the site is being updated.
    • You can customize the maintenance page of your site by clicking the settings icon to the right of the maintenance mode toggle.

Additional WordPress Toolkit Information

You can find more information about the WordPress Toolkit on the cPanel YouTube channel.

If you have any further questions, please ask to speak with a live customer service specialist or email support@christianwebhost.com for further assistance.