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Creating a website is an exciting endeavor. This guide is intended for those who want to create a WordPress site on a Managed WordPress Hosting account.
If you are using a Shared, VPS, or Dedicated hosting package, see our Getting Started on a Shared, VPS, or Dedicated guide.
Here are some steps that will walk you through the basics of getting a site up and running on a Pair Networks.
Step 1: Choose a Managed WordPress Hosting Package
Pair Networks offers four different managed WordPress hosting packages.
Select the package that best suits your needs and then follow the sign-up process on the Managed WordPress hosting product page. If you opt for a Shared, VPS, or Dedicated hosting package, see our Getting Started on a Shared, VPS, or Dedicated guide.
Step 2: Pick a Domain (your site’s web address)
In order to host a website, you need to decide on a domain name. A domain name is the web address that people will use to view your site.
For example, Pair Network’s domain name is pair.com. If you enter pair.com into the browser, you will be taken to our main website.
Domain names can be registered at a domain registrar, like Pair Domains.
If you do not want to spend money on a domain yet, pair Networks also offers free pairsite.com subdomains. Sites that use the pairsite.com subdomain will follow the format: example.pairsite.com. These subdomains can be added when creating a site.
Step 3: Create a Website
Next, you can begin creating your site.
In your new hosting account's interface, called the Account Control Center (ACC), you can automatically create a website.
Follow these instructions to create your first WordPress site.
Step 4: Access the Site’s WordPress Admin Interface
After the site is created, log in to the WordPress admin interface. This interface holds all the features needed to design your site.
Follow these instructions to access the WordPress Admin Interface from your hosting account.
Step 5: Design Your Site
Now that you are logged in to the WordPress admin interface, you can start designing your website.
If you are unfamiliar with WordPress, see these articles for some basic WordPress features:
- How to Add Themes
- How to Install WordPress Plugins
- WordPress User Roles and Capabilities
- How to Use the WordPress Posts Menu
Step 6: Secure a Site with SSL
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that encrypts traffic between a web server and client (the browser). This helps keep your site information safe from hackers.
Because of the rise of security threats, SSL is quickly becoming a necessity for websites. Many browsers will now tell visitors that sites are insecure if they lack an SSL certificate. In order to prevent this from happening, you need to put an SSL certificate on your site.
Pair Networks offers two different SSL certificate options:
On one hand, PairSSL is an SSL certificate that renews yearly. Sectigo, a certificate authority, backs PairSSL certificates and offers a Relying Party Warranty. There are varying protection levels. See the PairSSL product page for more information.
Follow these instructions to add a PairSSL certificate to your site.
On the other hand, Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates are free and renew every 90 days. Let's Encrypt is an open certificate authority and does not have a Relying Party Warranty.
Follow these instructions to add a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate to your site.
Optional Steps:
With the basics covered, you can move on to using some of the extra features that the Managed WordPress hosting account provides.
Set up Automatic Site Backups
One of the most important extra steps to take is setting up the automatic site backups. Automatic backups will keep revolving copies of your site so that you always have a backup available.
This feature comes in handy when something unexpected goes wrong. If a redesign goes bad, your site gets hacked and defaced, or some other misfortunes occur, you don’t have to worry; backups allow you to roll your site back to a previous version.
Follow these instructions to set up WordPress site automatic backups.
Stage a Site
Site staging is a feature that creates a WordPress site separate from your live site. Because the separate site is hidden from the public eye, you can test changes without fear of breaking your current site or users witnessing the changes as they browse. When finished, you can publish the staging site’s changes directly to your live site.
This feature is great for site redesigns, testing code, and more.
Follow these instructions to set up a staging site for your WordPress site.