If you have decided to use a WordPress please use these installation instructions to set up your MySQL database and hosting account to run a WordPress blog.

Step 1:  Create a MySQL database for the blog
1.  Go to http://panel.ihostnetworks.com and log into your control panel
2.  Once you are logged in, click on the link to your site name under the "Sites" section, this will give you better buttons to work with
3.  On the next screen click on the "Admin" button under the "Web Site" section

Note: Clicking on the "Admin" button will open the site control panel in a new window, be sure your popup blocker will allow the new window to open, or you will not see the new window and be unable to proceed.

4.  Once the new window opens, select the "Databases" button
5.  On the next screen click "Add New Database"
6.  Now Add the Database

a.  Under "Database Name", name the database for your site.  We recommend "mydomains_yoursitename" where if your domain is joespizza.com name the database "mydomains_joespizza"
b.  Type: leave it "MySQL"
c.  Press "OK"

7.  Now the database is created, you need to add a user for the database - click "Add new user for database"
8.  Put in a user name and password for the database user, you will need to keep this information for later in the installation.

Step 2:  Create a directory for your blog and give it the correct permissions
While you are still logged in the control panel, add a directory for your blog.

a.  Create the directory
1.  Click on the "Home" button on the left of your control panel
2.  Click on "Web Directories"
3.  Click the "Add New Directory" button
4.  Name the directory "blog" or or anything you wish.  Note: when installation is complete you will access your blog by going to http://www.yoursite.com/blog if you name the directory "blog"
5.  Go directly to the next step without clicking anything

b.  Give the proper permissions to the directory
1.  Now that the directory has been created, click on the folder named "blog" (or whatever you named the new directory) to edit the properties of the directory
2.  Press the "Permissions" button
*Very Important* - follow these instructions carefully...by applying the wrong permissions you can seriously compromise the security of your site.
3.  Click on the user account named "Plesk IIS User (IUSR_username)" where "username" is your account username with us.  Be extra careful you select the correct user account.
4.  Once the user in step 3 has been selected, put a check next to "read" and "write" on the right hand side.  Leave the check next to "List Folder Contents" checked.
5.  Press "OK"

Now your hosting account is ready to perform the WordPress installation.

Step 3: Download and unzip the WordPress blog files
1.  Download the files from this page: http://wordpress.org/download/
2.  Unzip the files to a folder on your computer

Step 4: Configure the WordPress config file
Follow the instructions on this page: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Step_3:_Set_up_wp-config.php

Step 5: Upload the files to your "blog" folder
1.  If you need help with FTP, view the following article on how to FTP using Internet Explorer or your favorite FTP client
2.  Be sure you FTP all the files and folders directly into the "blog" folder.  The "blog" folder should have 3 folders named "wp-admin", "wp-content" and "wp-includes", and all the files along with them (there are about 23 other files that need to be visible in the "blog" folder.

Step 6: Run the installation script
Go to http://www.yoursite.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php to run the installation script.  If you have questions about the installation script see this page.

Note: be sure you don't lose the password they give you or you will be locked out of your blog.

Now your blog is up and running, you can see it http://www.yoursite.com/blog (or the directory you created).