DreamHost Website Setup Checklist

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Summary

This page covers the basic steps to setup a simple WordPress site on DreamHost for existing DreamHost customers. These instructions assume you will purchase a new domain name, and that you have signed up for the unlimited hosting plan.

TASK #1 — Register Domain

Follow these steps to register a new domain:

1. Login at DreamHost.com to begin. You will be at the Home Dashboard.
2. In the left column of options, under Domains, choose Registrations.
3. Use the “Search Domain Names” feature to find an available website address. Preferably one that ends in dot com and does not contain any hyphens.
4. When you find an available domain name, click the Add to Cart button.
5. When you are ready, click on the “Proceed to Checkout” button and complete the purchase.
6. You will be asked to confirm your name and contact information as it will be used for registering the domain.
7. You will be asked to provide a form of payment.
8. Once the payment is processed you will see a confirmation. Typically it takes a few minutes for the domain to show up in your account.

You should receive an email confirmation when the domain setup is complete. Once you receive the email, continue to the next step.

TASK #2 — Activate Hosting

Follow these steps to activate hosting:

1. From the DreamHost Home Dashboard, from the Domains options in the left column, choose Manage Domains.
2. The domain name you just setup in Task #1 should show up in the list of domains.
3. Click on the “Add Hosting” option for your domain. This will open a settings page.
4. Under the “Fully Hosted” section, the “Domain to host” will be entered for you.
5. For URL redirect, you may wish to choose to remove WWW and shorten the domain to the name dot com for consistent simple branding.
6. Use the default settings for the rest of the settings.
7. Under Visual Confirmation click the box that says “I’m not a robot”
8. Press the blue “Fully host this domain” button.
9. You will be taken back to the Manage Domains page and at the top will be a confirmation message stating that the domain name “has been added to our hosting system!” along with a notification that it may take about 10 minutes to setup the basic file and folder structure for the site. You will still need to create your website using HTML or a design system like WordPress or Remixer site designer.

You should receive an email confirmation when the hosting setup is complete. Once you receive the email, continue to the next step.

TASK #3 — Activate SSL

After waiting for the hosting to activate (Task #2), follow these steps to request an SSL secure certificate for your site so that the https:// address can be used for the site. This will enable end-to-end encryption for your site visitors and also for site management, making site login activity private.

Follow these steps to request SSL:

1. From the DreamHost Home Dashboard, under the Websites heading in the left column, click on the Secure Certificates option.
2. From the list of domains, for the new website, click on the blue “Add” button.
3. On the certificate options page, choose the “Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate” and click on the blue “Select this Certificate” button.
4. You will be returned to the Secure Certificates page and a confirmation message at the top of the page will say, “Success! We are installing your new certificate…”

You should receive an email confirmation when the SSL setup is complete. Once you receive the email, continue to the next step.

TASK #4 — Install WordPress

There are many systems available for web design. In this example we will be using WordPress. Follow these steps for the initial setup.

1. From the DreamHost Home Dashboard, from the Domains options in the left column, choose One-Click Installs.
2. On the page “Install a New Application” under the WordPress heading, click on the “Learn More & Install” button.
3. On the One-Click Installer page, under the “Custom One-Click Installer” for the “Install to” option, select your domain from the drop-down list.
4. For the “Select Database” option, the default selection of “Automatically Create Database” is good to use.
5. Remove the checkmark next to Deluxe Install.
6. Remove the checkmark next to WP Website Builder.
7. Click on the blue “Install it for me now!” button.

You should receive an email confirmation when the WordPress installation is complete. Once you receive the email, continue to the next step.

TASK #5 — Setup WordPress

You will receive a confirmation message after the initial WordPress installation is complete.

1. In the email confirmation from the previous task, click on the first time login and setup link provided. You will see the instructions, “In order to log in for the first time, you will need to click this link to set your password…”
2. Set the password for the user account.
3. Note that the login username is assigned by DreamHost and the login email will be the email you have on file with DreamHost.
4. Login and begin setting up your new WordPress website. Setup your initial pages such as Home, About, Contact, Posts, and any other resource pages.