As a web host whose target market are WordPress bloggers, we are always monitoring the web for conversations relating to WordPress and web hosting.
One of the topics I see all around the web is how WordPress can be installed easily with Fantastico. And yes, in fact it can. However, just to set the record straight, if you’re looking to start a WordPress blog and someone tells you that you need to look for a web host that has cPanel and Fantastico, there’s no reason to listen to them.
Trust me, as a guy whose been online for a long time and knows a thing or two about web hosting, there is no reason to limit your options to web hosts which only match this criteria. There’s a lot more you need to consider and understand.
What is Fantastico?
Fantastico is bundled set of software which can be used to install several different applications to your web hosting account. One such program is WordPress.
Are There Issues with Fantastico and WordPress?
If you visit the WordPress Forums and do a search for problems with Fantastico, you’ll most definitely find a lot of people have problems using it to install and upgrade WordPress; however, I think using it to install WordPress isn’t too bad (you can do better), but using it to upgrade WordPress wouldn’t be something I’d do. For that, use the WordPress built-in auto upgrade feature.
Why You Might Not Want To Use Fantastico
Security
If you’ve read my blog for awhile now or you look up to our main menu, you’ll see one of the topics I’m constantly talking about is WordPress Security. One of the major problems with WordPress when it comes to security is that every default install looks exactly the same.
The primary folders start with wp-, your login page is located in the same place (directory-wise) as the next guy’s, your database table prefix is 9xek3pd_, etc. In other words, the default installation of WordPress is very “cookie-cutter”.
And how does Fantastico install WordPress? The cookie-cutter way.
You miss out on the learning experience
Another reason why you might not want to use Fantastico to install WordPress on your account is the learning experience you’ll miss out on. By installing WordPress yourself (it’s not difficult and I’m always here to help), you’ll learn a thing or two about the program you’ll be working with for many years to come.
It’s like my days back in college and the time when I took Calculus. We learned a very long and difficult way to do derivatives. I remember doing the homework and hating every second of the long drawn out process of figuring out the answer. Then the next day our instructor showed us a very simple and quick way to find the answer (instead of the long drawn out process). At first I hated the fact that he made us go through such a difficult process to find the answer when in fact there was a much easier way to do it.
But you know what? I learned something. I learned how and why the shortcut worked, which made me understand.
Now I’m not saying you should never use an easy installer to install WordPress. If you do, fine. But if you first experiment and try installing it on your own, you might find you are learning something.
Alternatives To Fantastico For Easy Installations
WP Blog Host’s Alternative
WpBlogHost does not use the script library Fantastico; instead, we use a bundle set of applications included free with all hosting accounts which allows you to easily install a number of programs (nearly identical to Fantastico). Of course, one of the programs you can easily install is WordPress.
The thing I like about our installer over Fantastico is the fact that your installation, although not 100% secure, installs a WordPress blog a little less cookie-cutter than Fantastico.
Elefante Installer
Some hosting companies use a program similar to Fantastico, called Elefante Scripts. It basically works the same.
EasyWP Install Script
Through my Google Alerts set up to notify me about things around the web on WordPress, I found a blog article called EasyWP – Install WordPress in Seconds! by a young web designer named, Joel Drapper. Thanks to Joel, I’ve learned there’s a program out there called EasyWP WordPress Installer.
The installer, though not as easy as Fantastico or our installer, can simplify the WordPress installation some. The one downside is you still have to create your own database, which in my experience is probably the most difficult part of installing WordPress people have. It’s actually not difficult, but since working with a database is foreign to most every day web users, this seems to be the part they hate dealing with.
My Take On Fantastico
If your web host has Fantastico, by all means use it to install WordPress if you don’t want to go through the learning experience of installing it yourself. But whatever you do, don’t let the fact if your web host uses Fantastico or not sway you from your decision on which web host to host your blog with.
Some companies, like ours, offer easy alternatives.
If you’re looking to start a WordPress blog and are trying to figure out which web host you should go with, check out my article on How To Choose The Best WordPress Blog Hosting Company.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Hi John,
I used to use Fantastico, but the problem was they were slow to make the updates available.
I now use the WordPress Automatic Update plugin and am pleases with that.
Speaking of security, I owe you an email. Soon, I promise.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..For The Sake Of The Children – Blog Smart
May 18th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
That’s a great point, Barbara. It is always best to do your own upgrades because the instant a newer version of WordPress is released you really should upgrade.
Also, a nice thing with WordPress 2.7 and above, the automatic upgrade plugin is no longer needed because WordPress now has the auto upgrade feature built right in.
I’ll be watch’n for ya!
May 20th, 2009 at 12:25 am
LOL John – It took me a long while to move from blogspot to Wordpress because it just seemed so complicated. In the end I used Fantastico and it got me in a real bind when I had problems with my host. Luckily, I had you to move my blog for me. So I can see the sense in learning to install Wordpress properly.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Hello Cath. I bet one of your biggest issues was the fact you had all those posts sitting on Blogspot which you now had to move over to WordPress.
Moving them isn’t the biggest deal, it’s all the momentum you have to rebuild by making such a move.