Install Drupal with Cpanel and Fantastico

Go here to see this with screenshots.

I have always installed Drupal the old fashioned way, creating mysql databases and using FTP. My host, AN Hosting offers Fantastico (which is only offered for CPanel). Fantastico is an autoinstaller and I had avoided it because I liked my traditional methods. But when I started thinking of making a tutorial site, I wanted to make it for the new and less experienced. I don't know exactly how a car works, but I know how to drive one. I think website building can be the same way. So here it goes with Fantastico!

1. Login to CPanel. Your host will have emailed your login information to you - the url, username and password. If you don't have a host, you may want to get one before moving on ;-). You may get a pop-up login box instead of the login page.

2. After logging in, you will see your usage statistics and server information on the left and a lot of icons on the right. Each icon represents a feature that you can edit or customize. Some features may be disabled depending on your hosting package. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the icon for 'Fantastico.'

3. The left side of the Fantastico page will list all available options for installation. Under the 'Content Management' heading will be Drupal - click it. The links and information for Drupal will appear on the right. Click 'New Installation' to begin!

4. The 'Install Drupal' page will have a number of options to fill out:

• Install on domain: Choose the domain name to install Drupal. In my example, it's drupalpunk.com.
• Install in directory: You can install in a subfolder if you already have a website in the main directory. For example, if you have a static website at www.yourdomain.com and you want to add a Drupal blog to www.yourdomain.com/blog, then put 'blog' (without quotes) in this box.
• Administrator username: Yes - Fantastico will create the mysql database for you, AND create the first Drupal administrator account. How easy is that? Enter the administrator username here.
• Password: Enter the Drupal administrator password here.
• Admin e-mail: Enter the email address for the Drupal administrator account here.

Now click 'Install Drupal.'

5. Next comes the confimation page - make sure that Drupal is being installed in the right place. Fantastico also lets you know the mysql information it is creating. Click 'Finish installation.'

6. That's it - the installation is complete! Fantastico takes care of creating the database, the database user as well as the first Drupal administrator account. This was so easy that I may not be able to go back to doing it the traditional way again! A couple of things to note on this page:

• Fantastico installs Drupal, but does not support it. That's ok because the Drupal forums are a great place to learn and find help.
• The Drupal admin account information is repeated. You can write it down, but the better option is to...
• Email the information to yourself using the box at the bottom! This is great because you get all the information about the install, the database name, database username, plus the Drupal admin login information. The one thing that was incorrect in the email I got was the 'Admin URL.' To login to Drupal, go to www.yourdomain.com/?q=user
• Note the text in red - leave the fantastico_fileslist.txt as it's used for uninstalling.

I entered my email at the bottom and have my installation information in my Inbox - thanks Fantastico! (Figure 7)

7. Wow - that was the easiest Drupal install ever! Now you can go to your site's homepage (like www.yourdomain.com) and there is a fresh Drupal install waiting for you to login. Unlike the typical Drupal install, option #1 on the page is not to create the first user account because Fantastico did it for you already. This is ease of use at its best! So go ahead - login with your Drupal administrator account information and you are ready to start configuring your new Drupal site!

Find more Drupal tutorials at www.drupalpunk.com!