How to Manage WordPress Installations with Softaculous

Once WordPress is installed via Softaculous, you can use Softaculous to manage all your WordPress installations from a single dashboard — update WordPress core, themes, and plugins, create backups, clone sites, and set up staging environments.

On a WordPress Hosting plan? Use WP Toolkit instead. See How to Use WP Toolkit.

Accessing the Softaculous WordPress Manager

1. Log in to cPanel (yourdomain.com/cpanel)
2. Go to Software → Softaculous Apps Installer
3. Click the WordPress icon in the top navigation bar, or click Installations in the top-right menu
4. You'll see a list of all WordPress installations on your account

Updating WordPress

Keeping WordPress, themes, and plugins up to date is critical for security and performance.

Update WordPress Core

1. In the Softaculous installations list, look for an Update Available badge
2. Click the Update button (arrow icon) next to the installation
3. Review the update details and click Update
4. Softaculous creates a backup before updating (if auto-backup is enabled)

Update Themes and Plugins

1. Click Manage next to your WordPress installation
2. Scroll to the Plugins or Themes section
3. Click Update next to any item with an available update
4. Or click Update All to update everything at once

Enable Auto-Updates

1. In the installations list, click the pencil icon (Edit) next to your site
2. Scroll to Auto Update
3. Set preferences:

1. Click Save

Recommendation: Enable auto-updates for minor WordPress releases and plugin security patches, but manually review major version updates.

Backing Up WordPress

Create a Manual Backup

1. In the installations list, click the backup icon (database/arrow) next to your site
2. Softaculous will create a full backup (files + database)
3. The backup is stored in your hosting account and listed under Backups in the top menu

Set Up Automatic Backups

1. Click the pencil icon (Edit) next to your installation
2. Scroll to Backup Settings:

1. Click Save

Restore From a Backup

1. Click Backups in the Softaculous top menu
2. Find the backup you want to restore
3. Click the Restore button
4. Select what to restore: Files, Database, or Both
5. Click Restore Installation

Warning: Restoring a backup replaces your current site with the backup version. Make sure you want to overwrite current data.

Download a Backup

1. Go to Backups in Softaculous
2. Click the download icon next to the backup
3. The backup file (.tar.gz) is downloaded to your computer for safekeeping

Cloning a WordPress Site

Clone creates an exact copy of your WordPress site to another domain or directory — useful for creating a development copy or migrating to a new domain.

Steps to Clone

1. In the installations list, click the clone icon next to your site
2. Configure the clone destination:

1. Click Clone Installation

Creating a Staging Environment

Staging lets you test changes (updates, new plugins, design changes) on a private copy before pushing them to your live site.

Create a Staging Site

1. In the installations list, click the Staging icon next to your site
2. Choose a staging location:

1. Click Create Staging

Push Staging to Live

After testing your changes on the staging site:

1. Go to the staging installation in Softaculous
2. Click Push to Live
3. Choose what to push: Files only, Database only, or Both
4. Confirm — the changes from staging replace the live site

Removing a WordPress Installation

1. In the installations list, click the red X (Delete) next to the site
2. Choose what to remove:

1. Click Remove Installation

Warning: This permanently deletes the site. Create a backup first if you might need it later.

Changing Admin Password via Softaculous

If you've been locked out of WordPress:

1. Click the pencil icon (Edit) next to your installation
2. Scroll to the Admin Account section
3. Enter a new password in the Admin Password field
4. Click Save

Troubleshooting

Softaculous shows "No installations found"

• WordPress may have been installed manually (not through Softaculous). Softaculous only tracks installations it created.
• Try clicking Import in Softaculous to scan for and import existing WordPress installations.

Update failed or site broken after update

1. Go to Backups in Softaculous
2. Restore the pre-update backup
3. Investigate the issue (check for plugin/theme incompatibility)
4. Test the update on a staging site first before trying again

Clone or staging fails

• Ensure the destination domain/directory is added in cPanel → Domains
• Check that you have enough disk space for the copy
• Verify the destination folder is empty