Control Panel Upgrade Or Do It Yourself?

I got an E-mail from a friend of mine not too long ago that wanted to know if it would better to use the “one-click” install of WordPress that his Web host gives him or if he should just install it himself? Now both sides have their good points and their bad points, but this is what I told him to do.

First, for those of you who might not know what it is, these “one-click” installs that your Web host sells you on are a package of scripts and services that come with the control panel you use. In other cases, it might be like an add on pack - such as Fantastico is for cPanel. It allows you to click a link, fill out your information and install what you need to install. In this case, that would be WordPress.

Sounds pretty easy, right? Well like with any other shortcut there are some down sides to this. One of the biggest that I can think of is if you wish to continue using this easy way out, you will need to wait for it to get updated (usually done by your Web host). No, they won’t upgrade WordPress - it is not as simple as that. You have to wait for them to upgrade the control panel you are using so that the install scripts get updated and (for those of you I have not lost yet) and then you can upgrade to the newest version when an update comes out.

Now this is the reason why I tell most people it is better to install scripts and updates on your own. It might be a little more confusing, but in the long run of things you will be safer and a little smarter for doing so. Most of these scripts are not that hard to get running these days either. Take a look at WordPress for an example. On their Web site, they claim a five minute install! I would up that to maybe an hour, if you don’t know your way around.

So I say ditch the easy way out and get your hands dirty.

[tags]wordpress, cpanel, upgrade, scripts, help, easy, install[/tags]