WordPress
Self-hosting WordPress: the complete guide
Self-hosting WordPress on a VPS gives you full control over performance, security, and configuration. On Simplewala, the entire stack — Nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB, WP-CLI, and SSL — is installed and configured with a single click.
What you’ll need
- A Simplewala account (free 14-day trial)
- A domain name pointed at your server’s IP address
- 5 minutes
Step 1: Create a server
Create a server on the Growth plan (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) or larger. WordPress can run on 1 GB RAM but performs significantly better with 2 GB or more, especially with caching plugins.
Step 2: Install WordPress
Go to Apps in the sidebar and click “Install WordPress”. Enter your site title and admin email. The installer runs Nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB, and WP-CLI configuration fully unattended.
Step 3: Add your domain
Go to Front Door → Add Route and enter your domain. Simplewala provisions a Let’s Encrypt certificate automatically. Update your DNS A record to point to the server IP.
# Check your DNS propagation dig +short yourdomain.com A
Step 4: Log in and configure
Visit https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin with the admin credentials shown in the installer output. From here, WordPress is fully yours — install themes, plugins, and content as normal.
Performance tips
- Install a caching plugin (WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache) to serve static HTML for most requests
- Use block storage for your uploads directory so media survives server rebuilds
- Enable daily backups from the Backups section so you can roll back in one click