How To Setup a Free Hosted WordPress Website with 20i

20i Web Hosting Service (Introduction)

As previously discussed in my last post here, 20i is an excellent platform for people starting with a website. They offer a cost-effective free web-hosting platform, with the only cost being the domain. They also have options to install many applications, including WordPress, which we will show you how to install today.

We will show you how to purchase a domain, set up the SSL Certificate and explain some of the features, which will hopefully help you get a WordPress up and running as quickly as possible.

If you get stuck at any point in this tutorial, please feel free to comment or reach out to me. In the meantime, grab your keyboard and mouse and let’s get this WordPress site up and running for you!

Note: If these steps are too technical for you, 20i do offer WordPress hosting services, which are great and help you quickly get a WordPress up and running in a few easy clicks. One disadvantage to this is you will have to pay around £6 a month to access this service, including the yearly domain renewal costs.

Why Not Just Get WordPress.com?

Normal WordPress tends to be more expensive to host and manage if it wants a domain. As for doing it this way, you cut down the price almost immediately due to the free web hosting. At the moment I’m only spending around £6 per year which only sets me back a small amount for the whole website.

Although, if you’d rather not spend a penny, you can always opt for the free WordPress which does mean you will have a WordPress in your domain but it’s a good starting point. I just find it looks more professional to have your blog as your domain name. The main reason I wrote this was to help you get the most out of a professional domain at a low price with 20i.

Process Steps

Throughout steps 1-12 below, I will take you through the steps of setting up a 20i domain with images and descriptions to help make it as easy for you as possible.

Step 1: Getting Started

Before we start, you must have the following information and items before starting. Below are some of the information and items you may need on hand during this tutorial.

• Email address to make a 20i account.
• Address details (just for signup purposes).
• Somewhere to store your password like a password manager or similar.
• An idea of what domain you would like to purchase.
• Card details to buy the domain – this will be the only thing you will have to pay for; the web hosting is free until you get a certain level of traffic.

I will also be showing you the long route of doing things in hopes you get enough information to do it properly and to allow you to help others too. Now that we have got the basics out of the way, it’s now time to get on with getting your very first 20i domain.

Step 2: Go to Free Web-Hosting

Our first step in getting free WordPress is getting to the free web-hosting section on the 20i website. Please see the steps on how to get there below.

Step 2a: Go to 20i

Firstly, we will need to go to the 20i website – to do that, just click on the link here and it should take you directly to the webpage, which should look similar to the one below. It is worth noting though, that the 20i logo might change over time so it might not look the same.

Step 2a: Scroll Down to the Bottom of the Page

At the bottom of the page in the footer, you will see “Free Web Hosting”, click on that you will be sent to the correct webpage. As below, you should be able to see the footer, which will hopefully make it easier for you to locate.

Alternatively, I’ve included the link here, which should help you get there just as quick. I felt showing you the long route as this was the initial route I took to get my first free web-hosting domain. Once you have access to the page, you can always bookmark the page in case you ever want to buy new domains in the future.

Step 3: Buying Domain

During the steps below, you will need to have account creation details as discussed in Step 1. If you haven’t got everything ready yet, this is the best time to gather the required items or information ready. Research if you need to and take your time before buying your domain though!

Step 3a: Search for the Domain

Once you have thought of a name will need to search using the search bar below for the perfect domain.

Step 3b: Select the Domain You Wish to Own

Once you have searched, you will be shown a range of results (see below) – find the domain you would like or similar. If the domain isn’t available, you can always repeat step 3a and search for a new domain.

Select “Add to Basket” to add the domain to the basket.

Step 3c: Create an Account

At this stage, we will need to create an account to purchase the domain. The account will be where you can manage your domains, access your servers and complete any necessary access for the website. There are also options to set up an email, which you will be able to use for access purposes but we will be covering this briefly later on. However, the main focus of this post will be setting up a secure WordPress with some level of protection.

Step 3d: Purchase Domain

The final step for step 3 is to purchase the domain. To do this, enter your domain details on the screen and follow through with payment. At this point, you should receive notification that your domain has been bought and you will now be able to access your domain. Please go to step 4 for more details on accessing your domain.

Step 4: Accessing Domain

Now you should have a domain, which is one step closer to having your very own WordPress setup. This step will cover the basics of how to access your domain.

Step 4a: Go to Your Account Settings

Once you have made the account, you should be able to log in from the homepage – to do this just select “SIGN IN” located in the top right of the screen when on the 20i homepage here.

Next, enter your login details using the email and password you used when signing up.

Step 4b: Select Manage Hosting

On your 20i “Manage Services” panel, select “Manage Hosting” as shown below.

Step 4c: Go to Domain “Options”

Simply click on “Options” then select “Manage”, this should take you directly to your website management panel.

Step 4d: View Options

Once you have opened the options menu, you will see a range of settings available as per below, including your IP details, etc. If you see all this information you are in the correct place and will now be able to get your site configured!

Step 5: CDN Settings

The first thing you should do is set up how caching works – for this all you need to do is go to the “CDN” section on your dashboard and select “Web Optimisation” as shown below.

Once you get to the “Web Optimisation” page, just check the “One Click Optimisation” box and you should have the right settings loaded and move on to the next step. I would also be careful with what you select as this could potentially break the functionality of your website.

Step 6: Email

Emails are a good way to for you and visitors to communicate about your content and the website. As a starting point, you can set up an email address which could be used for your website i.e. “info@example.com”. You could also create an email address for personal use i.e. “yourname@example.com” and put it on a CV as it adds a level of professionalism when applying for roles.

Step 6a: Creating An Email

Under the “Email” section on your domain dashboard, select “Email Accounts”.

Enter the name for your email account which in this case we have called “testemail@dynamicdouble.co.uk” for my domain. Then all you need to do is select “Create Email Account” to successfully create your around.

Your email should now show below this menu under “Modify Email Accounts” as shown below. This means you have successfully got an email you can use for your website. Under this section in “Email Accounts,” you can set your email password, access your mailbox and manage your email settings.

Repeat these steps as many times as you need for any email account you would like to create using your website domain.

Step 6b: Email Forwarding

Alternatively, if you just want to forward emails from your domain elsewhere then you can select “Email Forwarders” under the Email section on your domain dashboard. However, you will need to set up an email as shown in step 6a.

Once in there, just type in the email you would like to forward the emails to then save and all emails sent to your domain’s email account will be forwarded to your email.

Step 6c: Linking Your Email to Gmail

If you do a public domain emailing service like Gmail, you can connect it to this account and send and receive emails directly to this email rather than logging into your webmail. For more information on how to do this, there is a pretty easy-to-follow tutorial here.

One thing to note here is that you will need to go to “Email” and “Email Accounts” to get the details you need like your email password, the email name (the one you set up in step 6a) and any email server details, which are similar to the settings listed, here.

Step 7: PHP Version

You must keep the PHP version up to date for your WordPress to protect your site and visitors (if you aim to collect user details for processing). You will need to do this whenever a newer version of PHP is released. To select the latest version of PHP go to “PHP Versions” under Web Tools on your domains options page.

Now you will need to select the second to the latest version of PHP (the latest is usually a test version) which in this case is PHP version 7.4. Of course, do not be afraid to use the latest version but be prepared for some features not to work as expected on your WordPress.

The last step here will be to click on “Change PHP Version” to complete to change and move on to the second step.

Step 8: Opt Out of WHOIS

When setting up a website for your personal use, it may be a good idea to hide your details from others. This way, it avoids people doing WHOIS queries against your domain to find out personally identifiable information about you.

Simply scroll down to “Domain Names” via your domain dashboard and select “WHOIS” as shown below.

Then just make sure the “Opt Out WHOIS” box is selected then save changes and move on to the next step!

Step 9: Let’s Encrypt!

SSL Certificates are essential for your website. Often your website rating is affected if your website is not secured and in most cases having an insecure website might deter people from visiting your website due to being insecure.

What makes 20i good and as discussed previously, they have great SSL integration utilising an open source certificate known as Let’s Encrypt, which offers free SSL certificates for websites. To enable this, the first you need to do is select SSL/TLS under the Security options.

Once you get on to the menu, all you will need to do is select “Activate Free SSL” and it should be enabled throughout your website. It may not show up straight away as there will be some before that replicates to your web server but once the box is selected, you don’t need to worry!

After you have activated SSL for your website, scroll down and make sure to select the “Enable Forced HTTPS” option as this ensures that your full website is covered by SSL/ HTTPS.

Step 10: Install WordPress

Now that all the website basics are out of the way, it is time to install WordPress on your domain! For this, you will need to scroll down to “One-Click Installs”, then at the bottom, you should find “WordPress” – click on this to be taken to the installation page.

In the WordPress, installation menu select “Install WordPress” specifying a directory for WordPress isn’t required so leave that blank.

If the installation was successful you should get the below response from the server, which means you have installed WordPress! Please move on to step 11 where we will cover how to get the basics set for your WordPress.

Step 11: Configuring WordPress

After installing WordPress you will need to follow is to configure your WordPress website! First, you will need to visit your website, either by clicking on the link or visiting your website link.

Secondly, you will need to select a language and then click on “Continue” to move on to the next step in the configuration process.

You will now need to fill in your details as per the below.

• Enter the site title for your website.
• Enter a username to log into your WordPress.
• Select a secure password of your choice. Please make sure you save the password otherwise you will need to request a password reset.
• Enter the email address of your choice for the website.

Once you are happy you will need to click on “Install WordPress” and WordPress should be installed.

Step 12: Log in!

Finally, you will need to log in to your readily set up WordPress website.

If your login details are correct, you should be able to successfully log in – if you do happen to lose your password, all you need to do is click on “Lost your password?”.

After you log in should be able to see the below screen as shown below, which means you have successfully finished the required steps to start your WordPress.

WordPress Up and Running! (Conclusion)

Congratulations, you have successfully set up your very first WordPress website using the 20i free web hosting package. Now you will have the chance to start creating great websites and content while utilising all of 20i’s great functions and services. I look forward to writing more posts going forwards on a range of other topics and subjects. so please continue to check back for more content.

Please also consider donating to my blog via the BuyMeACoffee button at the bottom of the page – all donations are highly appreciated and all funds go towards supporting what I do.