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Simple Application Server:Build a WordPress blog

Last Updated:Jan 31, 2024

Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server provides a wide range of application images. You can use the images to create simple application servers and deploy application environments or build websites on the servers with ease. This topic describes how to build a WordPress blog by using a WordPress application image, and how to use WPtouch for WordPress to build a mobile WordPress blog.

Background information

For information about how to deploy development environments and build websites, see Overview.

Step 1: Create a simple application server

  1. Log on to the Simple Application Server console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Servers.

  3. In the upper-left corner of the page, click Create Server.

  4. On the Simple Application Server page, configure parameters based on your business requirements.

    The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Example

    Description

    Region

    China (Hong Kong)

    Select a region based on the geographical location of your business. The region cannot be changed after the server is created. Proceed with caution.

    Important

    Simple application servers deployed in regions outside the Chinese mainland, such as the China (Hong Kong) and Singapore regions, use international bandwidth. High network latency may occur when you access these servers from regions inside the Chinese mainland. We recommend that you select a region that is closest to the geographical location of your end users for higher access speeds of your users. For more information, see Regions and network connectivity.

    Image

    • Type: Apps Image

    • Application: WordPress

    • Version: 5.8

    Select an image based on your business requirements.

    • Apps Image: shows application images. Application images contain application environments and allow you to deploy development environments or build websites with ease.

    • OS Image: shows OS images. OS images contain only the base OS. You can install applications based on your business requirements.

    • Custom Images: shows custom images. Custom images are created based on snapshots of simple application servers. You can use a custom image to create simple application servers that have the same configurations. For more information, see Overview of custom images.

    Instance Plan

    $3.5/mo

    Select a plan based on your business requirements. You are charged additional fees for outbound data transfers over the Internet beyond the plan. For more information about billing, see Overview.

    Data Disk

    0 GB

    Optional. To have more storage space on the simple application server, you can create a data disk of the specified size and attach the data disk to the server.

    Subscription Time

    1 Month

    Select a subscription duration for the simple application server. You can select Auto-renewal based on your business requirements.

    Quantity

    1

    Specify the number of simple application servers that you want to create. The default value is 1. You can create up to 20 simple application servers at a time.

  5. Click Buy Now.

  6. On the Confirm Order page, check the order information.

  7. In the Terms of Service section, read and select I have read and agree to General Terms and End User License.

  8. Click Pay and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the payment.

    After you complete the payment, go back to the Simple Application Server console. On the Servers page, find the created server. After the state of the server changes from Initializing to Running, click the server card to view the details.

Step 2: Configure the application

  1. Log on to WordPress and configure user information.

    1. Find the WordPress server that you created and click the server ID in the WordPress server card.

    2. Click Application Details. In the WordPress Information section, click the URL next to Home Address.

      image

    3. Select an installation language and click Continue.

      In this example, the installation language is English (United States).

    4. On the Welcome page, configure the Site Title, Username, Password, and Your Email parameters, and click Install WordPress to initialize WordPress.

      image

    5. On the page that appears, click Log In.

    6. Enter the username and password on the logon page, and then click Log In.

      image.png

Step 3: (Optional) Bind and resolve a domain name

The security of your server is compromised if you use the public IP address of the server to access the WordPress blog site deployed on the server. To ensure server security, we recommend that you access the blog site by using a domain name. If you have registered a domain name or want to register a domain name for the blog site, perform the following operations to bind and resolve the domain name.

  1. Register a domain name.

    For more information, see Register a domain name on Alibaba Cloud.

    If you have registered a domain name, skip this step.

    Sample domain name: example.com.

  2. If the website to which the domain name points is hosted on a simple application server in a region inside the Chinese mainland, you must apply for an Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing for the domain name.

  3. Resolve the domain name and make it point to the public IP address of the server.

    • If your domain name is registered with Alibaba Cloud, refer to Manage domain names.

    • If your domain name is not registered with Alibaba Cloud or resolved by Alibaba Cloud DNS, you can add the domain name in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console to resolve the domain name. For more information, see Manage domain names. You can also contact the service provider of the domain name, create an A record for the domain name that points to the IP address of the WordPress server, and then bind the domain name.

Step 4: Test the access to the WordPress blog site

  1. (Optional) Configure the domain name on WordPress.

    If you have bound a domain name of the WordPress blog site to the WordPress server and resolved the domain name, you must configure the domain name on WordPress. If you have not bound a domain name to the WordPress server, you can skip this step and use the public IP address of the server to access the WordPress blog site.

    1. Enter http://<Public IP address of the simple application server>/wp-login.php in your browser to log on to WordPress.

    2. In the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) fields, enter the domain name that you have bound and resolved. In this example, http://example.com is used.

      You can also enable HTTPS access for the domain name and use encrypted transmission and identity authentication to ensure the security of data transmission. For more information, see Install an SSL certificate. After secure HTTPS access is enabled, you must change http in the URL of the WordPress blog site to https.

      image

    3. Click Save Changes.

  2. Use one of the following methods to check whether the WordPress blog site can be accessed:

    • Access by using a domain name

      Enter the domain name that you have bound and resolved in the browser. In this example, http://example.com is used.

    • Access by using a public IP address

      Enter http://<Public IP address of the simple application server> in your browser.

Important

Security risks may occur if you use the public IP address of a WordPress blog site to visit the site. We recommend that you use a domain name of the WordPress blog site to visit the site, and enable HTTPS access to the domain name.

If the blog site cannot be accessed, troubleshoot the issue by using the following methods:

  • Check whether the status of the domain name is normal and whether the domain name resolved by DNS points to the IP address of the WordPress server. If the status of the domain name is abnormal or the domain name resolved by DNS does not point to the IP address of the WordPress server, contact the service provider of the domain name or the DNS service provider to troubleshoot the issue.

  • Check whether the WordPress application runs as expected. If the WordPress application does not run as expected, reset the simple application server. For more information, see Reset a simple application server.

Step 5: (Optional) Build a mobile blog based on WordPress

After you build a WordPress blog by using a WordPress application image or a different image, you can use WPtouch for WordPress to build a mobile WordPress blog.

  1. Install WPtouch.

    1. Log on to WordPress. In the left-side navigation pane, click Plugins. On the plugins page, click Add New Plugin.

      image

    2. In the upper-right corner of the Add Plugins page, enter WPtouch in the search box.

    3. In the search results, click Install Now in the WPtouch section to install WPtouch.

      image

    4. After the installation is completed, click Activate in the WPtouch card.

      image

  2. Access your WordPress blog from your mobile phone.

    Access the http://<Public IP address of the simple application server> address from your mobile phone. The Mobile and Desktop buttons appear.