Site Software, WordPress and Subdirectory requirement. Please stop.

[tvcnet]

Someone decided to force Site Software -> WordPress installer to only allow installation in a subdirectory.
This is so 1990's thinking. I have to imagine this is a hold over from years past when WordPress was a lesser known CMS.

Now that the majority of new websites being created today "are WordPress" please remove this subdirectory requirement as soon as possible.

Not a single commercial installer forces this requirement (hint?).

The option to install within public_html needs to be allowed.

I'm having to manually "fix" this rather serious annoyance for clients more often than I would prefer too, and truthfully, this is more of a support ticket filler than a necessary feature IMHO.

WordPress subdirectory installation requirement is only a good "feature" if my primary goal is to annoy clients (which it is not).

Thanks,
Jim

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

It's by design that document root installations of WordPress are not allowed when using the "Site Software" option to install the WordPress cPAddon. More than one installation of WordPress (one in public_html and one in a subdirectory) can result in problems due to the nature of how the .htaccess file is utilized. Currently, the workaround is to install WordPress manually by downloading the package directly from their website and using their installation instructions. We have an internal case open (#67193) to update our documentation with this information.

Please feel free to open a feature request to have document root installations of WordPress allowed through the "Site Software" option at:

Submit A Feature Request

This will allow other users to vote and add their feedback to the feature request.

Thank you.

 

[tvcnet]

If it's by design then it's a just a bad and outdated decision on cpanel's part.

No commercial installers do this, which should be your first hint.

The issue with .htaccess is a non-issue.
Most clients are doing a first time installation, and in 99% of cases I have observed in 15 years doing this business your concern is very much overly cautious.

You could always add a note to the page, "are you sure you wish to install in the public_html. . ." etc.

This implementation is simply outdated, and seems to be predicated on the belief that people still hand code their HTML, or use Dreamweaver, etc. (how 2007 is that. . .).

See the commercial scripts as an example (if you don't believe me).

-Jim

 

[quanin]

I'm inclined to agree with Jim on this one. Plus, wordPress .htaccess files stop actually functioning when the apache server finds a directory already exists. So if someone has a wordPress blog in the document root, and another one in, say, /blog, the document root's .htaccess file will not be consultet if a user requests /blog. Instead, it will skip to the .htaccess file in /blog. I've tested this myself on several sites, both with and without WordPress in a subdirectory.

 

[cPanelMichael]

The best way to see a change in this behavior will be to submit a feature request via:

Submit A Feature Request

The more votes and support a feature receives, the more likely it is a change will be implemented.

Thank you.

 

[tvcnet]

The best way to see a change in this behavior will be to submit a feature request via:

Submit A Feature Request

The more votes and support a feature receives, the more likely it is a change will be implemented.

Thank you.

Anyone reading this ticket, please post your annoyance here:
wordpress default install dir public_html | cPanel Feature Requests

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

The WordPress cPAddon has now been updated to version 3.5.2. This also restores the docroot installation functionality. You can enable the "Force Refresh of All cPAddons Site Software Sources" option in "WHM Home » cPanel » Install cPAddons Site Software" and click on "Update Addon Config" if you want the newer version available before your next automatic cPanel update.

Thank you.

 

[tvcnet]

Hello

The WordPress cPAddon has now been updated to version 3.5.2. This also restores the docroot installation functionality. You can enable the "Force Refresh of All cPAddons Site Software Sources" option in "WHM Home » cPanel » Install cPAddons Site Software" and click on "Update Addon Config" if you want the newer version available before your next automatic cPanel update.

Thank you.

Awesome!

Now seriously, that was pretty insane. This truly deserves a group huddle at cPanel central. "How did we go about making such a wide ranging error in judgement by changing the behavior of this feature- and how we can prevent that from occurring again."