From your welcome email to a working website, mailbox, and secure account.
Your billing account and your DirectAdmin hosting account have different jobs. The client area handles payments and support; DirectAdmin manages your websites, email, and hosting tools.
- Choose the right account. Personal includes one website; Business three; Business Plus five; Business Pro ten. Storage is shared across websites, databases, email, and backups. Domain pointers are aliases, not independent websites.
- Read your welcome email. Use the assigned server URL and username, not a server chosen at random. Check spam if your welcome message is missing. Paid orders normally provision automatically; fraud or payment review can delay activation.
- Secure access. Choose a unique password and enable DirectAdmin Two-Step Authentication. Keep recovery codes offline. Never send passwords, login keys, or recovery codes in a support ticket.
- Add or verify your domain. Use DirectAdmin → Account Manager → Domain Setup. Your domain remains registered with your registrar; hosting does not include domain registration.
- Prepare DNS before changing it. See the migration guide. Preserve existing mail and verification records if you are keeping another email provider.
- Launch your site. Install WordPress through Installatron or upload your own files. Enable available application auto-updates, test your website, and check automatic SSL issuance.
- Set up email and backups. Create a mailbox if needed, use authenticated SMTP, and download an independent backup. Provider disaster recovery does not replace your own copies.
- Check the result. Test your homepage, HTTPS, forms, inbound/outbound mail, and mobile layout. Open a support ticket if a hosting function is not working.
Move an existing website safely · Install WordPress · Email-client settings
