Now that PrestaShop 1.6 has been officially released, you are able to use it for your live sites. Softaculous has now included the new version in their list of available downloads. This article will show you how to install your own PrestaShop 1.6 store.
What is Softaculous?
Softaculous is a piece of software that installs other software for you. Although it may sound confusing, it actually makes things easier. Software installed by Softaculous uses a single form page. Here you will enter all your important information such as contact information, site name, etc. Softaculous also handles the tedious tasks like creating databases, file structure, and setting permissions. Since this is mostly done on a single form page, all you need to do is click an Install button to make it work. This is sometimes known as a “1-click-installation“.
How to install PrestaShop 1.6
Getting to Softaculous
- Log into your cPanel dashboard.
From the main cPanel page, look for the Software/Services category and click on the Softaculous icon.
- On the main Softaculous page you will see icons of the more common programs. PrestaShop is one of these icons. Simply hover over it and click on the Install option to begin. Alternatively, you can select the ecommerce category on the left-hand menu and then click on PrestaShop. Either selection will bring you to the PrestaShop page.
- Once on the PrestaShop page, click on the blue Install button located in the upper right corner of the page.
Software Setup
The first section of the Installation form is the Software Setup. Here we will deal with things such as the version, installation directory, and database names. These settings are pretty solid and cannot be changed from the back office once it is installed
| Choose the version you want to install | This is a dropdown that will give you the option to select different versions. Currently, the dropdown has the older 1.4 version and the newest 1.6 version. As the 1.6 version is the most current stable version, it is best to select that. |
|---|---|
| Choose Protocol | You are able to select the base protocol for your site. Unless you have purchased an SSL for your domain, you will need to use the https:// protocol. If you have purchased an SSL for your domain you may select the https:// protocol. The www. option is simply personal preference and whether or not you want the www to display on your site’s URL. |
| Choose Domain | This field is where you enter the domain name of your store. Just enter the base domain name, for instance, example.com. |
| In Directory | Enter the subfolder in which you want to install Prestashop. The default setting is presta. For example, the store URL will be example.com/presta. If you want the store to be your on your domain name itself, delete what is there and leave it blank. This way your store would be located at example.com. |
| Database Name | This is the name of the database. It is created randomly so it is not likely a hacker would be able to guess it. Leaving it as the default is fine, however, you may change it if you have a name in mind already. You will not have to remember the database name for use after the installation. |
Site Settings
These settings are also not able to be changed in the back office after installation, so be sure you set them correctly here.
| Store Name | This is the name of your store, so name it as you would if you were opening up a brick and mortar store. For example, if you sold widgets you would use names like Fred’s Widgets or The Widget store. |
|---|---|
| Admin Folder | PrestaShop requires that the admin folder name be changed. Simply having Admin can be a security risk. Although the default is Admin123 we recommend you change it to something else. |
Database Settings
Here there is a single setting, the Table Prefix. It is most common to leave the default ps_, but you can change it to another prefix for better security.
Admin Account
This section contains the settings for the administrative account. These settings can be changed later in the back office if you find a need.
| Admin email | Enter the email address you want to use for your admin account. This will also be the admin username. |
|---|---|
| Admin Password | Enter the password for the admin account. Along with the admin email address, this will be used to log into the back office. |
| First Name | Enter the first name for the admin account. Feel free to keep the default System if you like. |
| Last Name | Enter the last name for your admin account. As with the first name, feel free to keep the default Administrator here. |
Advanced Options
These options are here if you want to use them, however they are not necessary for the installation to proceed.
| Disable Update Notifications | By checking this box, you will not receive any update notifications to your admin email address. It is recommended to leave this unchecked. |
|---|---|
| Automated Backups | If you wish to have automatic backups, you can select the frequency here. The default is set to not have backups. |
| Backup Rotation | This allows you to keep a certain number of backups before the system overwrites the oldest one. For example, you may choose to keep the last 4 backups. Once the system gets to the fifth backup, it will delete the oldest and replace it with the new backup. It is recommended to keep as few backups as possible due to server space. This is especially important for VPS and Dedicated servers where they have a specific amount of disk space. Shared servers, while technically able to have unlimited space, are not allowed to have excess file storage. Excessive backups can violate that part of our terms of service. |
Finishing the Install
Once you have entered your desired settings in the installation form, click on the Install button to begin the installation of the files. Softaculous will then create the database and set up the files with the settings you have provided. Once completed, you will see a screen that gives you your URLs for the store and the back office.
I have installed prestashop onto my server. I have received my email telling me it has been installed and have the url and admin url. However, when I click on the admin url, it get internal error. Please tell me how I can access the admin/dashboard.
The 500 Internal Server can be difficult to troubleshoot because it does not give us a lot of detail. I recommend trying some of the adjustments listed in this article, and see if the error persists.
1. Assuming you have access to FTP (via FileZilla or cPanel)
2.Just navigate to the path where Prestashop is installed (Mostly root directory)
3. Locate admin folder in same directory. (Mostly starts from “admin-xxxxx” or the name given as admin URL while installing)
4. Just rename it with your desired one. Remember, for security reason Prestashop admin panel will not work if you named directory “admin”. Use different as, admin64925, shwadmin, etc.
5. Done
Hi,
I managed to install easily using Softaculous but once installed I get a 403/404 error on just about everything I try to do like add a product / category. Any ideas?
Thanks
Hello Jon,
That is certainly not normal behavior for the program. Without specific information we are unable to verify the error on your account. If you are a customer, be sure to contact our Live Support team for further assistance with your account.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Hi,
I dont have the softaculous add on in the control panel. How can I get it?
Hello Jorge,
Thank you for your question. You can purchase a Softaculous License from AMP.
Thank you,
John-Paul
I have done enabled the debug mode and change .htaccess to ._*htaccess
Now i have this warnings:
Warning: base64_decode() has been disabled for security reasons in /home/multi/public_html/tienda/classes/Rijndael.php on line 35
Warning: base64_decode() has been disabled for security reasons in /home/multi/public_html/tienda/classes/Rijndael.php on line 70
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/multi/public_html/tienda/classes/Rijndael.php:35) in /home/multi/public_html/tienda/classes/Cookie.php on line 345
any idea?
Rick Urbina
Hello Rick,
That message means that the ability to run base64 code has been disabled for your account. You will need to contact your hosting provider to see if they allow you to run that on your account.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
i have asked to my hosting service support to update to a newer php version to 5.4, the problem have not been solved with this change.
Thank you
Rick Urbina
Hello Rick,
You will want to see if there is some sort of error message involved. To see that, enable your debug mode and see if there is one. Also, you may want to disable your .htaccess file (by renaming it) to see if that has any effect on the program.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
i’ve set a new Prestashop 1.6 installation, everything was fine durin the install proccess but once i try to access backoffice with a correct email and password is give no answer just refresh page and ask for email and password again.
When either email or password is wrong give me the error message correctlly.
can you help me with this issue?
Hello Rick,
What version of php are you using? You may need to set your account to use a newer version for PrestaShop 1.6. Give that a try and let us know if you have any other questions.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
Hello Heartlinkz,
Yes, you can install any version you like, however you would need to do so manually. Here is a link to the PrestaShop 1.6 manual install. Other versions should work similarly.
Kindest Regards,
Scott M
can I install any other version apart from the ones listed? ie version 1.5