Installation Guide
Upload one file, fill out one form, and SocietyPress is running. No command line, no WordPress to install first — the installer handles all of it.
Before You Begin
A short checklist. If anything here is unfamiliar, your hosting provider can walk you through it — these are the kinds of things they deal with every day.
yoursite.com/society/. The installer won't overwrite an existing WordPress install.
sp-installer.php — and the installer does the rest.
Step 1: Upload sp-installer.php
A single, small PHP file — the entire installer in one piece. You upload it once and it takes care of everything else.
Download the installer
Grab sp-installer.php from the download page. It's under 100 KB. Save it somewhere easy to find on your computer.
Open your host's file manager
Log in to your hosting control panel and open the file manager (on most cPanel hosts it's called File Manager). If you prefer SFTP, your usual FTP client works just as well — connect with the credentials your host provided.
Navigate to the folder where you want SocietyPress to live
For a brand-new domain, that's usually the folder called public_html or www. For a subfolder installation, navigate into the subfolder (creating it first if needed).
Upload sp-installer.php
Click Upload (or drag the file onto the window, depending on your host's interface) and pick sp-installer.php from your computer. That's it — one file, one upload.
Step 2: Run the Installer in Your Browser
Open the installer's URL and fill out one form. The installer checks your server, downloads everything, sets up the database, and activates SocietyPress — all while you watch a progress screen.
Visit yoursite.com/sp-installer.php
Open a new browser tab and type your website's address followed by /sp-installer.php — for example, https://mysociety.org/sp-installer.php. If you uploaded to a subfolder, include that: https://mysociety.org/society/sp-installer.php.
Fill out the installer form
One screen, a handful of fields, grouped into three short sections:
- Database — the database name, username, and password you created with your host.
- Site & admin account — your site title, and the email, username, and password for your WordPress administrator account.
- Your society — the name of your society and a contact email. This pre-fills the setup wizard so you don't have to do it again later.
Click Install SocietyPress
The installer runs through several automated steps: verifying your server, downloading the latest WordPress, downloading the SocietyPress bundle, writing the configuration file, setting up the database, activating the plugin, activating the theme, and saving your society details. You'll see progress as it goes. It usually takes one to two minutes on a decent host.
sp-installer.php deletes itself from your server. Leaving an installer around after use is a security risk, so SocietyPress removes it automatically.
Step 3: You're Already Signed In
When the installer finishes, it logs you in to your new WordPress dashboard automatically and drops you at the SocietyPress home screen. No logging in separately, no setup wizard to step through — the information you gave the installer has already been saved.
yoursite.com/wp-admin. That's where you'll go from now on whenever you want to sign in.
What to Do Next
SocietyPress is live and functional the moment the installer finishes. These are the first customization steps most societies take, in whatever order makes sense for you.
Pick your colors and fonts
Go to Appearance → Design and choose your primary and accent colors. A live preview shows your site updating in real time. Set fonts, adjust spacing, and make it yours.
Create your membership plans
Navigate to Members → Membership Plans and add the plans your society offers — Individual, Family, Student, Lifetime, whatever you need. Set dues amounts and renewal periods for each.
Import or add your members
If you have an existing member list, go to Members → Import Members and upload a CSV. Coming from EasyNetSites? See the ENS migration guide. Or add members one at a time — either way, SocietyPress validates and de-duplicates as it goes.
Enable the modules you need
Open Settings → Modules and toggle on the features your society will use — events, the store, volunteers, genealogy records, newsletters, and more. Leave the others off to keep your dashboard clean.
Build your pages
Go to Appearance → Pages and use the built-in page builder to shape your homepage, about page, and anything else. Drag widgets onto the page — text, images, event lists, member spotlights — and arrange them how you like.
Post your first event
Open Events → Add New and create a meeting, workshop, or cemetery walk. Set categories, capacity, and registration options. Your calendar and upcoming-events widgets pick it up automatically.
Troubleshooting
If something goes sideways, you're probably hitting one of these common issues.
"PHP version too old"
The installer requires PHP 8.0 or newer. Most cPanel hosts let you change the PHP version from a tool called MultiPHP Manager or PHP Selector — pick PHP 8.1 or 8.2 for your domain, save, and reload the installer. If you can't find it, your host's support team can flip the switch in under a minute.
"WordPress is already installed"
The installer refuses to run in a directory that already contains wp-config.php or wp-includes/. This is intentional — overwriting an existing install could destroy data. Either install into a different folder, or if you really want a fresh install here, remove the existing files first. If you want to add SocietyPress to an existing WordPress site, use the Advanced: Manual Install section at the bottom of this page.
"Couldn't download the SocietyPress bundle" or "Couldn't download WordPress"
Your host is blocking outbound connections. The installer needs to reach wordpress.org and getsocietypress.org to fetch the files it installs. This is rare on hosts that run WordPress at all, but if it happens, ask your host to allow outbound HTTPS to those two domains — or use the Advanced manual install instead.
"Could not connect to database" or database errors
Double-check the database name, username, and password you entered in the installer form — they must exactly match what you created in your host's database tool. On most cPanel hosts the database and user names are prefixed with your account name (for example, myhost_sp rather than just sp), so copy them from the control panel rather than typing them. Also confirm that the user has been granted all privileges on the database.
Installer page is blank or stops partway through
This usually means the PHP process ran out of memory or hit the host's time limit. Ask your host to raise memory_limit to at least 128 MB and max_execution_time to at least 120 seconds. Both are one-line changes any support agent can make for you. After they bump the limits, reload the installer and try again.
The theme looks blank or broken after install
Check that the SocietyPress plugin shows as Active under Plugins. The theme depends on the plugin for its design system, page templates, and content. If the plugin isn't active, the theme has nothing to work with. Activate it, reload the front page, and you should be back in business.
Database tables weren't created
SocietyPress creates its tables automatically when the plugin is activated. If any are missing, deactivate and reactivate the plugin from the Plugins page — this re-triggers the table-creation process without losing any data.
Advanced: Manual Install
For users who already have WordPress running and want to add SocietyPress by hand, or who can't use the installer for host-specific reasons. The one-click installer is simpler for nearly everyone — only come here if you have a reason to.
Install the plugin and theme manually
Step 1 — Download the full .zip. From the download page, grab the full platform .zip (the secondary option next to the installer). Unzip it on your computer. You'll see a societypress/ folder (the plugin) and several theme folders (societypress/ parent theme plus the child themes).
Step 2 — Install the plugin. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin, click Upload Plugin, and upload the societypress/ plugin folder (you'll need to zip just that folder first). Click Install Now, then Activate Plugin. SocietyPress creates its database tables automatically on activation.
Step 3 — Install the parent theme. Go to Appearance → Themes → Add New Theme → Upload Theme. Upload the societypress/ parent theme folder (zip it first). Click Install Now, then Activate.
Step 4 (optional) — Install a child theme. If you want to use Heritage, Coastline, Prairie, Ledger, or Parlor, upload its folder the same way and activate it in place of the parent theme. The parent theme must remain installed either way.
Step 5 — Run the setup wizard. Click the new SocietyPress menu in your dashboard sidebar. The setup wizard launches automatically on first visit and walks you through your society's name, membership tiers, and brand colors.
"The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive"
Your hosting provider has set a low file-upload limit. Contact them and ask to increase upload_max_filesize and post_max_size to at least 10 MB. This is a standard request any host can handle in minutes.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" error during upload
A "nonce" is a one-time-use security token that WordPress generates every time you load a page in the dashboard. It proves that the action you're taking (like uploading a plugin) actually came from you, and not from a malicious script. This error almost always means you left the upload page open too long and the token expired. Log out of WordPress, log back in, and try again. If it keeps happening, clear your browser cookies for the site.
My existing WordPress content disappeared
It hasn't. SocietyPress never modifies or deletes your existing WordPress posts, pages, or media. If content seems missing, it's just that the SocietyPress theme uses its own page system, so standard WordPress pages may not appear in the theme's navigation — but they're still in your database, safe and untouched. Switch your theme back temporarily if you need to see them.
You're all set.
SocietyPress is installed and ready to run your society's website. Explore the features, set up your first event, or import your member list.