Softaculous was added to free hosting in 2014 but it was never complete (a lot of software missing). Now with the release of Softaculous Remote you can get the full softaculous on free hosting at no extra costs. You also get the latest Softaculous version (bug fixes, design updates, software updates, etc). To get started you will need:
An InfinityFree account
A free Softaculous account
Access to your FTP details (see in the client area on InfinityFree)
After you created a free Softaculous account go to https://remote.softaculous.com and enter your Softaculous account details. After logged in you will see a screen like that
Now pick any software you want to install and click on the blue Install button. Now you will see a screen like that (if you didnât added your domain):
FTP Path = the folder where you want to install (ex: /htdocs), do not put /public_html
Backup Path = the folder where you want to store backups (create a new folder if you want) (ex: /htdocs/backups), must create one if you donât have one
Data Directory = the folder where you want to store software data (create a new folder if you want) (ex: /htdocs/backups), must create one if you donât have one
After you are done click âTest and Save domainâ.
Now complete the fields that the software needs.
If your software needs database access use the following details:
Interesting, but not all âsoftwareâ work here. Using the softaculous option is recommended as it has applications that are usable on free hosting and most are not overloading server recources.
We purposely disabled a number of scripts in Softaculous because they either donât work on free hosting or we just donât allow them.
Does database setup work? Our Softaculous is integrated with the hosting platform so it can automatically create databases and database users and populate them with the data for the software. Can Softaculous Remote do that too?
RoundCube doesnât work because IMAP functions are disabled. SitePad requires a license. Flarum works but is available through our Softaculous too.
Did you test this with an actual email account and were you able to access email that? Because the imap_open function is disabled on our hosting.
We have all of them, except for SitePad (which I would argue isnât really blog software) and Movable Type (which is $499 software which nobody would host on free hosting).
Our Softaculous creates the database automatically and fill in the credentials for you. I think thatâs MUCH better than having to set it up yourself.
There is a difference between hard and ease of use. People would rather that things be done automatically, rather than having to constantly click between tabs to get the right information, and risk copying extra spaces (Happnes all the time when people are getting SSL certificates).
But its not free. Looking at the pricing page, it is only free for individuals. It would cost InfinityFree $5 per year (Does not sound like a lot, but it adds up when your only profit is from ads). Additionally, its not compatible with vPanel, and would require its own unique installation, something that would take a lot of time.
If you have a some experience with web hosting and are paying attention, itâs easy.
But youâll find plenty of examples here on this forum with people unable to connect to a database because they were using the wrong database credentials (because of typos or assumptions), or simply werenât aware that they needed to create a database in the first place. So for many people itâs harder than you think.
Compare that to our current Softaculous. Do you want WordPress? You enter the control panel, you enter Softaculous, you click WordPress and you click Install. Job done. No file management. No database management. It just works the way a one click installer should work.
And youâre still free to install your own software or use a third party installer if you want. If you like the Softaculous Remote experience, than by all means keep using it!
I wish it was that little. I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
No, since we have a custom control panel, we need to pay the custom integration pricing. Which is $0.10 per site per month last time I checked.
With 400,000 websites, thatâs $40k per month. And thatâs not something we can afford.
First of all, forum staff decides what content is approved for community guides and which isnât. You donât get to decide that.
Also, Iâve made it clear that I fundamentally disagree with the contents of your post, so even if you copied it yourself and resubmitted it to the Community Guides, I would not approve it.
Maybe, MAYBE, Iâd be willing to consider it if you actually wrote a complete guide (so not gloss over the database creation part, which are details you canât just copy from the client area) and wouldnât bash our Softaculous installation so much.
