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Sander Steffann edited this page Jan 25, 2020 · 8 revisions

Setting up WordPress for a NOG

For all the following procedures we start with:

Create a website

  • In the left menu select "Website"
  • Click the green button "Add new website"
  • Select the Client account of the NOG
  • Do not change the IP addresses
  • Enter the domain name (for example ug.nog.community)
  • If the www subdomain exists leave the Auto-Subdomain, otherwise change it to "None"
  • Enable "Let's Encrypt SSL"
  • Save

Now wait a while until the website is created and the SSL certificate has been created. Test this by opening http://<domain> in your browser. When that works and shows a welcome page also try https://<domain> and check that SSL works. Sometimes ISPConfig fails when creating the SSL certificate. When that happens:

  • In the left menu select "Website"
  • Select the website from the list
  • Enable "Let's Encrypt SSL" again (the failure will have turned it off)
  • Save

Now that http and https both work let's make sure that we always use https:

  • In the left menu select "Website"
  • Select the website from the list
  • Click on the "Redirect" tab
  • Enable "Rewrite HTTP to HTTPS"
  • Save

Add aliases

If the website is going to be used on multiple domains we have to create aliases for them:

  • In the left menu select "Aliasdomain for website"
  • Click the green button "Add new Aliasdomain"
  • Enter the "Domain" name
  • The "Parent Website" is the NOG's website you created above
  • "Redirect Type" is usually "R=301,L"
  • If the www subdomain exists leave the Auto-Subdomain, otherwise change it to "None"
  • Save

Install WordPress

ISPConfig provides a quick-install for different apps, including WordPress:

  • In the left menu select "Available packages"
  • Look for the "WordPress" package and select the latest version
  • Click the green button "Install this package"
  • As "Install location" select the website and leave the directory path empty
  • Set or generate a password for the admin user
  • Check "I accept the license"
  • Click "Install"

This will automatically create the necessary database user and database. When the installation has finished we need to adjust some settings:

  • Open https://<website>/wp-admin in your browser
  • Log in with the admin username and password you set in the previous step
  • In the left menu select "Settings"
  • Set the "Site Title" and "Tagline" to something sensible
  • Make sure both URLs start with https://
  • Fill in the "Email Address" for the site administrator
  • Set the correct "Time Zone", "Date Format" and "Time Format" for the region the NOG is in
  • Click "Save Changes"

Then:

  • In the left menu under "Settings" select "Permalinks"
  • Change it to one of the options that is not "Plain", usually "Month and name" is fine
  • Click "Save Changes"

Add website to dashboard

First install the plugin in WordPress:

  • Open https://<website>/wp-admin in your browser
  • Log in with the admin username and password you set in the previous steps
  • In the left menu under "Plugins" select "Add New"
  • In the top right of the screen search for "infinitewp"
  • For the "InfiniteWP Client" click "Install Now"
  • After it is installed click "Activate"
  • Click on "Copy details"

Then add it to the dashboard:

  • Log in to https://nogalliance.org/central/v3/
  • In the bottom left click "Add Site"
  • In the "Add a WordPress Site" window paste the details you copied in the previous step
  • Click "Add Site"
  • Click "Save Changes"

Add plugins

To add some functionality to the websites we host, we always install the following plugins:

  • "Absolute Relative URLs" by Andrew Patterson
  • "Broken Link Checker" by ManageWP
  • "Health Check & Troubleshooting" by The WordPress Community
  • "Security Headers" by Simon Waters
  • "Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan" by Wordfence
  • "WP OAuth Server" by WP OAuth Server
  • "WP Super Cache" by Automattic

To install these plugins repeat the following steps for each plugin:

  • In the left menu under "Plugins" select "Add New"
  • In the top right of the screen search for the name of the plugin
  • Find the plugin in the screen and click "Install Now"
  • After it is installed click "Activate"
  • Answer any questions the plugin might ask for (like the admin's email address)

Configuring the plugins

Wordfence

  • In the left menu select "Wordfence"
  • At the top of the screen click on the "Yes, enable auto-update" link
  • Click the button "Click here to configure"
  • Click "Download .htaccess"
  • Click "Continue"
  • Click "Close"
  • Click the button "Dismiss"

It will take a few minutes for the configuration to become active.

HTTP headers

  • In the left menu under "Settings" select "HTTP Headers"
  • Select "Disable content sniffing"
  • Set the "HSTS Time to live" to "31536000" seconds (1 year)
  • Click "Save Changes"

WP Super Cache

  • In the left menu under "Settings" select "WP Super Cache"
  • Select "Caching on"
  • Click "Update Status"

OAuth Server

  • In the left menu under "OAuth Server" select "Settings"
  • Select "OAuth Server Enabled"
  • Click "Save Changes"

If this NOG will get an Indico server then configure that as a client:

  • In the left menu under "OAuth Server" select "Clients"
  • Click the button "Add New Client"
  • Set "Client Name" to "Indico"
  • Click "Create Client"

Store the "Client ID" and "Client Secret". You'll need them later when setting up Indico.

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