One-click installs are a feature you can find on almost any shared Web host. They’re designed to make it easy to install some of the most common scripts used in hosting accounts including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, phpBB and Cube Cart.

The process takes only one click and a few minutes of patience while the script churns and produces results.

But while this process may be convenient and fast, it is not the best way to set up a site. Why? Here are five reasons to skip on the automated install and to do it yourself.

5. If you Can’t Install It, You Can’t Maintain It

If you don’t have the knowledge to install a script, you are not going to be able to maintain it. A one-click install can only get you started, it can’t help you when something goes wrong.

This means that, while you’ll have a site, every time you run into trouble you’ll either have to email support or find a friend to help you. This can be a huge burden when your site is down or has some other problem.

Even if you can maintain the script, one-click installs make it more difficult. Since you didn’t configure the options or the database, you have to look up that information rather than simply knowing it. This can cost you precious time during a site outage.

4. Defaults Are Not Always Best

One-click installs usually only allow for very limited customization, especially on issues of where to find the needed files. If you want to install your script into a separate folder, perhaps to make it a subdomain, or make other changes to the default install you may be out of luck.

In many cases you can fix this after the install but that negates much of the benefit of using a one-click install as you still wind up doing most of the work yourself.

In short, if you have any needs beyond the defaults, do the install yourself.

3. Security: If you want something done well…

To be fair, most one-click installs do a pretty decent job making sure there are no gaping holes in your installation and they can actually help keep it up to date. However, if you want to truly harden your installation, you’re going to have to do it by hand to ensure all of the permissions are correct.

This falls under “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” This is a basic part of any installation and one that you need to be to be careful to do whether you perform a one-click install or do it yourself. Either way, it’s a large chunk of the work that you have to do no matter what and it is probably the most technically demanding part of any script install.

2. Not Always Up To Date

In this area some install systems are better than others but apps available for one-click install are inherently behind when they are available for self install. When a script like WordPress is made available for download, someone who works for the company behind the one-click installation software has to download the update, put it in their system and then test it. This is a process that can take only hours or several weeks.

While this might not be terrible for big releases it can be disastrous for security patches if those are held up. Granted, most scripts now have the ability to update from within, eliminating the need to use the installation tool’s update feature, often what is installed from day one is out of date, necessitating a manual update.

1. Manual Does Not Mean Difficult

Finally, and most importantly, most major platforms and scripts are simply not that hard to install. WordPress, for example, has a famous five-minute install that even a novice can perform. All you have to do is upload the files, create a database, edit the config file and go. These are all things any webmaster should be able to do on their own.

The small amount of time you save using an automated install robs you of critical knowledge that you’ll need later. It’s better to master database creation/backup/management while your site is on the drawing board and not when something goes wrong. Even if it isn’t a true five-minute install, it can be done easily in an hour and you’ll be wiser and better for having done it.

Simply put, setting up most scripts yourself just isn’t that challenging and ducking the setup can cost you some very valuable knowledge.

Bottom Line

To repeat the adage, if you want something done right, do you it yourself. That’s all that there is to it.

This isn’t to say you should never use a one-click install, they can be useful if you’re very familiar with an application and know that the default setup is perfect for you. However, it’s not a shortcut to knowledge or understanding.

Remember, if you do use a one-click install, you need to clean up after, configure the default options, check the security of it and make any needed changes to it. It can be time-consuming and it defeats much of the allure of a one-click install, but that’s the price one pays for running software on what is essentially a publicly accessible computer.

Most of the time, I recommend people stay away from these one-click installs. You simply don’t know how it’s going to work or what it’s going to do and, if you don’t fully understand the app, that can be dangerous. However, even if you do understand it, the amount of time you save is probably minimal, making it just the same as installing it yourself from scratch.

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