Installation requirements

1. Your own shared or dedicated server (wordpress.com hosting doesn't allow custom themes).
   • Your server needs to satisfy the official WordPress requirements.
     • PHP 5.6 or newer (older PHP versions like 5.5 or 5.4 may partially work but eventually they won't, PHP 7.x is recommended).
     • MySQL version compatible with your PHP version and with your server.
     • The newest stable WordPress version.
2. Knowledge on how to use WordPress (e.g. how to enter the admin panel, how to write posts etc.). This may help you: New To WordPress — Where to Start.

Hosting recommendations (what to pay attention to)

The hosting you need depends on your business type and traffic you receive. If it's a local store (limited to a small country) then a local shared hosting should suffice. Global stores with high traffic may need multiple dedicated servers.

Our customers have had many issues with servers. Things to consider:

• Important: When you buy a domain from scam companies you are not the domain's owner but the hosting company is. Please do your own research.
• Some servers are sending files with incorrect headers (the server administrators can fix that):
  • TTF files as plain text and not as font files. You may not see the icons then.
  • SVG and other types of files with incorrect headers.
  • A same domain origin policy issue may be involved too.
• Numerous people reported blocked email sending on various hostings (usually the cheapest shared hostings).
• RAND() for MySQL and "random" in WP_Query are disabled by default on some servers. This disables random sorting of posts. You can usually enable that in the settings of your server. This issue affects wpengine.com.
• Some servers (e.g. Bluehost) disable various "image resizing" scripts to stop people from using PHP execution time, without an option to enable them. We don't use any such scripts.
• Support in many hosting companies is very inadequate. They are often not able to properly assist with basic issues, double or triple asking is often necessary.
• WordPress has its own hosting recommendations.