---
title: "Install phpList manually"
description: "In this article we'll review how to install phpList manually onto your php website hosting. phpList is used for easy web based email marketing, and allows you to do direct email marketing to your..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/phplist/install-phplist-manually/
date: 2012-12-11
modified: 2023-06-07
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["phpList", "Website"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Install phpList manually

In this article we’ll review how to install **phpList** manually onto your [php website hosting](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/php-hosting). **phpList** is used for easy web based email marketing, and allows you to do direct email marketing to your users.

If you’ve been looking for a great way to send out email blasts, for opt in email marketing, **phpList** is among one of the simplest email marketing software packages that you can use.

If you’re already a customer of InMotion Hosting, I’d recommend using our guide on [how to install **phpList** with Softaculous](/support/edu/cpanel/install-phplist-with-softaculous/). That’s because the Softaculous installer that we use can complete a **phpList** installation with just a few clicks.

After you’ve completed a **phpList** installation, either manually, or with Softaculous, we’ll also cover how to configure and setup **phpList** in this education channel. This way you can take full advantage of this popular open source newsletter software.

To get started simply follow the steps below.

## Download phpList from SourceForge

1. [![click-on-download-zip-link-on-phplist-site](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_click-on-download-zip-link-on-phplist-site.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_click-on-download-zip-link-on-phplist-site.png) You’ll need to download **phpList** from [phpList.com](https://www.phplist.com/download) Click on the **download ZIP** link. The latest version of **phpList** was **2.10.19** at this time.  
2. [![phplist-sourceforge-download](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_phplist-sourceforge-download.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_phplist-sourceforge-download.png) You will be taken to **SourceForge** to download the file. Wait for the download count-down to complete, or you can click on either the **direct link**, or **mirror** links to begin the download.  
3. Extract the downloaded **phplist-2.10.19.zip** archive to a local folder on your computer. Note the folder location as we’ll need to come back to these files in just a minute.

## Create a MySQL database to store phpList settings

1. First [login to your cPanel](/support/edu/cpanel/how-to-log-into-cpanel/).
2. [![click-on-mysql-database-wizard](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_click-on-mysql-database-wizard.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_click-on-mysql-database-wizard.png) Under the **Databases** section, click on **MySQL Database Wizard**.
3. [![name-database-click-on-next-step](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_name-database-click-on-next-step.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_name-database-click-on-next-step.png) In the **New Database** field, give your database a name, in this example we’re using **phplist**. Then click on **Next Step**.
4. [![create-database-user-click-on-create-user](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_create-database-user-click-on-create-user.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_create-database-user-click-on-create-user.png) In the **Username** field, create a database username, in this example we’re using **phplist**. Then fill out and confirm the **Password** making sure that you’ve copied it down. Finally click on **Create User**.
5. [![select-all-privileges-click-on-next-step](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_select-all-privileges-click-on-next-step.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_select-all-privileges-click-on-next-step.png) Finally place a check mark beside **ALL PRIVELEGES**, then click on **Next Step**.
6. You should now simply see that your database user was added to your database.**User “userna1_phplist” was added to the database “userna1_phplist”.**

## Upload phpList files via FTP to server

1. Using your favorite [FTP](/support/website/ftp/getting-started-guide/) client, navigate to the local folder that you had extracted **phpList** to in the left pane, being sure to go into the **public_html** folder.
2. Connect to your account on the server and in the right pane navigate to your **/public_html/** directory.
3. [![filezilla-drag-lists-folder-onto-server](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-drag-lists-folder-onto-server.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-drag-lists-folder-onto-server.png) Now drag the **lists** folder from your local computer, into the **/public_html/** directory on the server.
4. You can right-click on the **lists** directory on the server, then select **Rename** if you want your **phpList** installation to be accessible from another location than the default. In this case I’ve chosen simply **list**. [![filezilla-rename-folder](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-rename-folder.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-rename-folder.png) [![filezilla-rename-folder-complete](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-rename-folder-complete.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_filezilla-rename-folder-complete.png)

## Update phpList config.php to connect to your database

- [Login to your cPanel](/support/edu/cpanel/how-to-log-into-cpanel/).
- Under the **Files** section, click on **File Manager**.
- Select the **Document Root for:** option, and choose your domain from the drop-down.
- Then click **Go**.

[![cpanel-file-manager-go-to-document-root](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_cpanel-file-manager-go-to-document-root.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_cpanel-file-manager-go-to-document-root.png)

1. [![cpanel-file-manager-navigate-to-config](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_cpanel-file-manager-navigate-to-config.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_cpanel-file-manager-navigate-to-config.png) Navigate to the **/public_html/list/config** directory from the left-hand pane.
2. [![edit-config-php-file](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_edit-config-php-file.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_edit-config-php-file.png) Now right-click on the **config.php** file, then click on **Edit**
3. You might have a text editor encoding dialog box pop-up, you can simply click on **Edit**.
4. Now you’ll want to enter in your database credentials that you setup earlier when creating your MySQL database. In our case this would be: `$database_name = "userna1_phplist"; $database_user = "userna1_phplist"; $database_password = "phpli$tp@$";` After making these edits, click on **Save Changes** at the top-right.[![edit-config-php-file-click-save-changes](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_edit-config-php-file-click-save-changes.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/edu_phplist_install-manually_edit-config-php-file-click-save-changes.png)

You should now have successfully installed the **phpList** newsletter management software manually onto your website. You can now continue on to my guide on how to [complete phpList setup after manual install](/support/edu/phplist/complete-phplist-setup-after-manual-install/) to finish setting up phpList.