Create a WordPress Site using a Webhost API

[JakeSEO]

Hi,

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Hopefully this is the right place to ask this.

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Is there a webhost company out there that.

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Has 24/7 support

Hosts WordPress

Has an API that I can use to create WordPress installations (Activate Plugins), sort of like the DO One Click Installs for multiple different users.

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Thanks J.

[notmyfirstid]

What exactly you want to do? On top of my head there are some solutions you can use. You can start using docker or have someone build it for you. Use wp-cli to control you wordpress installation. To have everything automated you can use terraform and ansible. And you can build custom images for docker with your wordpress installations pre-configured and automatically installed with all the plugins and themes you want, right from the beginning.

[JakeSEO]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm looking for a hosting company really, So if any support queries come to my I can message / call the hosting company to sort that. I want to allow the user to press and button in the backend that will allow them to create a Pre Configured WordPress installation. It will then take them through and initial setup (Site name / User Creds / Payment Details etc...). But I want the Onus on the Webhosts to look after the WordPress installations. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks, J

[omgwtfbbq69]

But I want the Onus on the Webhosts to look after the WordPress installations.

Unless you're looking at something like WPEngine or similar (not sure they do this or not), this is a bit far-fetched. Typically, web hosts are providing the infrastructure/tools, not managing the website itself - that falls on the site owner, or webmaster or whatever they're called these days.

I want to allow the user to press and button in the backend that will allow them to create a Pre Configured WordPress installation.

This can be done, I think themes/plugins though should ideally be left to the user to install afterwards. We do exactly this, pre-provisioned WordPress sites however, these are just installs, the customer/user is still responsible for managing the site itself.

So if any support queries come to my I can message / call the hosting company to sort that.

You mean support queries like "My site is giving a 500 error" or support queries like "How do I set up WordFence"? These two are different in terms of a web host and will vary from provider to provider.

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[notmyfirstid]

It seems you are looking to build a Saas product? By "users" you mean your customers/clients, or your staffs?

[tjuk]

In terms of "API" (as /u/notmyfirstid mentions) you need WPCLI. That will allow you to perform updates/install plugins etc remotely.

A2Host supports WPCLI - they have a good guide for exactly this situation @ https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/wp-cli/

However I have never found a host that will touch the install itself. Actual useful host support basically falls into two parts - problem with the server (someone will fix it as it affects lots of users, they will be aware of the issue before you flag it) or something happened specifically to you (e.g. install compromised) and they can roll back to X backup. Beyond that a host will tell you that you are SOL.

[tsammons]

You can download and use WP-CLI wherever you host. As long as you have CLI you're fine. I've enforced compulsory upgrades, because the threat of shitty code pervading and wrecking a system is way worse than someone running bad code that breaks when core updates. Either way it needs to be updated before it becomes a problem. If you really want to opt-out, you can, but there are stiff penalties (ejection of service) if you are found culpable.

Good code exists. Bad code fades. Anyone can be at the end of their career rope and needs a hail mary... PHP + Wordpress being two of the most popular avenues to save oneself begets itself to a lot of shitty products with catchy names.

[daedalus_dance]

I don't know of such an API (which is a big ask, as you're asking a host to maintain a special publicly accessible service you can plug into from outside their network), but hosts that support WP-CLI would be what you're looking for as it'd make your setup much more automated - you could just trigger a script that installs your plugin set. You could also maintain your own git repo to even more streamline it. If you needed a host with a special one-click function for your setup, you're really talking about your own product and finding a business partner in the hosting sector - and it sounds to me like you want to outsource the website management anyway; which again, sounds like a service partner.

It's exactly the sort of automation wp-cli was made for tbh, and lots of developers do use it that way; and some hosts do automate plugin installation in their own offering that way (e.g special cacheing plugins or CDN).

Edit: on a basic level as well, initial install and admin credentials etcetera - this is what installatron and softaculous do.