Hosting Configuration

In your website’s Hosting Configuration, access your website’s database, SFTP credentials, and more advanced settings. This guide will give an overview of the options here.

This feature is available on sites with the WordPress.com Creator or Entrepreneur plan. If your site has one of our legacy plans, it is available on the Pro plan.

In this guide

1. Access Your Hosting Configuration
2. Settings Available
   1. SFTP/SSH Credentials
   2. Database Access
   3. Staging Site
   4. Site Monitoring
   5. Web Server Settings
   6. Restore Plugins and Themes
   7. Cache
   8. Admin Interface Style

Access Your Hosting Configuration

To visit the Hosting Configuration area:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings → Hosting Configuration (or Hosting → Configuration if using WP-Admin).

Guides to each setting found here are listed below.

If hosting access is not yet activated, you will find a notice that says, “Please activate the hosting access to begin using these features.” Click the Activate button to unlock your hosting access. This is a one-time action you will never need to do again for your site.

Settings Available

The following developer-level settings are found in Hosting Configuration:

SFTP/SSH Credentials

Use the credentials provided to access and edit your website files using an SFTP client, enable SSH, and use WP-CLI. To obtain your credentials, take the following steps:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings → Hosting Configuration (or Hosting → Configuration if using WP-Admin).
3. Under “SFTP/SSH credentials“, click the “Create credentials” button.

Visit the following guides to learn more about using SFTP, connecting to SSH, and using WP-CLI.

Database Access

Developers can use phpMyAdmin to access a WordPress.com website’s database and run a wide range of operations. Click the “Open phpMyAdmin” button on the Hosting Configuration page to access your site’s database.

Learn more in our Manage Your Site’s MySQL Database guide.

Staging Site

You can use a staging site to clone your entire WordPress.com site for testing purposes. Click the “Add staging site” button on the Hosting Configuration page to create a staging instance of your website.

Visit our Create a Staging Site guide to learn more.

Site Monitoring

The Site Monitoring tool provides real-time information for developers to troubleshoot or debug problems with your site. To access the Site Monitoring page:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. On the left side, navigate to Tools → Site Monitoring (or Hosting → Monitoring if using WP-Admin).
3. Here, you will find three tabs:
   • Metrics
   • PHP Logs
   • Webserver Logs

To learn more about the information provided on the Site Monitoring page, visit our dedicated Site Monitoring guide.

Web Server Settings

In your website’s web server settings, you can configure options related to the PHP version and nonexistent assets on your site. Visit our Web Server Settings guide to learn more about these options.

Restore Plugins and Themes

If your website is missing the default plugins and themes that came with your plan, you may restore them by clicking a button. Visit our Restore Plugins and Themes guide to learn how.

Cache

While troubleshooting an issue, you may be advised to clear your site’s cache. Click the “Clear cache” button on the Hosting Configuration page to clear your site’s server cache.

Learn more in our Clear Your Site’s Cache guide.

Admin Interface Style

You can set your website to use the wp-admin classic interface whenever you log into your dashboard. Learn more in our Admin Interface Style guide.