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name: hostinger-hosting description: Use when managing websites on Hostinger hosting — hPanel navigation, WordPress staging environment, LiteSpeed Cache configuration, PHP version management, SSH access (port 65002), DNS zone editor, SSL/TLS certificates, email setup (IMAP/SMTP settings, SPF/DKIM/DMARC), backup and restore, Hostinger CDN, Node.js deployment, cron jobs, Git integration, file manager, database management, migration to/from Hostinger, or troubleshooting Hostinger-specific errors (500, SSL loops, upload limits). disambiguation: The Hostinger PLATFORM — hPanel, staging, LiteSpeed, PHP versions, host-level limits. Administering the WordPress application itself, on any host, is wordpress-admin.

Hostinger Hosting

Overview

Hostinger uses a custom control panel (hPanel, not cPanel), LiteSpeed web server, and NVMe storage. This skill covers hPanel navigation, WordPress-specific features, performance, SSH/developer tools, DNS, backups, SSL, email, security, troubleshooting, and migration.

hPanel Navigation

Main Sidebar

• Home — Hosting plans, domains, VPS, services overview
• Websites — Manage existing sites, add new, migrate
• Domains — Domain settings, DNS zone, purchase
• Emails — Email services (Hostinger Email, Titan Email)
• Billing — Subscriptions, invoices, payment methods

Per-Website Dashboard Sidebar

• Dashboard — Resource usage overview
• WordPress — Overview, auto-updates, plugins, themes, staging, security
• Files — File Manager, FTP Accounts
• Databases — MySQL Databases, phpMyAdmin, Remote MySQL
• Security — SSL, Force HTTPS, malware scanner, IP manager
• Performance — CDN, object cache, LiteSpeed
• Advanced — PHP Configuration, DNS Zone Editor, Cron Jobs, SSH Access, GIT, .htaccess editor, Hotlink Protection, Activity Logs

AI assistant (Kodee): Built into hPanel, can toggle maintenance mode, flush caches, tweak LiteSpeed, run migrations.

WordPress Features

Staging Environment

Availability: Business plan or higher.

Create: Websites > Dashboard > WordPress > Staging > Create staging. Enter subdomain name, wait a few minutes.

• Creates full copy (files + database) on a subdomain
• Production and staging are independent (safe to modify)
• Publish: Click three-dots menu > Publish (replaces live with staging)
• Revert: Option to revert after publishing
• Limitations: No multisite support. Only works for domains (not subdomains). External nameservers require manual A record.

Object Cache

Based on LiteSpeed Memcached (LSMCD), not Redis on shared hosting. Business plan or higher.

Enable: hPanel > WordPress > Overview > Core section > toggle Object Cache.

PHP Version Management

Location: Advanced > PHP Configuration.

Select version from dropdown (minimum 8.2 recommended). PHP Options tab for: upload_max_filesize, post_max_size, max_execution_time, memory_limit.

Auto-Updates

Location: WordPress > Security. Separate toggles for core, plugins, and themes.

Malware Scanner

Built into hPanel: Websites > Dashboard > Security. Scans for harmful files and suspicious code.

Performance

LiteSpeed Web Server

All Hostinger hosting runs LiteSpeed. LiteSpeed Cache for WordPress (LSCWP) plugin pre-installed. Features: page caching, image optimization, CSS/JS minification, lazy load, database optimization. OPcache enabled by default.

Hostinger CDN

Availability: Business plan or higher.

Enable: Dashboard > search CDN > Enable. Domain must point to Hostinger nameservers. Auto-resizes/compresses images (WebP). Up to 40% performance improvement.

Resource Limits

Web Hosting:

Parameter	Single	Premium	Business
Websites	1	3	50
Storage (NVMe)	10 GB	20 GB	50 GB
Bandwidth	100 GB	Unlimited	Unlimited
CPU Cores	1	1	2
RAM	1 GB	2 GB	3 GB
PHP Workers	25	40	60
PHP Memory	1024 MB	1536 MB	2048 MB
Email Accounts	1 total	2/website	5/website

Cloud Hosting:

Parameter	Startup	Professional	Enterprise
Websites	100	100	100
Storage (NVMe)	100 GB	200 GB	300 GB
CPU Cores	4	5	6
RAM	4 GB	6 GB	12 GB
PHP Workers	100	200	300
PHP Memory	3072 MB	6144 MB	12288 MB

Compression & Protocols

• Brotli enabled by default (GZIP as fallback)
• HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 (QUIC) supported via LiteSpeed

SSH & Developer Tools

SSH Access

Availability: Premium plan and above (NOT Single).

Port: 65002 (custom, not standard 22)

ssh u123456789@185.x.x.x -p 65002

Enable: Advanced > SSH Access > Enable. Username: u{account_number}. Password: same as FTP password. SSH key auth supported.

WP-CLI

Available via SSH. Full command set accessible after connecting.

Git Integration

Location: Advanced > GIT.

• Supports public and private repos
• Configure: Repository Address, Branch, Install Path (default: /public_html)
• Webhook support for GitHub continuous deployment
• Limitation: Deploys files only — no build steps

Composer

Available via SSH for PHP dependency management.

Node.js

Availability: Business and Cloud plans. Deploy manually or from GitHub. Configured via hPanel.

Cron Jobs

Location: Advanced > Cron Jobs.

Two types: PHP (for .php files) and Custom (for scripts with special characters, use .sh file). Timezone: UTC+0.

DNS Management

DNS Zone Editor

Location: Advanced > DNS Zone Editor (domain must use Hostinger nameservers).

Default Hostinger nameservers: ns1.dns-parking.com, ns2.dns-parking.com

Supported Records

Record	Purpose
A	Domain to IPv4
AAAA	Domain to IPv6
CNAME	Alias to another domain
MX	Mail server
TXT	SPF, DKIM, verification tokens
SRV	Service location
CAA	SSL certificate authority auth

Default TTL: 14400 seconds (4 hours).

Cloudflare Integration

Update nameservers at Domains > select domain > Change Nameservers. Then manage DNS in Cloudflare, not hPanel. SSL mode must be "Full" or "Full (Strict)" to avoid redirect loops.

Email DNS Records

SPF (TXT):    v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all
DKIM (CNAME): Auto-configured for Hostinger Email
DMARC (TXT):  v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com
MX:           mx1.hostinger.com (priority 5), mx2.hostinger.com (priority 10)

Only one SPF record per domain. Only one email provider per domain at a time.

Backup & Restore

Plan	Frequency	Retention
Premium	Weekly	6 weeks
Business	Daily	7 days
Cloud	Daily	7 days

Location: Files > Backups.

• Generate on-demand backups (files, database, or both)
• Download or restore from backup date
• Can restore files and database separately
• Restoration overwrites current files/database (10-15 min for large sites)

SSL/TLS

Free SSL (Let's Encrypt)

Auto-installed on all websites. Lifetime free with auto-renewal. Domain-validated (DV).

Custom SSL: Uninstall free cert first, then Import SSL (paste cert, private key, CA bundle).

Force HTTPS

Method 1: hPanel > Security > SSL > toggle "Force HTTPS"

Method 2: .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Email

Server Settings

Hostinger Email:

Protocol	Server	Port
IMAP	imap.hostinger.com	993 (SSL)
POP3	pop.hostinger.com	995 (SSL)
SMTP	smtp.hostinger.com	465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)

Titan Email (premium add-on):

Protocol	Server	Port
IMAP	imap.titan.email	993 (SSL)
POP3	pop.titan.email	995 (SSL)
SMTP	smtp.titan.email	465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)

Email Limits Per Plan

Single: 1 total. Premium: 2/website. Business: 5/website. Cloud: 10/website.

Features

Aliases, forwarding, catch-all, webmail (Hostinger Mail Web App). Compatible with Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail via IMAP/SMTP.

Security

• 24/7 server monitoring, firewall, mod_security, Suhosin PHP hardening
• WordPress malware scanner (hPanel > Security)
• DDoS protection (RTBH filtering)
• IP blocking (Advanced > IP Manager)
• Directory password protection
• Hotlink protection (Advanced > Hotlink Protection)
• Activity/access logs
• 2FA for hPanel login
• WAF on managed WordPress plans
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified

Troubleshooting

500 Internal Server Error

1. Rename .htaccess to .htaccess_backup
2. Increase PHP memory: Advanced > PHP Configuration > PHP Options > memory_limit
3. Disable plugins via File Manager (rename wp-content/plugins to plugins_disabled)
4. Check file permissions (755 dirs, 644 files)
5. Re-upload WordPress core files
6. Check error logs

Database Connection Error

1. Verify wp-config.php credentials (DB_HOST is localhost on shared hosting)
2. Check database exists: Databases > MySQL Databases
3. Verify user privileges
4. Check if database size limit reached

SSL Issues

• ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR: Clear browser cache, check in incognito, use SSL Checker tool
• Mixed content: Update HTTP links to HTTPS, use Really Simple SSL plugin
• Redirect loop: Rename .htaccess, verify siteurl/home in wp_options are HTTPS, if Cloudflare set SSL to "Full"/"Full (Strict)"
• Certificate not showing: Wait for DNS propagation (up to 48h)

Upload Size Limits

Change via: Advanced > PHP Configuration > PHP Options > upload_max_filesize and post_max_size. post_max_size must be larger than upload_max_filesize.

Email Deliverability

• Verify SPF, DKIM, DMARC records are set correctly
• Only ONE SPF record per domain (combine if using multiple services)
• DKIM must be CNAME (not TXT)
• Wait 24h for DNS propagation
• Test with mail-tester.com or mxtoolbox.com

Migration

Automatic Migration Tool

Location: Websites > Add website > Migrate website.

Supported: WordPress (single-site), Joomla, cPanel/WHM. NOT supported: WordPress Multisite, Blogger, Shopify, Squarespace.

Provide domain name + admin credentials. Hostinger handles the rest.

What migrates: Files, database, .htaccess. Does NOT migrate: Cron jobs, DNS records, custom SSL, FTP accounts, email.

DNS Cutover Process

1. Complete migration first (do NOT change DNS yet)
2. Preview with temporary URL / SkipDNS tool
3. Change nameservers: Domains > DNS/Nameservers > "Use Hostinger nameservers"
4. Wait 24-48h for propagation
5. Install SSL certificate
6. Verify all functionality

Manual Migration

1. Export source DB (phpMyAdmin or mysqldump)
2. Download source files (FTP/SFTP)
3. Create new DB on Hostinger (Databases > MySQL Databases)
4. Import DB via phpMyAdmin
5. Upload files to public_html
6. Update wp-config.php: DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST (localhost)
7. Update siteurl/home in wp_options if domain changed
8. Follow DNS cutover process

Anti-Patterns

Don't	Why
Change DNS before migration completes	Visitors see broken/empty site
Use standard SSH port 22	Hostinger uses port 65002
Create multiple SPF records	Only one SPF per domain; combine them
Set DKIM as TXT record	Must be CNAME on Hostinger
Ignore PHP memory limits per plan	Cannot exceed plan maximum regardless of wp-config
Skip staging for major updates	No easy rollback on shared hosting
Use Cloudflare "Flexible" SSL mode	Causes redirect loops with Hostinger
Attempt multisite migration with auto tool	Not supported; must migrate manually