1. Log into your cPanel account.
2. In the “Software” section, you need to hit on “Softaculous App Installer” Icon.

3. When you will click on the “Softaculous App Installer” Icon the cPanel will revert you back to the Softaculous Panel.

4. On the left side of your screen, you should locate the “Forums” section. Click on it and then click on the “SMF” link that will be appeared on the screen.

5. Click on the “Install” button.

6. Fill up the required details in the “Software Setup” field:
Choose Protocol: You can leave this as it is.
Choose Domain: If you don’t have multiple domains, leave this as it is.
In Directory: If you would like to install this in a directory, for example, example.com/directory, just mention the directory name. Elseways, you can just leave it blank to install in your main domain example.com

7.Insert the subsequent details under the “Board Settings” field:
Board Name: Name of the forum
Visual verification image to display: Useful for spam prevention.
Board E-mail: The forums e-mail address.

8. In the “Admin Account” field enter the following details:
Admin Username: Your new SMF username ( for safety purpose do not operate it with “Administrator” or the “Admin” username.)
Admin Password: Use a strong password.
Real Name: Leave this as it is or enter your real name.
Admin Email: Your e-mail address. (Useful for administrator account password reset, notification, etc)

Note: Have a copy of the admin username and password on a notepad as the login particulars are essential to access the admin area of your SimpleMachine(SMF) Forum.

9. Fill up the following details under the “Choose Language” field:
Select Language: The default language of the forum is English.

10. Advanced Options: Leave this as it is unless you want to change the database name or take an automated backup. Please see to it that you are not taking too many continuous backups as it can utilize a lot of disk space.

Lastly, scroll down to the end of the page and click on the Install Button.