The beginners guide to installing Wordpress on your website

Actually, if your webhost is something like Bluehost, then its pretty much a one click install. But for those of us that are not using Fantastico or something similar, we need to do it manually. So that is what we will look at here, the manual install of wordpress, on your own website (not a wordpress hosted one).

I will assume you already have a domain name and hosting plan. And I will also assume that you can actually host the wordpress files on there.... this means that your host must support PHP, and allow you to create SQL databases (both of these are required).

1. Download the Wordpress files

You can get the wordpress files here. The latest edition is wordpress 2.8 Save the zipped file to where ever you like (I saved mine to my desktop), then extract the files. Don't do anything with them yet, you need to setup a database on your webhost first.

2. Create your Database

If you have never done this before, don't worry. It's far easier than it sounds. Logon to your webhost, and go to your control panel. All webhosts are different, but SOMEWHERE in there you will find an option to create a database. Sometimes you have the choice to create either a Microsoft SQL Server, or a MYSQL database. In that case, choose the MYSQL option.

You should only have to fill in three fields to create your DB.

• A name for your database
• A username
• Password

You may want to write these down, as you will need to know this information for the next step.

3. Modify your Worpress files

Well, only one file to change, so that makes it simple. Go to the wordpress folder that you downloaded and unzipped, and look for the files called wp-config-sample.php You need to remove the word sample from the filename, so it will be named wp-config.php

Next thing to do is open this using notepad, or whatever plain text editor you use (right click on the file, and choose the open with... option). There are 3 areas that you need to modify here.

• ('DB_NAME', 'database name here')
• ('DB_USER', 'your username')
• ('DB_PASSWORD', 'your password')

Make sure you save the changes to this file.

4. Upload your Wordpress files to your website

If you don't have an FTP client already, then I can recommend two free ones. The first is Filezilla. And the second one is Core FTP lite

I used Filzilla for many months, until it suddenly stopped connecting to my server. No amount or re-installs, repairs would fix the issue for more than a day or so. Then it would go back to failing to connect. I changed to using Core FTP, and have had no problems since then.

However, Im sure the issue is with me rather than the software, so don't let my experience put you off using it.

Uploading the files

Which folder to upload to? I don't recommend putting these into a sub folder. You want your root/top level one. For those with a brand new website, and still finding your way around, that is the folder that contains your placeholder index page. THAT is the folder to upload to. In my case, that folder is named httpdocs but names will vary depending on which host you have.

Don't upload the entire wordpress folder....open that up, and select all of the files and sub folders contained within the main wordpress folder. That will be all of the PHP files, plus three sub folders. wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes.

It will take perhaps 15-20 minutes for all of the files to upload, depending on your connection speed.

5. Logon to your Wordpress admin page

Okay, now that you have uploaded the files, we are nearly there. All we have to do now, is actually run the scripts to install everything. So...visit http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/install.php (obviously, replace myseite.com with your own URL)

This should now install your files, once you have input some details. Just follow the few simple instructions, and you're finished. There is a login area, so log onto your new wordpress, and start having fun ;-)

Setup your Look and Feel

Wordpress comes with two standard looks. Classic, and Default. But there are hundreds of cool themes to choose from, and many of them are free (you maybe required to leave a link intact to the theme creator however). Just do a Google search for "Free wordpress themes" and you are bound to find something that appeals to you.

Once you find a theme you like, it's just a matter of uploading that to your themes folder (located in the wp-content folder) and look for the option to change themes in your admin area.