First steps with WordPress: quick installation guide

Difficulty Posted by Fulippo in Tutorials      4 comments

Feb
21

The very first step to enter the WordPress world is, of course, the installation. It is not that difficult: you only need some basic concepts, some data and a little bit of patience. We will guide you in a step by step installation to help you enter the fantastic world of WordPress.

What do we need?

In order to install WordPress we will need few technical information (database name, database username and password, table prefix) and some general information regarding the blog you are going to create (blog name, administrator e-mail address).

Is that all? Not really. Before starting the installation process we must have already created a working MySQL database. This is a typical installation mistake that may prevent someone from correctly installing WordPress.

So, how to create a MySQL database?

There are many ways to create a MySQL database. The most common way is to use phpMyAdmin (a web based tool to administer MySQL databases). We assume you have phpMyAdmin already installed and working (the installation of phpMyAdmin is not the purpose of this tutorial). Once you have access to phpMyAdmin you only have to insert the database name into the text field named “Create New Database” (shown in picture). That’s all you have created your MySQL database.

Ready to go!

Copy all WordPress files into the root directory of your you web space and then go to the corresponding URL using you web browser.

You should see a screen like this:

This is the WordPress installer interface. Click on “Create a Configuration File” to go to the next step:

Click the “Let’s go” button to begin the real installation process:

Insert all requested data:

1. Database name (previously created)
2. Database username (the username used to connect to the server)
3. Database password
4. Database server host (tipically “localhost”)
5. Database table prefix (if you use more web apps in your database may be helpful else leave it unchanged)

Now, if the installation directory on the server is not writeable (for security reason) you the following screen may appear:

If you see this screen you have to manually create a file called wp-config.php inside you installation directory and then paste the text inside the box.

If everything’s fine (or if your directory is writeable) you should see this screen:

We’re almost there. All is configured and we are ready to go. Insert the name for your blog inside the field called “Blog name” (you can change it later) and your e-mail address (use a valid e-mail address to receive automatic mail from your WordPress).

Remember to leave the checkbox “Allow my blog to appear in search engines” thicked only if you wish to allow search engines to immediately access your blog (this settings can be changed later also).

You’re done:

Really easy, isn’t it?

Have fun with your brand new blog and remember you can always contact us to request professional WordPress support