Part 2 – Getting Ready to Install WordPress

The other parts in this article are:


Topics:


Download WordPress:

Follow this link to download WordPress. You can download the installation files in various languages.

Download WordPress (Get WordPress)
Download WordPress (Get WordPress)

Note:

The download should be from the .org website, (wordpress.com is a commercial paid, or limited free version).

Video of WordPress Being Downloaded:
Download WordPress (Get WordPress)

Extract WordPress:

WordPress has to be extracted (unzipped) inside your testing server (AMP stack), or it won’t work. The following describes where you put WordPress and what you need to know…

  • Find your WordPress download and extract (unzip) the files.
Find Your WordPress Download & Extract (Unzip) the Files
Find Your WordPress Download & Extract (Unzip) the Files
  • Select a destination (for the extracted files).
WordPress - Select a destination (for the extracted files)
WordPress – Select a destination (for the extracted files)
  • This should be inside the htdocs folder of your ‘testing’ server (in this case, htdocs is inside the XAMPP folder structure).
Extracting the WordPress Files and Placing Them on the Server (htdocs folder)
Extracting the WordPress Files and Placing Them on the Server (htdocs folder)
  • The htdocs folder (sometimes called ‘public_html’ on a ‘live’ web server) is the location for website files on a server.
  • Select the htdocs folder and click ‘Extract’…
  • A new WordPress folder should be created.
Extracting (Unzipping) the WordPress Files
Extracting (Unzipping) the WordPress Files
  • Go to the extracted WordPress folder and rename it to… The name of your website, (or something similar, like the domain name).
Rename the Extracted WordPress Files to the Website Name (or Something Similar)
Rename the Extracted WordPress Files to the Website Name (or Something Similar)
  • This is your new ‘site’ folder.
Video Showing Where to Extract WordPress:
Building a WordPress Website – Extracting (unzipping) WordPress – Everything You Need to Know

Create a Database (for WordPress):

Before we can install WordPress, we need to create a database…

The database for a WordPress installation is created in the testing server, using ‘phpMyAdmin’. This is accessed through the testing server Control Panel, or by typing ‘localhost‘ in your browser address bar (see below).

Important (Best Practice):

When you create a database, it is a good idea to setup your ‘testing’ Server database and future ‘live’ server database so they are identical. I.e. The following parameters should be the same in both locations:

  • Username.
  • Password.
  • Hostname.
  • Database name.
  • Table prefix.

This is so your ‘Testing’ Server and ‘Live Site’ mirror each other. This will make life far easier when you eventually upload your website data to a ‘live’ web server, or when backing up and updating.

Therefore treat the logon details on a ‘testing’ server as if it was your actual ‘live’ website.

If the passwords, database and table name prefix do not match when you install your ‘live site’ and upload your data, you will get errors, (the worst case being the site fails to operate). You can go into the database and WordPress and change everything to match to get it working, but it just means a lot more work.

Note:

Also apply the same logic when creating the WordPress login during the WordPress install…

Open phpMyAdmin:

With the XAMPP control panel running…

Opening phpMyAdmin Using the Control Panel - XAMPP
Opening phpMyAdmin Using the Control Panel – XAMPP
  1. Click on the Apache ‘Admin’ button. This will take you to the phpMyAdmin screen in your browser, or just type ‘localhost‘ in your web browser url address bar. This will show up as http://localhost/dashboard/ in the url address bar.

Note: The link will only work if your testing server (such as XAMPP) is running.

  1. Select phpMyAdmin (on the far right of the page).
Opening phpMyAdmin in Your Browser
Opening phpMyAdmin in Your Browser
  1. Or, click on the MySQL ‘Admin’ button. This will take you straight to phpMyAdmin.

Create a User Account:

  1. Look for the User accounts tab and click on it.
phpMyAdmin User Accounts
phpMyAdmin User Accounts
  1. If you don’t already have a User account, scroll down, and under ‘New’ add a new user account.
phpMyAdmin - Add a User Account
phpMyAdmin – Add a User Account
  1. Enter the ‘Add user account’ login information.
  2. Grant all global privileges.
phpMyAdmin - Add a User Account (Grant all Privileges)
phpMyAdmin – Add a User Account (Grant all Privileges)
  1. Click ‘Go’ to create the account.
  2. Remember the username and password created.
phpMyAdmin - Add a User Account (Click Go to Create)
phpMyAdmin – Add a User Account (Click Go to Create)

Create a Database:

  1. Look for the Database tab and click on it.
WordPress Install - Create a Database
WordPress Install – Create a Database
  1. Type the database name and pick a suitable Collation, I normally go for…   utf8mb4_general_ci
  2. Click the ‘Create’ Button.

Notes:

  • Changing the table prefix from the default ‘wp_’. Changing the prefix allows you to easily identify a group of database tables, if you have more than one website, (this is not for security reasons).
  • Use the same user account, passwords and database names on your testing server, that you intend to use on your future live web server.
  • Make a note of the user account, database names, and the passwords for the WordPress install.
  • You can create a database at the same time as creating a user account (There is a checkbox you can select). But it can only be used when the database has the same name as the user account.
  • The database tables will be created (and populated) when WordPress is installed…
Video Showing a Database Being Created in phpMyAdmin:
Create a Database (for WordPress) using phpMyAdmin – (The Package was Installed using XAMPP)

Part 1 – Install a Testing Server

The Testing Server
It’s easy to install a testing server if you install one of the free ready made open source AMP, or LAMP packages (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python). This article is split […]

Part 3 – Install WordPress on a Testing Server

Installing WordPress - 'Success' - Log In
The other parts in this article are: Part 1 – Install a Testing Server.Part 2 – Getting Ready to Install WordPress.Part 4 – A WordPress Installation Error? Topics on This […]

Part 4 – A WordPress Installation Error?

WordPress - Error Establishing a Database Connection (Featured Image)
The other parts in this article are: Part 1 – Install a Testing Server.Part 2 – Getting Ready to Install WordPress.Part 3 – Install WordPress on a Testing Server. Topics […]