Personally I’ve been using WordPress since June 2008. Many other bloggers have been using it a lot longer than that. Since I started using WordPress the initial process for getting it onto your server, setting it up, and getting started, has remained the virtually same: -

Getting ready

First you’ll need to download the latest version of WordPress in the form of a zip file. Following that you’ll need to unzip it, using a program such as WinZip, which is built into Windows from XP onwards. The folder that WinZip creates will contain all of the necessary files and folders for WordPress which you just unzipped from the zip file.

The next part of the mission is to transfer all of those files and folders to a directory on your server. Your server will need to be php-enabled, and should be running MySQL or equivalent in order that you can create a database. I recommend a Linux server for running WordPress: Red Hat Linux is a good choice, although I am currently running this blog in Ubuntu. The main thing is that Linux is better than Windows all round if running WordPress. Linux is generally a better platform for servers in the first place; despite my continued use of Windows on my computer terminals. This doesn’t cause any conflict, and a Linux dedicated server can easily be controlled and operated from a Windows computer.

If you’re intending to set up your blog on a shared-platform server; where a number of other domains share the server with yours; ensure that your domain will not at any point in the future hog the shared resources of the server. – Your hosting company may get funny if it does this. Here I cite a number of instances where this blog was on a shared Red-Hat Linux platform in the past, and, due to its high resource usage, the hosts placed the domain on a backroom scripting server with other domains that also overused their share of server resources; causing this blog to become very slow indeed, to the point of totally unresponsive to web requests. The third time this happened I moved to a dedicated server, where I also placed my other, inactive, domains for the time being. (Except for kustomkomputa.co.uk and it-blo.ws; both of which are still on shared platforms, and one of which is still totally inactive.)

If you’re intending to create a professional blog then it would be best to place all those files and folders in the root directory. That doesn’t mean your server’s root directory, it means the root directory of your web space itself: The root directory available to you to upload files and folders to. Whether or not you already have subdirectories in the root folder, it’s always a better idea to install WordPress as low in the directory structure as is possible and reasonably practical.

The way to transfer the unzipped files and folders is via an FTP client to your FTP server section. Your web-host should have given you the login details, or in many cases you are able to create at least a password for yourself. I use FileZilla as my FTP client on my computer; but there are many other FTP clients out there; some are free and some are charged-for. Consult the program’s documentation or Read Me file for usage instructions of whichever client you choose to use. Upload the WordPress files and folders to the root directory of your web space.

Now we come to the setting-up of WordPress. – But first you’ll need to set up a database. Most shared-platform hosting packages come with an included database space, and you can create a database easily on a dedicated server using either MySQL or whatever tools your hosting providers make available to you. Remember the name and password of your database: Write them down; you’ll need them in the following section. You’ll also need the “hostname” of your database, so write down the IP address of your database, which you can use for this purpose.

Setting-up WordPress on your server.

If you look in the root-directory of your web space, you’ll see a file called “wp-config-sample.php” This php file has to be configured in order for WordPress to work. If you download and open the file on your own computer, it’ll look something like the example below. I’ve highlighted the bits that you need to worry about in bold type. I’ve filled in the values between the ‘ ‘ marks with examples for you. The piece in dark-blue doesn’t have to be changed, but it’ll improve the security of your blog if you do change the values where it says ‘put your unique phrase here’. – Anything will do: ‘Andy-Pandy’, ‘1234567890’, ‘eat sh*t and die’, or even ‘strjsdagohjvr5[0gte#’, whatever you like.

The entry for DB_HOST is set by default to “localhost”. This will work as is 9/10 times; but I’ve known it not to, so it’s always best to put your database’s IP address between the ‘ ‘ marks here, just to err on the side of caution. Nothing else other than the values as mentioned above need be changed.

If you want your blog in a language other than English, you’ll need to set up the line define (‘WPLANG’, ”); correctly, plus install the correct corresponding MO file for the chosen language, as per the instructions.

Finally; rename the file to wp-config.php and upload the altered file to the root web space with all the other files and folders. You can now delete the original file named wp-config-sample.php if you like, as WordPress doesn’t need it.

Finally

You’re ready to go. Open your web-browser and type your domain name followed by /wp-admin , like this: –

http://www.mydomain.com/wp-admin

WordPress will set itself up and present you with the login page. WordPress will have generated a long complex password, which it’s best to write down just in case. Log in to WordPress by pressing the Login button. The WordPress dashboard GUI will appear. 

– And that’s it: You now have a working WordPress installation. I suggest that you go into your profile and change that password to something you can remember that’s more familiar to you; but keep hold of the old password for a while just to be on the safe side.

That’s pretty much it. – Happy blogging.

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