Absolute Beginner's Guide to Installing WordPress

Absolute Beginners Guide to

Getting Started with

Word Press

By: Dane morgan

Home Business Blogging With Dane Morgan

( http://danemorgan.com/ )

Niche Explorer
( http://nicheexplorer.comA )

@©J»

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lOf 19

1 Manual Installation

l.l..Qetting The Code

First go to http://wordpress.org

>rdPress ffi

Download the new veriiMi!

HOME ABOUT EXTEKO DOCS BLOG SUPPORT HOSTING DOWNLOAD

{

-

WELCOME

Word P ress is a state -of -tbe-art

semantic perconal publishing platform
with a fqcys on aesthetics, web
standards, and usability. What a
mouthful. Word Press is both free and
prieetas at the same time.

Download Page

4 uanwi i bene

\ijiLihk EIichk-v

Mora simply, WpEdPress is what wijus$. — t -*- =

J

-.-*•"- j

From here you can go to all of the different parts of this site,
including:

Support ( http://wordpress.org/support ) forums where you can ask
questions and read answers to questions others have asked.
Docs ( http://codex.wordpress.org/Main Page ) Where you can read
the instructions for different aspects of using the WordPress Personal
Pyblishing Software (blogging software).

Extend ( http://wordpress.org/extend/ ) Where you can find plugins
and themes for your WordPress Blog.

2 Of 19

And the one we are interested in right now, Download
( http://wordpress.org/download/ ) where you can find the
most recent version of WordPress available to download for
free.

DOWNLOAD WORDPRESS 2.1

Click on the

The latest stable release of Word FrBoftSi a^fc*a dllj |) ttqn,
is available in two formats from the h:\'y\ \me

right. If you have no idea what to do with\ vj\^
download, w« recommend signing up with '^r^,/
our web hosting partners that offers a one click
install of WordPress or getting a free account on
Wo irl Press mm.

We've got information on installation and

upgrading if you need it. If ths admin looks a little
scrarrjblpd a^ta^^

Download

.ZIP

Download

JAR.GZ

When the File Dialog appears pick Save To Disk and click
"OK".

Opening wordpress-2. 1.3. zip

You have chosen to open
■gjj wordpress-2. 1. 3.zip

which is a: UltimateZip File
from: http://wordpress.org

- What should Firefox do with this file?

O Open with

©Hie to DJi < n.

s automatical! ,.^Bile; like t frgfl

1. Pick Save
To Disk

OK

Cancel

3 Of 19

Now Select a folder to save the file in and click "save".

,,J)

MyRecml
Documwiis

De:ttap
Mji Document

MuCompulef

MyNdwaik

CDrrods

CJtfm

QThametDdtat

. ^worrfaress-g.Ci.'l

^Jiwcjrdtir6js-?,0.E

iJwari$]rK=-2.1 J

^)iApmu-tj ret -able

^bbpTBSS-D.TS.zH

E|™rdtir53s*2,0-5,zt>

wflrl^prKS-E.l.ap

1. Select A
Location

Fie name.

WQidpfasf-J.1 .3 ap

Ukir«l=Zp Ffc

2. Click
Save

-

Now Navigate to the folder you saved the download in and
extract it to a new folder

4 Of 19

1.2 Configuring WordPress for instaHation

Open your web browser and navigate to your hosting
account's cpanel. This should be located at
( http://yourdomain.com/cpanel ). Log into your cpanel and
select the MySQL icon.

Select Your

anager Disk Space Backups

u 44ySQL
Database

,^J MySQL*

Drmain MySQL® VpJbstgreSQL Rej

Databases ™ Databases

t.f- .

Now type in a name for your database and click 'Create
Database'

MySQL Account Maintenanc»j_ -„^ W*iii

Data b ase

L urrent Databases:

new D*t»bsss:

Create Detab«e

<P

Current Users:

Ut»rn»m*s |

Create User

Add Users To Your Databases:

1

5 Of 19

Click the 'Go Back' Link.

MySQL Account Maintenance

Database Created

Added the database *

Click 'Go Back'

[ Go Back ]

/

Type in a Username and a Password and click on the 'Create
User' button.

VlcPanel

MySQL Account Maintenance

Current Databases:

Type a Username

Create Datable

and a Passwordc™^™ CMck Create Use| y

% PiTiwomJ: Create User \j— ^

Add Users Tp YDur Databases:

6 Of 19

Click the 'Go Back' link.

MySQL Account Maintenance

Account C re -a ted

Addad | vrfth tfra pass word

Click 'Go Back'

[ Go Back ]

/

Add the new user to the new database by selecting the
username and the database from the dropdown boxes. Then
Click 'Add User To Database'.

Add Users To Your Databases:

User:
Privi

Database:

detect the fh Select the

ALL »>• ^y\ SELECT D g Yq^ CREA^

E insert j us t |wJaW ER f

d L or

ser You

Just Made

Click Add User
To Database

] UPDATE
D DELETE

D D

ROP

LOCK TABLE*

Click the 'Go Back' Link.

MySQL Account Maintenance

Account added to Access L»t

Added the uc»r

Click 'Go Back'

to the cUtibsj*

[ Go Back ]

7 Of 19

Note that Cpanel will most probably have changed your
database name and your userneame. It will have prepended
your cpanel user name to the database name and to the
user name like this.

cPanelName_Databasel\lame
cPanelNameJJsername

Your password will be unaffected by this and will remain
exactly as you typed it. If at any time you forget your
password, you can return to the MySQL page and type the
username into the box exactly as you typed it the first time
and type in any new password you like and it will reset the
password for that username.

Open the new folder you extracted WordPress into. You will
find another folder called wordpress. Open this folder and
locate the wp-config-sample.php file and open it in a text
editor such as notepad, textpad or HTMLkit.

lers 'y 7 Favorites o J -'

(£) D : \PHP\ wordpress\ wordpress-Z , 1 , 3\ wordf

wp-content

license.txt
Text Document
15 KB

D

wp-includes

>en

0"J wp-blog-header,php
Dev-PHP File Wp-COnfj

sap 1KB

readme, html
Firefox Document
8KB

wp-comrnents-post , php

o>

wp-config-sample.php
Dev-PHP File

rtj J

V Dev-PHP File / /

■

8 Of 19

If you are a windows user and you open the file in notepad
it may seem like something is wrong with it. It will all be in a
single line unless you turn on word wrapping, and there will
be all of these boxes scattered through the text like this.

P wp -co n fig sample, php -Notepad

File Edit Format View Help

<?phpD// ** My
T wo rdpress T ) ;
define ( T DB_USE
define ( T DB_PAS
define ( T DB_HOS
need to change
installations
prefiKDStable_
and underscore
lordPress. A
language must
enample, inst
IPLANG to T de T
( T WPLANG T , T T )
*/DDdef ine ( T AB

Y~ F; f" ""-" t^*' <~- *"• *™ F ^

SQL sett
// Th
R T , T use
SWORD T ,
T T r T loc

this v,
in one
prefix
s please
cojrrespo
insta
de . mo

□// V3/~7
;DD/xr-fh

ings ** //Ddef
e name of the
rname T ) ; /
T passwo rd T ) ; /
alhost T ) ; /
□□// You ca
atabase if you

= '™%fl //

i nnX^-cliange t

nding MO file

lied to wp-inc

to wp-include

nable German 1

at T s all, stop

dirname ( FILE

■i-.-i--i.ngs . ph

ine ( T DB_N;
dataJ^KeD
/ y/uf MySQL
/ ... and pag
/ 99% chanc^
n have multil

give each -T
Only numbersj
his to local/
for theD// d
ludes/langua^
s/languages i
anguage supjf

editing I
) ■ T / T )

-f

This is normal. It is caused by the fact that Unix, Macintosh
and PC operating systems all represent carraige returns with
different codes.

To correct this open the file in Wordpad, save it and close it.
This will correctly interpret and save the proper formatting
of the file Which will then appear like this.

P wp corif&samplg-.pihp - Notepad

Fib EtJt Fcrmat Vwwt Hdp

<?php

// **
defin
d&fi n
def:i n
def in
value

// YO

pref i
5tabl

MySQL settings ** //

e ( T DB_NAME T , T wo- cd press T ) ; / / The name of the

e £ T DB_USER T ., T use rname T ) ; // Yauc MySQL usee;

e ( T DB_PASSUORD T , T password T ); // ...and passvordf

& ( T DB_HOST T 4 T l&calhost T ) ; // 99% chance y&uf

u can have multiple installations in one databa^

/ / only numbers, lett ecs,

e_pref ix

W P_

// Change this to localize Word.Press. A correspondir
// chosen language must be i nst ailed to wp — i ncludes/3

/ / For ex am pi e, i nst all de . mo to wp- includes/language
// to enable German language support .

define (. T HFLANG T , T T J ;

/*

4e r

That T s all,

stop editingl Happy blogging„

-/

9 Of 19

We are really only interested in the first four lines here.

define

('DB-NAME', 'wordpress');

define

( 'DB USER' , 'username' ) ;

define

( y DB PASSWORD' , 'password' ) ;

define

( y DB HOST', 'localhost' ) ;

In Line one you will replace 'wordpress' with the database
name you chose. In line two you will replace 'username' with
the username you chose. In line three you will replace
'password' with the password you chose. Leave line four as
it is. This will almost always work as is. If it does not work
you will need to contact your hosting company to find out
the hostname for your MySQL server.

After making these changes choose 'Save As' from the 'File'
Menu option. Make sure you are in the same folder where
you extracted you wordpress files and name the file

wp-config.php

Now you will have both wp-config-sample.php and
Wp-config.php In this folder. Leave the wp-config-sample
alone so you remember to edit it again next time you install
Word Press.

Open a new notepad documant and save it as .htaccess.txt.
Don't type anything in this, just leave it blank and save it to
the wordpress folder.

10 Of 19

Now it's time to upload these files.

You will need an FTP program to do this part. There are
many free ftp programs available and any of them is pretty
much as good as any of the rest. The pictures in this report
are from WS-FTP.

Section Properties

fr

aral | Slartup | Advanced | Frm*at |
Ptofle Nome f

ost Name/Ad ±e ;.;
/j^ Hos* Type

~H

New

tf>

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Delete

Automatic deled

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f~ An :•■ ;, r i :> .

p 3ev*Pwd

Comment:

r/O"

T

OK

J

r.ir, -I

J

App^,

J

Help

First Select a Profile name, this can be anything that will
help you remember what domain this profile connects to.
Next type in your domain name. Don't use the http:// or the
www. Just use the domainname.com part. Leave the host
type on Auto Detect unless you host has specifically told you
to use another setting. Type in your cpanel username and
password in the user ID and password boxes and checkmark
the save password box. Click 'Apply' to save the profile and
'OK' to connect.

11 Of 19

12 Of 19

Local System
I

Pr«rai» File*\BS FT

i

Manic

_~_1\\

-

Chfpi

20061017 21:00
PIQ7MJH

admin
ZD boblogs
^ books

catalog
^J daneaiorgaii . co" 20050820 14:21

MkDir

Wonc«|$£#ler

Enac

^wwilZHySQI

2j feedstuff

| inages
ilD includes

20041O11 2? 16
2Q05Q724 07 11
20050703 12 0i
200i301l6 17:25
20030116 17 25

Refresh

Drlntc

In the left hand pane, navigate to the folder where you
extracted the wordpress files.

iL

Qj vcrdpress.

B [-a-

■ [-d-
B[-E,
B [-(-

<fc

Date ChgDir

20070408 21 MkDr

Ma

D;

("l . cpanel -da tas'

l~ i . f ant as 1 1 coda'

Q . t raLsli

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(Jaail

f I nubl ic E t □

l~ I public_html

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20070401
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2007040)
2007011;

r"W7Qll;
yL/j/050E2l

\— ^20070401

3:

U

21. j-.'.ii:
:on6in.

If you will be installing the blog in a subdirectory or
subdomain, rename the wordpress folder to the same name
as that folder. If you will be installing as the home page of
the whole site, rename it to 'publicjitml'.

>

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hasb_prof ile

f Asai

S Bray

17 AnJtc

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2i

M.

sfef succeeded

Make sure the 'Auto' Checkbox is checked. This ensures that
the PHP, HTML and TXT files are uploaded in ascii mode and
the images are uploaded in binary mode. This is important.
If you renamed your wordpress folder to public_html, then
click the right pointing arrow. If you named it something
else, then double click on the public_html folder in the right
pane and then click the right pointing arrow.

13 Of 19

W5 FTPLE

Select Yes' when the dialog pops up asking you if you want
to transfer the selected folders and all their contents.

t

Cj vp-adniii 20070409
LJ vp-content 20 rf 1*0 9
JTPL r.cl -jdcs ytl/ / 4 y

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View

IS htfllCGCSS-tMtlJ .jflJII'rJ

H indev php Y0D7O409
,H License. tut 20070409

E««

Rename

Input

Delete

0K

Enter new name lor .htocccssM: ^""^

Rclicsh

n / f 1

Cancel

aJI u

DHnfo

rjs^sHffli < ^y

Mdp

N

Highlight the .htaccess.txt file and click 'Rename'. Delete the
.txt part.

2} wp- includes.

=1 ind.Es . php
3) licenses. tKt
=}] rca.dne.htnl
Sj wp-etOm php
m\ wp-blag-bea
2j «p- coiULefj ts

3) wp-comiusn ts
f"V — _„, i-.

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These ore usua^ on(y appicofcJe on UNtx! hosls.

CencelXo

DK

]

Highlight it again and right click on it. Select CHMOD from
the dropdown list. Set all of the check boxes to have a check
mark in them and click 'OK'.

t

r~l wp-admin

wp-content

r~l wp- includes
|H) . ht access

r=t - 2 _i._

I

Double click on the wp-content folder.

14 Of 19

S™ J I ChgPr

MkDii

^> OK

Cancel

lename

U_l 1

Help

Click MkDir. Type in 'uploads'. Click 'OK'

2i0?O«O9 22:57 4096 L

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(? Write

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These arc usually dttIm appl

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15 Execute
lie on UNIX hosts.

OK

]

Highlight the uploads folder, right click on it. Put checks in
all of the boxes and click 'OK'.

Close you FTP Program and open your browser. In the
address bar type in the url to the folder you uploaded
WordPress to plus/wp-admin/install.php. If you uploaded it
to the publicjitml folder, you just type your domain like
( http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php ). If you
placed it in another folder inside the publicjitml folder you'll
add /yourfolder/ to the end like
( http://yourdomain/yourfolder/wp-admin/install.php ).

This will trigger the famous two minute install. ;) Yes it really
does only take two minutes, or less, once you reach this
point. And all told you can do everything weVe done to this
point, and everything we have left to do in under 5-10
minutes depending on your connection speed and your
familiarity with the process.

15 Of 19

@) WordPress

Welcome to Word Press installation. We're now going to go through a few steps
to get you up and running with the latea^n personal publishing platforms.
You may want to peruse the Read Me ^^Lnentation at your leisure.

First Step »

Wo rdPress, pe rsonal publish ing p tatform.

Click the "First Step" link.

l^p WQRDPRESS

First Step

Before we begin we need a little bit of information. Don't worry, you can
always change these later.

Weblog title:
Your e-mail:

I would like my blog to appear in search engi
like Google and TechnoratL

Double-check that email address before continuing.

^>

Continue to Second Step »

WordPr&ss, personal publishing platform.

Enter a name for your Blog and your email address.
Consider un-checking the "I would like my blog to appear...
check box. This will allow you to play with your theme and
some posts without that being picked up and indexed. Click
"continue to Second Step".

16 Of 19

Second Step

Now we're going to create the database tables and fill them with some
default data. /""I

if

Finished!

Now you can log in with the username "admin" and password

Nate that password carefully I It is a random password that was
generated just for you. If you lose it, you will have to delete the tables from
the database yourself , and re-install WordPress. Soto review:

Username
a±ui

Password

Login address

wp -login r php

Were you expecting more steps? Sorry to disappoint. All done! :)

Write down your password. Without it you don't have a blog
any more. Click the Log In link.

17 Of 19

Type in your username (which will be 'admin') and your
password. Click Login.

Niche Map]

'l %pl (View site
Id

•Howcty.. admin.

Daih board

Write Manage Commenci

Blogroll Presentation

Plugins Users Options

Welcome to WordPress

Use these links to get started:

• write a post

• Update your profile or change your password

• Add abookmarV to your blpgroll

• Change your site's look or theme

Start Blogging!

Latest Activity

Comments >

• IMr finvdfirn on Hello worid! (Edid

Posts »

And there you are! Click on "write" to start blogging, or
explore some of the other tabs to set up the various options
available!

I'll do another report in the near future on adding plugins
and themes to your WordPress blog, but that's really all that
you HAVE to do to get to the point where you can start
publishing your own blog!
Happy Blogging!

18 Of 19

Please Share This Report!

Feel free to put it on your site for other people to download,
or tell them they can download it here:

Beginners' Guides to WordPress Bloqs

That is also where you will find new editions of this report as
well as subsequent reports I plan to write to help people
learn to use WordPress.

Please share your comments, questions or thoughts on
improving this report at:

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Installing A WordPress Blog

19 Of 19