How to install WordPress: Part I

For this tutorial it is recommended that you are connected to the Internet, browsing the internet with Firefox and have FileZilla installed.

Installing WordPress can be fast and painless, just follow these simple steps

First, you will need to visit the WordPress website (http://www.wordpress.org) to download the script files. When you get to their main page, click on one of the two download buttons as illustrated below.

You will arrive at their download page. Click again on the download button as shown below. I recommend downloading the script as a .zip file. You can download it as a .tar file, however this tutorial will be specific to the zip file.

A new box should open on your screen as seen below. Please select “Save to Disk” and then click on the “OK” button.

Once the file has finished downloading, you need to open the file you just saved. Usually, your computer will automatically save the file to your desktop. If you saved the file elsewhere, you will need to go to that location to open it. Once you find the file, double-click (click twice) on the file icon to open it.

A new box should open in your window as shown below. Because the file we saved was a .zip file (this is a compressed file – which makes it faster to download), we now need to “unzip” it.

First, click on the file name (it should be wordpress) one time with your mouse. Now, double-click the words “Extract all files”

A new window will (again) open:

For this tutorial, I will be extracting the files to my desktop. If you choose to extract the files to another location on your computer, please remember where you saved them to for later! Once you have your location chosen in the circled box above, click on the “Extract” button.

Your computer will then extract the zipped files to your specified location.

We now need to edit one file before uploading so that WordPress will work on your web host server.

Open up Notepad. Click on Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad.

You will need to open the wp-config-sample.php file into Notepad.

Find the following code:

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘putyourdbnamehere‘); // The name of the database
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘usernamehere‘); // Your MySQL username
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘yourpasswordhere‘); // …and password
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value

You will need to edit the variables I have bolded above. If you are unsure of what to put, please contact your web host first. Once you have edited these, save the file as wp-config.php and close it.

You are now ready to move these files to your web host and finish the installation.

How to install WordPress: Part II