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Now we’re finally ready to  install WordPress. We’ve got our domain name and hosting here. We set our nameservers here. Over here, we created a database and named it. OK, looks like we’re set.

1. Download WordPress.

2. Unzip it then copy and paste the WordPress folder on to your desktop. (Put it anywhere you want but putting it on the desktop is easier for beginners.)

3. Listen carefully to this part. First you have the zip file to unzip. Inside that is a WordPress 3.x folder (depending on which version is out now). Inside that folder is a WordPress folder (just that, no number). Inside that folder are ALL the files you need to upload to the folder in your hosting account. Don’t upload the WordPress folder, just the folders and files inside the WordPress folder. Get it? Those files look like this:

4. Open your FTP program (I recommend FileZilla). On the left side of the window, navigate to your Desktop then to the folder that contains the WordPress files as shown above. Connect to your host using your username and password, then navigate to the folder where you want to put your files. This is the folder that is inside your root directory, right? It should be the only folder in your root directory. It should also be empty, except for the placeholder file (index.html) that we created here.

5. In the WordPress folder on the left, click on WP-Admin (the folder at the top), scroll down to the bottom , hold down the shift key and click on xmlrpc.php and click it. All of the files and folders in that WordPress folder will now be highlighted. Right click in the blue area and choose Upload.  Depending on your FTP and upload speed, this last step might take a bit of time, maybe 5 minutes or less.

6. Wait until FileZilla finishes (no more queued files). You should now have a full selection of files on the right hand side from WP-Admin to xmlrpc.php. The next step can be done in FileZilla but I prefer to do it in the File Manager on my hosting site. Do what you feel better with here.

7. You are about to edit one file. If you make a mistake, it’s not a big deal so don’t get your knickers in a knot. All that will happen is that WordPress won’t be able to install itself…yet. Even if you really screw things up, you can always delete everything inside your host folder and start over again. Relax, OK?

You are looking for the wp-config-sample.php file. This file is the one that tells WordPress what database you are using, what the password is and who the user is for that database. Remember when we did all of that here?

8. Find the wp-config-sample.php file and click on it once. On the right side of the window you will see three icons. The one you want is the ‘edit’ icon. Click it and a small window will open up or you will be taken to another page, depending on which hosting interface your host uses. Once you see inside that file, it’s full of simple text that looks really complicated, look for this section:

_______________________________

// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');

/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'username_here');

/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here');

____________________________________________

 

9. Enter the database name, username and password of the MySQL database that we made earlier. Leave the apostrophes in, just type in the database name, user and password like this:

_______________________________

// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define('DB_NAME', 'sitedatabase1');

/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'joeschmoo');

/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'goodpassword');
____________________________________________

10. In another browser window, paste this url (taken from the wp_config-sample.php file) : https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/

You will see a simple page that has information like this on it:

_______________________________________________

define('AUTH_KEY',         'G;^s;iqRh${ovHzc&n9s31-i2*U DkHI9u]#jWt&nPByL`e)cw7Zz9TJ|.c7Hu1f');
define('SECURE_AUTH_KEY',  'a|Bx@bXxFL@)1$0t]MyEvg1nt=aagDu%E9S9V>WZ<:as#)2pbY@Dv6xJv.`A>GM&');
define('LOGGED_IN_KEY',    'jFHyxThnTAu_Nxk(iHDj,|VwOQ@$V^Je: bO&c$&-IX)IGp[#Jr&F$rv9X98[dqs');
define('NONCE_KEY',        'n1P/X(*Y|ta#f1lde(gj!}L{r1{^Mu--v`fJ32)a-N1.S _4j*WBy/4!w+SvrNS-');
define('AUTH_SALT',        ')TgQ&Uj0QH?AP*+UCu]>{3{w5*(+-tL|U&]*)MhEP@YG|/dqFMVDK=-a!22&zWg+');
define('SECURE_AUTH_SALT', 'R]m:Fm*gO%Vmi^HL+_GQmd-h_,~u k,=%j^5q]b8m3[|?N[ksmfm=s%=oM]1gb1.');
define('LOGGED_IN_SALT',   'F.}Du-=]$|GBm|5tNH|haDASOu`=-Cv<RS2hKV].cNS+ex=-dX zlN6}ql)$sNz:');
define('NONCE_SALT',       '!?i5/5mjG;Fz%WxLNQEg~~+5nJiMY0yAo~T6Om%<_$&ae:{f(~Y2a}G8vQ/*&>x|');

11. Copy that information (from the word define until the last semi-colon, exactly as is shown above). Don’t use the data shown here, get your own for security’s sake.

12. In the wp-config-sample.php file, find the EXACT section the corresponds to the information on the webpage you just opened. Highlight everything from the word define down to the last semi-colon. Once that is highlighted, either right click and choose ‘paste’ or hit control and v at the same time. Either way, the info from the webpage is pasted into the file you are editing.

13. This is important, read this carefully. Just below the section we just worked on, you’ll see the section for the ‘WordPress Database Table prefix’. Locate it and find the section that reads:

_____________________________________

$table_prefix  = ‘wp_’;

____________________________________

14. Change the part between the apostrophes to some combination of numbers, letters and underscores. It will look something like this after you’re done:

______________________________________

$table_prefix  = ‘new_site143uty‘;

______________________________________

This is an important step which adds to the security of your WordPress installation. You don’t need this information but you can write it down anyway. WordPress uses it, not you.

15. Last step, usually only needed if the current settings don’t work. Farther up from where we are, you will see a section (under the section where you put the database password) that reads:

_____________________________________________

/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

_____________________________________________

Most of the time, ‘localhost’ works just fine. If it doesn’t or if you just want to be sure, you’ll have to enter the path to the MySQL database that you are using. Save the file you are editing. Head back to the control panel and go into the MySQL databases again. Click on the database that you created and somewhere there will be a ‘generate code’ button. What you are looking for is ‘your server name’. This will be something that looks like a domain name: accountname.hostmysql.com Copy this and head back to the WP-config-sample.php file, open it for editing and highlight the word localhost then paste the new .com line into that space. It will look like this:

____________________________________________

/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'accountname.hostmysql.com');

____________________________________________

At this point, save the file and stretch a bit, grab a coffee or something and smile because you’re almost done. The hard part is over. It’s all fun from now on.

16. In your host’s File Manager, look up at the top of the right hand side till you find the Wp-Admin folder. Open it and look for the install.php file. Click on it then choose ‘preview’ on the right. A webpage will open up. If you’ve done everything correctly, you can install WordPress from this page. Click OK and create a username (don’t use admin, choose something different) , take the standard password that WordPress creates for you, enter your email (make sure it’s correct since there is no way to recover your password if you put in the wrong email here) then click OK.

17. Here, I do two things. I take a screen capture of the page to ensure that I have the password and username correct, then I copy and paste the password into a text file for safekeeping. OK, I write it out in a book, too.

18. Once you’ve done all of this, log in to WordPress and start creating.

These are the steps as I do them for each installation of WordPress that I’ve done. In case you are wondering, I’ve done this about twenty-four times. I hope this sounds simple and that it’s all clear to you. Most of the information here is explained in the WordPress installation area but some of it is from trial and error. One of my hosts was fine with ‘localhost’ for the database host but my current host wasn’t. I hope it works for you.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter: @_BrianMahoney

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Before I describe the steps to install WordPress, I thought I would take a few minutes to explain what it’s all about. Here we go.

In the early days of the Internet, HTML was king. Every website was based in this text-based language which used tags to hide the inner workings of a web page. Adding < > with some text inside, <html> for example, turned a normal text file into a file that could be viewed in a browser, without the <html> being shown. This was fine for a while but as pages became more complicated and websites became larger, HTML moved out of the range of the average person. Thankfully, WordPress came along in 2003 to save the day.

Any HTML site had to be updated, changed and designed in an editor. Sweeping changes could take days or weeks. WordPress solved this problem. Using a browser, anyone could update, change or design their site without knowing anything about HTML. Sure, it’s handy to know a bit of HTML but that isn’t 100% necessary. WordPress can handle a simple blog or a massively complicated website all on its own, thank you very much!

This blog post is being written in Google Chrome from my SOHO office. Tomorrow, I could write another post from my tiny netbook while I sip a cuppa in a coffee shop. Theoretically, I could update this blog from the other side of the world while sitting in an Internet cafe. I don’t need anything other than a password and a browser to log-in to WordPress and update this blog. There are some news sites around the world that use WordPress for their correspondents who update their input from all corners of the world. Here is a list of spectacular and well-known WordPress sites: WordPress-Showcase.

WordPress can have a simple, clean layout or it can be tuned to do pretty much anything you can think of. In order to use it, all you have to do is be able to use a password and a keyboard. In order to use it well, you have to search, read and experiment before you can create something better than the standard WordPress site. The beauty of WordPress is that it can be pretty much what you want it to be, it’s all up to you and how deeply you want to get into it.

All of the changes you make in WordPress are made inside your browser of choice. I use Chrome but you could use Safari or Firefox, whatever you want. The interface is really no different from the Word interface, with all of the controls across the top and links on either side to adjust other settings. Sure, initially this all looks very confusing but, trust me, after a while it feels like home. Images are uploaded right from the browser, not FTP. (Not that FTP is difficult but it’s an impediment to creativity sometimes, another step before you get to where you want to be.)

WordPress can be changed with dozens and dozens of themes , many of them free, which tinker with the look and feel of your final output. Plugins add other types of functionality, making WordPress do different things behind the scenes. None of this is rocket science. Some parts are confusing, certainly, but if you get stumped on something, there is always Google and a wealth of information available from other WordPress users.

One of the caveats to WordPress that I should explain is its slowness. Many people say that WordPress slows down your site. It does, but there are ways around that. I will discuss these in future posts but don’t consider this an impediment. Use my previous posts to set up your website and come back tomorrow to find out how to install it. Right now, check out the WordPress Showcase above, look for some free themes and decide what style and color combination that you prefer.

Thanks for reading! If you need info or want to comment, just ask and write below this. Follow me on Twitter: @_BrianMahoney

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