Dec
Install a web server and Wordpress
by admin
Do you want to change your theme or try that new plugin but you are “scared” of messing up your blog?
Do you have periods of free time when you could work on your blog but you haven’t got Internet Access?
Do you want to create a new theme, but you don’t want to disrupt your visitors viewing your blog?
Are you thinking of having your own blog and want to “play around” with it first before committing yourself?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this series is for you. I shall show you:
- how to install a web server
- how to install wordpress.
- how to install themes and plugins
- how to create a unique theme
Most tutorials that I have seen use Xampp which installs in your c drive. This is okay, but you are then tied to that specific PC. What if you take your laptop with you on a train journey, maybe you would like to work on it there? Or lunchtime at work? Before we start, if you haven’t noticed yet, this tutorial is for PC only.
To solve this you will need a memory stick, pendrive, flash stick or whatever you call ‘em, preferably 1Gb or larger. You will then install the server on it. This will enable you to carry it with you and work on your blog at any PC that has a USB connection. School, library, work - anywhere.
Download
Go to CH Software and click on Download. For the free version click on No thanks, take me to the download>>.
On the next screen you have two radio button choices, select the second one and click on Go.
This is the Wos Mixer that allows you to select the bits that you need. Select the following:
- Apache2
- MySQL5
- PHP4
- PHPMyAdmin
- Wordpress
Then click on Download now>>. It will then go and put together a zip file with all the select files in it (may take a while, don’t close the page) and prompt you to download, select the Desktop so you can find it easily.
Note: If you want you can download PHP5 as well, within WOS you can switch between the two. I prefer PHP4 as most hosting services are still using it.
Server and Blog setup
Flash sticks are so cheap these days I bought a 1GB especially for this, saves a lot of confusion to have the flash stick for just one purpose.
Plug in your flash stick and extract the downloaded zip to it. After it has finished you will see a file wos.exe, double-click on it to start the installation.
An install window will guide you through the install:
- Select Language (English or German)
- Agree to terms
- Install all packages
This will take a while (5-15mins) depending on what you have downloaded and
the speed of the flash stick and PC. You cannot leave it alone as some alerts will appear that you have to click okay on, so make yourself a coffee or whatever before you start.
At the end of the installation your default browser should open and show a start page from your new server. If it does not open, start up your browser and type http://localhost/start/.
If it still does not work, you have a problem. This happened to me, when I checked the WOS Panel, Apache was not running. So I hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the task manager. Looking at the process tab, apache was already running. I already have one server on my PC.
On the WOS panel I clicked on the End button, once the panel had gone I went through all the processes and where ever I saw apache.exe I highlighted it and then clicked on the End Process button. Make sure you get them all. Then close the Task Manager and double-click on WOS.exe. It should work now.
And congratulations you have a working server 
Now you shall get Wordpress up and running. You will not have to edit the config.php file it has already been done for you, but you will have to create the database so let’s get started…
Create Database
In your browser’s address bar type in http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ and hit the enter key. In the text box under Create new database enter wordpress and then press the Create button. You have now created the database.
Wordpress Installation
Enter http://localhost/wordpress/ in the address bar and hit the enter key. Wordpress install should start, enter:
- Your blog title
- Your email
- uncheck Allow my blog to appear in search engines like Google and Technorati, this is not needed on a local installation.
- Click on Install Wordpress.
After a while you will see the success screen with your username and password, copy the password (highlight and then press ctrl-c).
Click log in enter your username and password. Wordpress will now start. The first thing you should do is to change the password to something more memorable by clicking Update your profile or change your password. Once you have changed it, sign out and log back in with the new password. But before hitting the Login button, bookmark the page, preferably in a new folder so that you can find them easily.
At the top of the screen you will see a link - View site, right-click on this and open in a new window or tab. Then book mark that page as well. You now have two bookmarks so that you can go directly to either the admin page or front page of your test blog.
All done? Good! You now have a server and a running version of wordpress successfully installed.
Before I finish this, I shall go over how you start and stop the server and how it is laid out. Those of you that are more adventurous can go ahead and experiment. In the worst case if you mess up, you can delete everything and re-install. As it is on a flash stick there is no harm to your PC.
Server Usage and Layout
To start the server, double-click on wos.exe on your flash stick.
To stop the server, click on the End button on the wos panel.
If you want to view a web page it must be inside the www folder. For example you want to view goofy.htm, it’s address will be http://localhost/goofy.htm.
Wordpress is inside the wordpress folder so if you want to type in the address, it’s http://localhost/wordpress/.
If you want to do any database work then got to http://localhost/phpmyadmin/.
Right-click to download this tutorial in pdf format.
Next Time
I shall show you how to install plugins and themes.
Tags: install wordpress, web server, wordpress
Category wordpress |
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Install a web server and Wordpress | CK Marketing…
Not everybody is a geek and totally comfortable with adding/updating plugins and themes for their blog. Sometimes you might just want to mess around with the css to align things perfectly.
One way you can do this is by setting up your own web server o…
Thanks for the tutorials. It will definitely be useful when I migrated to WordPress soon. I just wanna be ready for any contingencies that I might face.
Greetings and lotta loves from Malaysia.
This is a great little tip. Will come in very handy as I switch between my Vista and XP installs.
@ArahMan7: Glad you liked it
It makes a great sand box where you can mess up and not lose visitors.
@Bruce: I didn’t even think of that.. doh! Very good tip!
Colin King’s last blog post..Install a web server and Wordpress
I like this guide, very easy to read
Good overview and tutorial…should help a lot of people!
thanks for the tutorial. After you had decided to change a new theme, probably we need to backup our previous plugins right?
THX guys
@MerDurian: Only if your the real cautious type, I never bother.
Brilliant advice! I only have a server installed on my pc ( I only use this one) but it is so useful and a great way to learn.
Glad you liked it, the next installment should be up tomorrow.
Colin King’s last blog post..Matt Nutt’s Competition
This is an excellent tutorial and I have used this in the past!
I look forward to becoming friends with you in the future.
@Brad: Thx, I’m glad you liked it.
Colin King’s last blog post..How To Choose A WordPress Theme
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Colin:
When I typed “wordpress” under “Create new database” section and clicked the Create button the message “Wordpress is already installed” appeared.
Sure enough, when I entered http://localhost/wordpress/ in the address bar Wordpress appeared. Problem: when I select Login (under Meta) I don’t have a username and password. I checked the WOS forum but didn’t find a solution. Any thoughts?
Colin: Never mind. I found the answer (the username and password) by Googling the problem!
Thank you for this tutorial, now I have the guts to try something new. You see, I am a newbie and for the past two months I am toying with the idea to change my theme.
Your site is God sent!
THANKS a million times. Now, I’ll give this a try.
Sir,
You see, I am not a techie guy and I have done the first part.Got a problem on this part:
Create Database
In your browser’s address bar type in http: //localhost/phpmyadmin/ and hit the enter key. In the text box under Create new database enter wordpress and then press the Create button. You have now created the database.”It says can’t create because there is already data base.”
My questions are:
1.My website is http: //www.fatherlyours.com - I think what I opened is new wordpress blog. Can I moved it there?
2.I am planning to re-design my site,can I do it there before transferring my data?
Thanks and more power.
Whew! Kindly disregard my 2 previous post. After 3 tries, I finally understand this whole thing. Slow me.
Thanks again.
@Chanya and Pmonchet: It’s good that you figured it out on your own, as that’s my aim, BUT don’t hesitate to ask questions
[…] worry, I shall guide through each part and take things slowly. You might like to have a look at Install a web server and Wordpress as the theme will be developed locally. You might also be interested in the How To Modify A […]
[…] Candidate 1. So personally I would not use this for production purposes. However, Why not set up a local server and try out all the new features of this […]
Hi Collins,I already installed my local host, and it’s running. But when I type in the address bar, http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ to create database, the “HTTP 404-File not found” page appeared. I tried with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Can you help me? I already downloaded the Help manual from CH Software, but nothing mentioned about this in the manual, now I can’t create database and cannot start doing anything.All Apachee 2.2.8, PHP 4.4.7 and My SQL 5.0.45 are running. Thanks
Hi Colin, just got it right, never mind about my previous comment, please
@Mohamad: Sorry I could not help out as my PC died and I’m on a Mac for now.