Installing WordPress The Right Way

Installing WordPress The Right WayBy Chris Burgess @chrisburgess

(slides will be posted to Meetup after the talk)

Agenda

• Before you begin• Walkthrough of the "Famous 5-Minute Install”• Common installation problems• Other methods of installation• Next steps

Before you begin

Make sure you have…

• Hosting• Domain Name (pointed to your web host)

If you missed the Meetup last month, the links to the slides and video are on Meetup.

WordPress’ “Installing WordPress Guide”

https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

The Famous 5-Minute Install

Famous 5-Minute InstallHere's the quick version of the instructions for those who are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.

If you are not comfortable with renaming files, step 3 is optional and you can skip it as the install program will create the wp-config.php file for you.

Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven't already.Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.(Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server:If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. http://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your web site (e.g. http://example.com/blog/), create the blog directory on your server and upload the contents of the unzipped WordPress package to the directory via FTP.Note: If your FTP client has an option to convert file names to lower case, make sure it's disabled.Run the WordPress installation script by accessing the URL in a web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the WordPress files.If you installed WordPress in the root directory, you should visit: http://example.com/If you installed WordPress in its own subdirectory called blog, for example, you should visit: http://example.com/blog/That's it! WordPress should now be installed.

Overview

1. Download WordPress from WordPress.org2. Upload the WordPress files to your web host3. Create a database and database user4. Run the installation script

Step 1: Download WordPress from WordPress.org

Step 2: Upload the WordPress files to your web host

Log into your cPanel (or equivalent)

cPanel -> File Manager

First time you use File Manager

File Manager

Upload WordPress

Extracting WordPress

Extracting WordPress

Extracting WordPress

Extracting WordPress

Moving WordPress to the Web Root(i.e. example.com/ rather than example.com/wordpress/

Moving WordPress to the Web Root(i.e. example.com.au/ rather than example.com.au/wordpress/

Moving WordPress to the Web Root(i.e. example.com.au/ rather than example.com.au/wordpress/

Before -> After

Cleaning up…

• Delete “wordpress” folder• Delete wordpressXXX.zip• You can also delete the readme, licence and

install.php if you want

Step 3: Creating a database and database user

A little bit about databases

• WordPress uses a database to store content and configuration

• MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, CouchDB, MongoDB, Redis – are all databases

• Some are better suited at certain tasks than others• MySQL is by far the most popular database used for

WordPress

Creating a MySQL Database

• We can create a MySQL database a few ways, but the most common way is to use cPanel (or equivalent hosting control panel) to create the database and database user

We’re going to save our details, I use a temporary text file…

Creating a MySQL Database

Creating a MySQL Database

Creating a MySQL Database

Creating the Database

Creating the Database User

Always use strong passwords/passphrases for everything

Add the User to your Database

Set privileges

Confirm what you’ve done

Confirm what you’ve done

You should have something like this:

Visit your URL (your domain name)

WordPress reminds us we need our database details!

Entering our database details

Copy and paste

Step 4: Run the installation script

All right sparky!

Enter your site name and WordPress username

Never use the default “admin” and choose a strong password!

You can change this setting in the dashboard, but it’s an important one!

Success!

Check your inbox

It’s working!

You can now login at:http://wphelp.com.au/login

Your WordPress Dashboard

Installation Demo

Other files…

• .htaccess• robots.txt• humans.txt• favicon.ico (and others)

Common installation problems

Here are just a few…

• Incorrect database details• Syntax issues• Server configuration (PHP, index.php,

permissions etc.

Check your database settings

Syntax issues

Server issues

• Too many to mention• Check with your host• Or… check out the next steps in a few slides

Other methods of installation

You may have heard of…

• One-click installers (Installatron, SimpleScripts, Softaculous, Fantastico etc.) <- not recommended

• Clone features/plugins (ManageWP, InfiniteWP)• BackupBuddy• WP-CLI (wp-cli.org)• Version Control (git etc.)• Manual (FTP/SFTP/SCP, ssh, wget etc.)

Next steps

Where to go for help…

• Melbourne WordPress Meetup :)• WordPress Codex• Search• Ask a friend

Recap

1. Download WordPress2. Upload WordPress to your web host3. Create a database and database user4. Run the installation script5. Next, make sure you secure your installation

(covered next session)

Chris Burgess @chrisburgess

Questions?