WordPress Intro
WordPress has come to dominate the “website” software genre, especially in the blogging area. But it is also true in online stores and businesses (ecommerce), Photo galleries, and many other areas as well. WordPress is now known as a Content Management System (CMS), rather than simply a blogging system..
When I first got interested in WordPress (in 2007), my goal was just to document the installation of WordPress on my private home server. I did several manual installations on my virtual drives in the 2007 to 2012 time frame, and then both manual and automatic installations on hosted websites in 2013 – 2014.
For a manual install, there are a few preliminary things you must do before you can install WordPress… anywhere. First, WordPress must have access to php and MySQL. If you’re installing it on a hosted website, your hosting company will (almost surely) furnish those things. WordPress requires a MySQL database in order to operate, and, usually, if your host installs WordPress for you (normal), they will create the database. If they don’t install WordPress and you must install it manually, you’ll probably need access to phpMyAdmin (again usually furnished by the host) in order to create the required database. Not a big deal, just another step.
If you’re installing WordPress on your own private Apache server, then you’ll need to have MySQL, php and phpMyAdmin installed on your computer, before you start. I suggest installing them in the sequence of: php first, in the root directory where Apache is installed. Then MySQL, also in the same root directory, and finally phpMyAdmin – installed in the localhost root directory (i.e. – the htdocs file).
Once you’ve done that, you’ll need a copy of WordPress to install. Go to WordPress.org (notice the dot org, NOT dot com) and download the latest stable version. The downloaded file will be a compacted (zip) file. You’ll need to un-zip it into a convenient folder – the usual suggestion is to create a desk-top folder and dump it there.
You are now ready for a manual installation of WordPress.