March 18th, 2008

Blog Series - From Setup To ? - Part 2 - Downloading And Installing WordPress

written by Keith James Lock

In Part 1 of the Blog Series I discussed the goals I have in mind. Simply, I would just like to make the technical aspect of getting a blog up and running, promoting it and monetizing it a lot easier for you. I'll try my best to make the steps as simple as possible for you to follow.

Obviously I'll be using WordPress throughout this series....c'mon is there really any other blogging tool or CMS that compares but as far as web site hosting goes, some of the examples will be specific to the GoDaddy hosting environment. I will try to make things as general as possible so they should work for any host but those who host with GoDaddy will get some screenshots and a more simplified process.

There are automated ways to install WordPress, and most hosting companies will support the automated process. Generally with just a couple of clicks you could have a database created, WordPress installed and ready to go. I encourage you to try that method if you feel more comfortable. It will be different depending on the hosting company that your are with. I can't possibly create instructions for every host out there so if that is the route you would like to go, check in the FAQ's or help files for your host (or contact support) to get specifics how to set it up. This part of the series will have nothing more for you if you'd like to try the automated approach. If you're more like me and like a little more control over the process (or a glutton for punishment) or like to learn a little more in depth, then keep reading.

WordPress Hosting

As you are probably aware, using a self-install of WordPress requires the purchase of a hosting package. The hosting package has to support PHP because that is the scripting language used for WordPress. My recommendations: Check out this post to see why I recommend GoDaddy and how you can get a package for less than $100 per year that lets you host unlimited web sites and plus get a domain name for $1.99. You can also check out this hosting review site which has reviews for 3 affordable hosting packages. It should be changed so that GoDaddy is #1 but it is still a good review.

At this point you should have a hosting package purchased which supports PHP. Depending on the hosting company there may be something that needs to be done to prepare the hosting package and make it ready for uploading files. In most cases you just have to tell it which domain name you would like attached to it.

WordPress Database

Now, a MySQL database has to be setup for WordPress. During the database setup process you will be required to give the database a name and you will have to create a user name and password for it. There will also be a host name attached to the database. This information will be required during the setup of WordPress. This is another area where the process will be different depending on the host that you are with. If you made it this far and you are determined to learn, check with your host for the steps to setup a MySQL database then come back. For GoDaddy however, I have laid out the steps in a post sometime last month.

CLICK HERE FOR STEPS TO SETUP A MYSQL DATABASE ON GODADDY (opens in new window)

FTP Software Installation

In order to upload the WordPress files to the server you will need FTP software. Download a free copy of FileZilla here. After it is installed, open it and follow the instructions below to add your site to the FileZilla Site Manager. Once the site is included in the Site Manager you can connect to it anytime you want to transfer files from your local machine to the hosting server.

Before you proceed you will need to go to your hosting provider and get: host name, FTP user name and password. For GoDaddy users the FTP user name and password will be the same as the hosting username and password. Your host name will be ftp.YourDomainName.com. Of course, replace YourDomainName.com with your actual domain name.

Click File, Site Manager or press Ctrl+S
Click New Site and name it
Enter the host name in the box labeled Host:
Change Logontype to Normal
Enter your username and password (you will need to delete the existing password)
Click OK and open the Site Manager again
Double click the newly created site under 'My Sites'

If the status says 'Directory Listing Successful' then you are good to go. If not, you will need to check the host name, username and/or password and try again.

You will need to know how to navigate around the local computer and the server at this point. The left side represents your local machine and the right side represents the remote (hosting) server. The top sections are the folders on the corresponding machines and the bottom sections are the files and folders contained within the selected folder from the top sections. Dragging and dropping files from one machine to the other will transfer them (or FTP them).

Downloading, Unzipping And Uploading The WordPress Files

Even though it is a much quicker process to unzip the compressed WordPress files on the hosting server I will be showing you how to unzip locally before transferring. The process to unzip remotely will vary from host to host and I don't want to leave anyone hanging on this part of the process like I have previously, so I will show you the steps that should work for everyone, regardless of host.

Download the latest .zip version of WordPress to your desktop
Unzip the files into a new folder
Connect to your server using FileZilla
If you plan to install your blog into it's own folder on the server so that it hangs off the main site, create the folder and upload the files that you just unzipped there, otherwise upload them to the root folder (don't upload the wordpress folder, just the files and folders within it)
Relax...it's going to take a few minutes (depends on your connection speed)

Configuring (Installing WordPress)

To configure WordPress you will need the database information as specified earlier.

The first step is to navigate (in your web browser) to where you put the blog files. If you put them in the main (or root) folder go to YourDomain.com. If you put the files in their own folder off of the main site, then navigate there. For example: YourDomain.com/blog

At this point we need to create a config file. In most cases you can get away with doing it through the browser which I'll show you here. If it doesn't work for you can try the alternative way. The instructions for the alternative way are here.

Click 'create a wp-config.php file through a web interface'.
Click 'let’s go' near the bottom of the page.
Fill in the database name, username, password and database host. (On GoDaddy the DB Name and User Name will be identical and the Database Host should end in secureserver.net.)
You can leave table prefix as is unless you have a specific reason to change it. For example, if you are limited on the number of databases that you are allowed to create with your current hosting package (GoDaddy allows 25) and you plan to install WordPress again in the future you can share the same database for multiple WordPress installations but they will require a unique table prefix.
Click Submit.
Click 'run the install'.
Enter a title for your blog (you can change it anytime) and your email address.
Click Install WordPress.
Write down the username and temporary password.
Click 'wp-login.php'.
Enter the username and temporary password and click Login.

Installation complete! You should change your password to something more memorable.

Changing Your WordPress Password

Click Users from the menu across the top.
Click Edit near the end of the bar that has your email address in it.
Update your password near the bottom of the screen and click Update User.
You can also change other settings in this section if you wish. It's a good idea to put the blog URL in the Website box. Also, you can specify what name will be attached to each post in this section too. More options will show up under "Display name publicly as:" once you edit (and save) the name and nick name fields.

This post has gotten rather long so I'll stop here. In the next post I will go through some of my recommended setting changes. In the post after that we will pick a theme and install it. Any questions don't hesitate.