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WordPress 5-Minute Install

By B Lingafelter          wordpress

The following instructions are provided for ButlerCC Web Development students in general and tailored specifically for CMS students. Instructions are provided for installation to both a ButlerCC Webhosting live production server and to a local test server. (See this Getting Started Guide for information about local test server setup.)

Step 1: Download WordPress

Head to WordPress.org and download the current version of WordPress. Extract the .zip file to the desktop (or temporary location of your choice). Windows Hint! Double-click .zip file and drag wordpress folder to the desktop to extract and decompress the files.

Step 2: Create database and MySQL user

Create a database for WordPress on your web server and a MySQL user with all privileges to access and modify it.

  • Live Production server:
    • Login to your cPanel and select MySQL Database Wizard (Databases section).
    • Enter a name for your WordPress database (like blogwp) and click Next Step.
    • Enter a name for the database user (like wpuser) and a strong password, then click Create User.
    • Mark All Privileges check box and click Next Step to add user to database.
    • Write down the prefixed database name, prefixed username, and password for reference later. Note: Shared hosting accounts automatically prefix database and users with your account username and an underscore (johndoe_) to make them unique. You must include full prefixed database and user names when you run the WordPress install script.
    • Log out of your cPanel.
  • Local Test server:
    • In XAMPP control panel, start Apache and MySQL, then open phpMyAdmin (click MySQL Admin button).
    • Click Databases tab, enter a name for your WordPress database in Create database field and click Create. NOTE: If you plan to transfer your database to a live production server in the future, be sure to prefix the database name with the same username and an underscore required by the host to avoid modifications later.
    • Click phpMyAdmin icon (upper left) to return to main page.
    • Click Users tab, then click Add user.
    • Enter a name for the database user in the User name field. (Be sure Use text field: is selected from the dropdown.) NOTE: If you plan to transfer your database to a live production server in the future, be sure to prefix the user name with the same username and an underscore required by the host to avoid modifications later.
    • Select Local from Host: dropdown to display localhost in Host field.
    • Enter a strong password in the Password field. (Be sure Use text field: is selected from the dropdown.) Re-enter the password in the Re-type field.
    • Leave all options under Global privileges at their defaults, then scroll down and click Go.
    • Return to the Users screen (Users tab) and click the Edit privileges icon beside the user you've just created for your WordPress database.
    • In the Database-specific privileges section, select the database you've just created for WordPress under the Add privileges to the following database dropdown. The page will refresh with privileges for that database. Click Check All to select all privileges, and click Go.
    • Close phpMyAdmin.
    • Write down the database name, username, and password for reference later.

Step 3: Upload WordPress files

Use an FTP client application, like Filezilla FTP Client to upload the wordpress files to a live production server. If installing wordpress to a local test server, copy the wordpress files to the appropriate directory.

  • Live Production server
    • In Filezilla, open a connection to your web server with Quickconnect and upload the WordPress files. For example, student John Doe would enter jdoe.butlerccwebdev.net in Host field and johndoe in Username field. (Be sure to use your assigned subdomain and web account username - 8 characters max.)
    • When connected, open the public_html directory on the server (right side).
    • On your local site (left side), navigate to the extracted wordpress directory on your computer.
      • To install WordPress into the root of your subdomain, open the local wordpress directory and select all files/folders inside (CTRL+A). Drag selected files into the public_html directory on the server. It will take a few minutes; there are many files that must be uploaded.
      • To install WordPress into a subdirectory of your subdomain, drag the local wordpress directory into the public_html directory on the server. Rename the wordpress directory on the server to blog (or something similar).
    • Disconnect from your server.
  • Local Test server with default localhost:
    • To install WordPress into the root directory, copy everything inside the wordpress directory to C:\xampp\htdocs on your computer. Do not copy the wordpress directory itself, just all the files inside it.
    • To install WordPress into a subdirectory, copy the wordpress directory to C:\xampp\htdocs on your computer. Rename the wordpress directory to blog (or something similar).
  • Local Test server with Virtual Host setup:
    • To install WordPress into the root directory, copy everything inside the wordpress directory to C:\vhosts\in234 on your computer. Do not copy the wordpress directory itself, just all the files inside it. (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)
    • To install WordPress into a subdirectory, copy the wordpress directory to C:\vhosts\in234\ on your computer. Rename the wordpress directory to blog (or something similar). (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)

Step 4: Install WordPress

Run the WordPress install script wp-admin/install.php in a browser.

  • Live Production server:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://subdomain.butlerccwebdev.net/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script. (Replace subdomain with your assigned subdomain.)
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://subdomain.butlerccwebdev.net/blog/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script. (Replace subdomain with your assigned subdomain.)
  • Local Test server with default localhost:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://localhost/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script.
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://localhost/blog/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script.
  • Local Test server with Virtual Host setup:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://in234/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script. (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://in234/blog/wp-admin/install.php to run the install script. (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)

Step 5: Database information

Enter the database name, username, and password recorded in step 2. (When installing to live production server, remember to include prefix for database and user names.) Set Database Host to localhost. Enter a table prefix (like blog_). Specifying a unique table prefix allows multiple WordPress installations to use the same database. When finished, click Submit button.

Step 6: WordPress information

Enter a site title for your blog (can be easily changed later), desired username for your administrator account, and a strong password. (Note: Passwords can be changed anytime but usernames cannot be changed, ever.) Enter a valid email address (butlercc.edu, gmail.com, etc) to receive an email with your username, password, and login instructions for safe keeping. When finished, click Install WordPress button.

IMPORTANT security considerations before choosing your Admin username:

  • Do not enter Admin. Hackers look for easy targets, and the very weak user/password combination of admin and password is all too common. And always choose a strong password.
  • Usernames can never be changed. But admins can add new user's with administrator roles, and demote or even delete bad usernames.
  • By default, WordPress displays the username of a post's author. A hacker would then only need your password to take control of your site. Always edit your profile and choose not to display your username publicly. Admins that regularly author posts, should create another user with a demoted role (like author or editor) to use when creating content.
  • Choose something unpredictable or non-sensical, like a somewhat cryptic combination of your first and last names. It's not a guarantee your site won't get hacked, but will certainly make the hackers work harder.

Step 7: Login to WordPress

Login to your WordPress dashboard.

  • Live Production server:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://subdomain.butlerccwebdev.net/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen.
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://subdomain.butlerccwebdev.net/blog/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen.
  • Local Test server with default localhost:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://localhost/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen.
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://localhost/blog/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen.
  • Local Test server with Virtual Host setup:
    • If wordpress is installed in the root directory, enter http://in234/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen. (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)
    • If wordpress is installed in a subdirectory, enter http://in234/blog/wp-admin/ in a browser to display Login screen. (Replace in234 with name of your virtual host directory as needed.)

That's it. Explore the WordPress Dashboard and create your blog.