Installation of WordPress on Windows

If you want to build a website using WordPress on your Windows machine, you’re in the right place! WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) that allows you to create dynamic websites and blogs. Setting up WordPress on your Windows computer is a great way to create a local environment for development and testing.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a powerful content management system (CMS) used by millions of websites worldwide. It is open-source, highly customizable, and user-friendly, making it a popular choice for bloggers, businesses, and developers.

Prerequisites

Before installing WordPress, your local machine must meet the above requirements. In this tutorial, we will use  XAMP as the web server and MySQL 5.0 database. My PHP version of the local machine is 7.3.

Why Install WordPress Locally?

Installing WordPress locally on your Windows computer allows you to:

• Test themes and plugins without affecting your live site.
• Develop websites in a controlled environment.
• Learn WordPress without the need for web hosting.

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing WordPress on Windows

Step 1: Download WordPress

1. Visit the official WordPress website: WordPress.org.
2. Click the “Download WordPress” button to get the latest version.

Step 2: Upload the WordPress Folder

1. Extract the downloaded WordPress ZIP file.
2. Copy the extracted folder to your web server’s root directory:
   • For XAMPP: Paste it in C:\xampp\htdocs.
   • For WAMP: Paste it in C:\wamp\www.

Step 3: Create a MySQL Database

1. Access your MySQL server (e.g., using phpMyAdmin).
2. Create a new database (you can leave it empty for now).

Enter a name for the database, then click the Create button. Now the database has been created. Now you can make tables if you want.

Step 4: Navigate to the WordPress Folder

1. Open your web browser.
2. Enter the path to your WordPress folder (e.g., localhost/FirstWP).

Step 5: Select Language

Then you can see a window like the following. Now you need to select the language for your website. I choose English. There are many languages like English, Sinhala, Deutsch, and you can choose the language of your choice. 

After selecting language, you can click ‘Continue’ button for continuing the installation process.

Step 6: In this step, you can see the following screen. It shows you the database information you already need to know for WordPress installation. There is nothing to change on this page. So you can click the 'Let's go!' Button.   

Step 7: Entering Database information. 

Then you can go next stage. In here you should enter your database details for the following fields. 

On the following screen, I have entered information about my database. After entering your database information,  you can click the ‘Submit ‘ button located at the bottom of the screen. 

Step 8: Before displaying the following screen, WordPress check and confirm your database information which you have entered and display following confirmation snapshot. Then you can click ‘Run the installation’ button to go to the next stage of the installation process. 

Step 9: Now you can see the welcome page below. In this step, you will need to enter the administrative information for your website.  Such as username, password, etc. . Don't confuse this username, password with the previous one. Previous step we have entered the username & password of the MySQL  Database. Here we create a username and password for logging to  WordPress for creating and modifying the website. In set title field you can give a name for your website which you go to create with WordPress. In the email field, you can give your email address. When you forget your password, it helps to create a new password for your website. After giving all information, you can click ‘install WordPress’ button to install WordPress.   After the installation process is successful, you will get a screen showing that it is successful, as shown in the screenshot below.   

Now you can click ‘Log In’ button to log for creating your website using WordPress.  

Step 10: Logging your website logging window displays like following. This is the final stage of this installation process. 

Step 11: So now you can see WordPress Dashboard like following after clicking 'Log In' button. Now you can create your own website.  After this, I will write how to create your website using WordPress in the next blog.