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WordPress

WordPress is both a blogging tool and a blog host/platform. You can Host you Wordpress blog on Wordpress servers completely free (as with blogger.com) or install the WordPress blogging software on your own website.

So what's the difference? and why wouldn't everyone go for the free one?

The free option is easy to use and requires no setup. However, if you choose the free option you will have use a subdomain of wordpress.com meaning that your blog will be located at:

yourblog.wordpress.com

Now this may not seem to bad but it is not considered very professional and I would only recommend that you use this option for testing purposes.

That is if you are unsure about using Wordpress then try the free option and see if you like it.

If you choose to host WordPress on your own website then you will need a host that supports it. It requires PHP and MySQL support in order to run.

If you are using a shared host (most of us do) then PHP and MYSQL will already be installed on the server but you will be required to create a database and install WordPress.

However many hosts (like Blue Host )  now provide 1 click install (using Fantastico) which makes the installation a matter of filling out a simple form.

Installing Using Fantastico

Fantastico is a collection of scripts that will install common software packages like Wordpress, Joomla etc. Here is the Wordpress install screen for my Wordpress installations on Bluehost.

You should notice that not only does it show my current installations it allows me to remove them and install a new one.

You should note that you may be required to enter a database name (anything you want), and you will need to name the blog and supply contact details (seen the last part manual WordPress install).

Manual Installation

 Hosts like 1and1 Uk requires a manual install. This requires that you create the databases and install the Wordpress files manually before running the Wordpress install script.

The first step is to create a database.1and1 control panel provides phpadmin for setting up and administering the Database. Access is via the MYSQL admin icon.

Once the Database has been created you will need to copy the Wordpress files to the appropriate folder on the 1and1 server. You can download the latest Wordpress files from the Wordpress.org site.

After you have unpacked the Wordpress files you need to create a wp-config.php file. This you do by copying the  wp-config-sample.php.

You then need to edit the wp-config.php . So open the file in Wordpad ( Note notepad may not display the file correctly hence the use of wordpad) and change the database name and database user to match what you created in the MySQL configuration earlier.

In my case I'm using the database name  blogbase and the database user called wordpress and the password of password.

So my edited file looks like this

Wordpress config file

 

Once you have edited it save it as wp-config.php.

Note: make sure its not called wp-config.php.txt by mistake

Now You can FTP the Wordpress files to the web server. This may take a little while as in total there are approx 7MB of files/drectories.

Now you are ready to run the install which simply involves running a php script on the server. So open a web browser and type:

http://websitedomainname/wp-admin/install.php

The install involves two simple steps at the end the you will be given a username and password that you can use to logon and configure your blog.

Make a note of the password!!

Here are the screenshots of the steps

 

Wordpress install step2

Here is the summary page with the logon instructions

 

Now all you need to do is to login and you can start using it.

 

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