Install Joomla locally - how it works
In order to install Joomla locally on your PC, a few requirements are necessary. We show you what you need and guide you through the installation step by step.
Prepare Joomla installation - installation of the server environment
As a CMS, Joomla needs PHP and Perl in addition to a database. All the requirements you need are included in the Apache distribution XAMPP. The installation of the environment is also manageable for beginners. In the picture gallery you can follow the steps again.
- Download the latest version of XAMMP.
- Start the installation. The wizard will guide you safely, you do not need to make any changes.
- When the installation of XAMPP is finished, the control panel starts. Click on the "Start" buttons behind "Apache" and "MySQL". If the firewall is active, you will be asked for access permission.
Install Joomla locally - create the database
If you have installed XAMPP and started Apache and MySQL, you can create a database.
- Open a browser window and enter "localhost" as the URL (without quotes). Select your language in the start window and then go to the configuration window.
- Navigate to "Tools" -> "phpMyAdmin" in the side menu.
- In the "phpMyAdmin" window click on "New" on the left to create a new database. Enter a database name, there are no specifications here, you can freely choose the name. In the "Collation" dropdown, select "utf8_general_ci" and click "Create".
- In the left column you can now see the database that has just been created. Click on it, activate the tab "Rights" and click on "Add user".
- Enter a user name here and choose a password. If you set the host to "local", you can only access the database from your PC. If you want other computers on the network to have access, select "every host". Make sure that the "All rights to the database" (your name) "is checked and confirm with" OK ".
The actual Joomla installation
Once all the requirements have been met, you can start with the actual Joomla installation.
- Download the current version of Joomla to your PC and unzip the zip file into the directory "c: \ xampp \ htdocs \". If you did not enter your own path when installing XAMPP, this is the root directory of XAMPP.
- If you open a browser window and enter "localhost" as the URL again, the Joomla installation wizard will appear.
- Enter a page name, optionally a description, your email address, a user name and a password. Click on "Next" to go to the database configuration.
- Select "MySQL" as the database type. The host is "localhost" and the user is "root". In "Database name", enter the name of the database that you created in phpMyAdmin. You do not have to enter a password. You can either leave the table prefix empty, accept the generated prefix or enter something yourself. It is important that the entry ends with an underscore. A table prefix is useful if you use the database for other purposes, such as for another page. Click on Continue".
- On the following page you will get an overview of the settings. Here simply click on "Install".
- The installation takes a while, then you can call up your Joomla page with the address line "localhost" in the browser.
In another practical tip we will tell you where you can get free Joomla templates for your own website.