Install Wordpress on the PC: Here's how

To use WordPress without the Internet, you can also install WordPress on your PC at home. To carry out the installation, however, you have to meet a few requirements beforehand. We will guide you through all the steps.

Install WordPress on the PC - server requirements

WordPress requires a web server with PHP, MySQL and Perl environment to function. This requirement does not exist with a standard Windows system. The easiest way to create the required work environment is to use XAMPP. This is a distribution of Apache (web server), MySQL (database server), PHP and Perl (scripts / applications), which is relatively easy to install even for inexperienced users. XAMPP is available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris. You can get the current version here.

1. Download the current version of XAMPP (the installer version is recommended for beginners) and start the installation.
2. The XAMPP Setup Wizard guides you through the installation. You can customize the installation in the "Select Components" window. If you are not sure about the meaning of the components, leave them all activated for the sake of simplicity. You can freely choose the target directory, it is safest to use the suggested one.
3. After completing the installation, the XAMPP Control Panel starts. If you have no previous experience with the administration of a web server, it is sufficient to use the basic configuration of XAMPP. Click the start buttons for "Apache" and "MySQL".
4. Depending on the configuration of your system, it is possible that an active firewall requests the approval of the web server and database service. If your computer is on a local network and you also want to access the web server from other computers, you must allow access. If you only use the web server from the computer on which you installed it, you do not need to grant access.
5. Right-click on the XAMPP icon in the notification field (on the right in the task bar at the clock) to open a small control menu so that you can deactivate or activate the server at any time.

Install WordPress on the PC - create database

1. Open a web browser and enter "localhost" in the address bar.
2. Select your preferred language and then under "Tools" the option "phpMyAdmin".
3. Click on "Databases".
4. Enter a database name of your choice under "Create new database". Select "utf8_general_ci" in the "Collation" dropdown box. Click the "Create" button.
5. In the left column, click on the database you just created.
6. Now click on the "Rights" button and then on "Add user".
7. Enter your user name.
8. Under "Host" select the "Local" option if you only want to access the database from your computer. Select "Any host" if you want to access the database from other computers on your network.
9. Enter a password and check whether the option "Grant all rights to the database [database name]" is selected in the "Database for users" line.
10. Finally, click OK".

Install WordPress on the PC - The WordPress installation

1. Download the latest version of WordPress.
2. Unzip the zip file and copy all files into the document root of your web server. If you used the suggested path when installing XAMPP, the document directory is: "c: \ xampp \ htdocs \".
3. Note that there are already files from the XAMPP installation in this directory, some of which will be overwritten. You can copy or delete them (except for the "forbidden", "img", "restrictedt" and "xampp" directories) in any directory to be created.
4. Alternatively, you can install WordPress in a new subdirectory - then you have to change the path accordingly in the calls described below.
5. Now open the address "localhost / wp-admin / install.php" in the web browser.
6. A message appears that the "wp-config.php" file does not exist. The easiest way to create this file is to click the button "Create the configuration file" in the browser.
7. The configuration is normally straightforward, but to be on the safe side, make a note of the bold information displayed and click on the "Let's go" button.
8. Replace the entries that already exist in the input mask with the names and password you have assigned. However, you should leave the "localhost" entry for the database host unaffected, otherwise WordPress will not find the MySQL server. Click Submit if you want to continue with the installation.
9. Now click on the "Run installation" button.
10. Enter an appropriate title for your blog and a password for the user "admin". You can add more users and authors to the blog later.
11. Enter a valid email address.
12. If the local WordPress installation serves a preview environment before the blog is later transferred to an Internet web server, you can click on the "Privacy" option now so that your blog can be found by search engines later.
13. Finally click on "Install WordPress". The installation is now carried out and you can then log in to WordPress.
14. To access your new blog directly and without logging in, enter "localhost" in the address line of the browser.

Note: The configuration of XAMPP presented here is not secure for use in a network, especially the Internet. To protect XAMPP accordingly, please read this information.

You can get an overview of the ten most popular WordPress plugins here.