Now that you’ve worked your way through the earlier parts of the Beginner’s Guide and chosen a webhost for your new WordPress blog, it’s time to install the WordPress software on your webserver and set the whole thing up. This can seem like quite a daunting task for the first-timer, but WordPress has been designed with ease of use in mind and there are plenty of places out there to get advice on how to install WordPress. A few of the best are:
- WordPress’ own installation guide - Well, you wouldn’t expect them to just give you the software and leave you to it, would you?
- Caroline Middlebrook’s guide - Caroline’s guide to developing money-making niche sites includes a really useful chapter on installing WordPress using an automated system, such as Fantastico.
- The WordPressMax.com visual installation guide - This guide features lots of pictures to help you find your way around if your web host doesn’t have, or you don’t want to use, Fantastico.
Basically, there are three stages to go through to get your WordPress blog up and running.
- Preparation
Readying your webspace, database and yourself for the installation process. - Uploading
Placing the files on your webserver. - Configuration
Getting WordPress to connect to your database, setting up your first user account and adding the first basic details to your site.
Rather than bogging you down with one massive post covering the entire process of installing WordPress for the first time, I’ll break it down into three separate posts to cover each stage individually and post these over the next few days. That way I’ll be able to cover each stage in enough detail to provide you with a complete guide to the WordPress installation process.
