Installing WordPress doesn’t have to be a nightmare, but I know some people are still worried about messing something up along the way.
Because I want to illustrate just how easy WordPress is to install, I’ve created a brief (6:32) audio visual walk through of the installation process. The video goes through creating a database, unzipping, modifying, and uploading the WordPress files, installing WordPress on the website, and updating the profile.
Some caveats, it is assumed that:
- You are on PC
- You are brand new to WordPress (i.e. this is basic info to advanced users)
- Your web host is using cPanel
- You have an understanding of how to manage and configure your FTP program
This video has been updated to use WordPress 2.2, if you wish to reference the old video (which goes through the process of setting up a database), the legacy WordPress installation video tutorial is still available.
Installing WordPress: An Audio Visual Presentation (~4 min. – Flash player required)
You are more than welcome to leave any comments or questions and I’ll try to answer as soon as possible.
If you wish to link to this video tutorial, please use this link and not the video link, otherwise your link may break in the future. This page will always remain updated.
Hi, Teli.
You saved me again! First WordPress blog was quick and easy since I had fantastico with my server. This time I had to do a full install. You video was a great walk-through, but was really saved me was learning about FileZilla. The darn ftp program I was using could not seem to transfer all the files no matter what I tried. Filezilla worked on first try and, of course, it’s free! Though I will need to donate since they had a hand in saving my sanity.
Thanks!
Christy
# August 7th, 2005
This is great! Thanks Teli, I agree with Christy – it really helped out a lot to actually see what it looks like to have WordPress installed.
# August 11th, 2005
OMG, How did I miss this page. Teli, your a Rock Star, and your presentation skills were so good, concise and clear. A+++
# August 16th, 2005
@Christy – I am very glad I was able to help out
@Amber – thank you
@Jason – I don’t think I’ve ever been called a rock star before – you’re so silly – thank you though!
# August 16th, 2005
Great Tutorial! What skin are you using on your PC – it looks sweet?
# January 22nd, 2006
Thank you Fido,
I’m glad to hear you liked the tutorial.
If you’re speaking about the Windows XP skin, at the time (it’s since changed) – then it’s Royale.
If you’re asking about the Firefox theme, I honestly don’t remember the name or URL. Sorry.
# January 22nd, 2006
Granted it would be more involved, but do consider doing the same for a local install of WordPress.
# March 15th, 2006
Bob,
Do you mean put together a video tutorial on doing a local install of WordPress? Or, is it a suggestion for anyone installing WordPress?
~ Teli
# March 15th, 2006
Yes, a Audio visual.
Granted Podz has done a pretty good job called Installing WordPress and XAMPP but even it has problems. Namely in what should or shouldn’t go into wp-config.php.
At least if your doing a WP2.02 local install it would be wordpress, root and nothing for the password using the web based interface for your browser.
Doing this will then allow you to move to the next step. Otherwise if you create a wp-config.php you will get the infamous “Error establishing a database” and then you get to hang out at WordPress support area till someone tries to help or in my case lurk long enough to stumble across the answer.
Sorry about the length of my response, but am only trying to help out.
# March 16th, 2006
Hi Robert,
There’s no need to apologize for the length, it’s not unduly long and your comments are helpful.
As for doing an audio visual walk through for a local installation of WP, it may be something I consider in the future (time permitting, of course).
~ Teli
# March 16th, 2006
I did everything exactly the way you did. and when I got to the wp-admin.install.php page. I got a “The page cannot be found”
# April 15th, 2006
im a nerd… I got it…lol
thanks so much for this tutorial!!!
# April 15th, 2006
Tanya,
I’m glad to hear you got it all figured out and you’re welcome
# April 15th, 2006
Thanks so much Teli, you helped me install wordpress when in need. I loved your video, I loved filezilla. Thanks so much, you’re great!!!
# June 22nd, 2006
Hi Kris,
Thank you for the kind words – made me smile.
I’m very glad to hear my video helped you and if there’s anything else, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
~ Teli
# June 26th, 2006
How can I install ver 1.52 ? I have the zip on my hard drive. Thanks
# June 26th, 2006
If the following conditions are met.
1. You have a free or paid web host
2. You know how to utilize a “zip” program
3.You know how to use a Ftp program
You first unzip the program. Start your Ftp program(you need three pieces of information that the hosting company gave you database name, username,& password. You enter these into the proper places in the FTP, click connect. It shoud then connect to your web-site. You then need to open up “public html” BUT WAIT: The complete process should be covered by Teli’s AV Presentation on Installing WordPress.
Furthermore you would be smarter to get the latest version from http://www.wordpress.org and install it instead
# June 28th, 2006
Hi Joe,
Thanks for stopping by the blog and commenting.
The installation tutorial is actually done with a 1.5.x installation of WordPress, so installing it would follow the same process.
If there’s a part of the tutorial that needs clarification, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Also, if you decide that you’d prefer to use 1.5.x, be sure to get the version that has some of the security fixes from WP 2.0.x included.
As Robert has mentioned, it may be a good idea to download and install the most recent version of WordPress if you are a new WP user.
~ Teli
# June 28th, 2006
Thanks Teli, this video is very helpful, and I used it for a new blog this week.
Dennis
# July 20th, 2006
Thank you Dennis,
I’m very glad to hear the video helped you
~ Teli
# July 20th, 2006
thanks for the presentation, now my sister will stop buggin me asking for installation help
# July 27th, 2006
I tried three times and follow all the directions. Once I found this tutorial and viewed it I realized that all the files were not unzipping. Once I fixed this problem, everything ran smoothly. Thank you for your excellent video tutorial.
# August 6th, 2006
hi,
i want to say one thing.You saved me again! First WordPress blog was quick and easy since I had fantastico with my server. This time I had to do a full install. You video was a great walk-through, but was really saved me was learning about FileZilla.
# September 20th, 2006
Hi,
Your presentation skills were very nice, I have to say.
Thanks.
# September 22nd, 2006
Hi Teli,Thank you for this excellent presentation it is very easy even for the beginners, But it can be more detailed, Because after I followed this tutorial It give me the page can not be displayed, can you support me in this.
# October 5th, 2006
Hi Zendendo,
Thank you for the compliments and I’m glad you found the tutorial helpful. However, the page cannot be displayed error may have been caused by a number of reasons or it could just be that the URL was typed incorrectly.
Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do without knowing the specifics of your install or the URL where you’re having problems with the install.
If you feel it’s an issue with WordPress directly and need technical support, you can ask at the WordPress support forum (they’re pretty helpful there) and make sure to leave all the details – URL, anything you may have tweaked in the installation files, whether it was one-click install or manual install, and any code you believe may be causing it.
~ Teli
# October 5th, 2006
Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative site. I have learned a lot from your site. Thanks!!
# December 15th, 2006
Please say something reassuring about installing WordPress using a Mac. I note you are using a PC. Is it any different for a Mac?
# December 18th, 2006
Well, Doug. I’ll say this: if you try to install WP with a Mac, your blog will explode.
Just kidding.
Seriously, though, installing WP using a Mac should be just as easy as installing it using a PC.
It’s a matter of decompressing the files, preparing the config file, uploading them to your server, and running the installation file in your browser. Simple as pie.
~ Teli
Edited to add that there’s really no difference except with the tools you use. For instance, you wouldn’t use Notepad, you’d use the Mac equivalent plain text editor, and you wouldn’t use FileZilla, you’d need a Mac compatible FTP client.
# December 19th, 2006
Thanks for visual presentation,
regards…
# December 20th, 2006
Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative video. I have learned a lot. Thanks!!
# December 24th, 2006
hi Rachel first off thanks for the great video tutorial i have used it a few times over the last year. unfortunately i came here to use it today but the link to it does not seem to be working at present. is it down, has it moved? please let us know, i would hate to loose such a great aid.
thanks in advance
# January 3rd, 2007
First off, this isn’t Rachel. (I believe you’re thinking of Rachel @ Cre8d.) My name is Teli.
Second, I’m glad you found the video tutorial helpful. I’ve made some sweeping changes to the backend, so some things may be out of whack. Thanks for letting me know about the video — should be all fixed up now.
~ Teli
# January 3rd, 2007
Hi, I found the presentation really handy, what program did you use for the screen capture?
# January 22nd, 2007
Hello Harry,
Glad to hear it was helpful. I used (previously Macromedia, now Adobe) Captivate. Once you get past the slight learning curve, it’s very nice software. Only downside is that the files produced are huge.
~ Teli
# January 22nd, 2007
I created a hassle free installation service called WordPress Web Installer which saves a lot of time on installing wordpress.
Good video though, Teli!
Vladimir
# February 15th, 2007
Hi Teli,
thank you, this video is very helpful. I have now my first blog:-)
# March 30th, 2007
Very good video, some things are clearer to me now!
Thanx
# March 30th, 2007
WordPress is very easy to install. And it’s even easier using your presentation
# April 13th, 2007
Hello Teli,
thanks you so much for this great tutorial.
# June 12th, 2007
Hello,
My internet provider doesn’t use cPanel, but Helm Control Panel. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helm,_Web_Hosting_Control_Panel
Because of this my question is: Is it possible to use WordPress in that environment?
Kind regards,
Pieter Schultz
# July 15th, 2007
Hello Pieter,
I have but two questions for you:
1) Does your hosting provider have PHP 4.2+?
2) Does your hosting provider have MySQL 4+?
If you answered yes to both of those questions, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to install WordPress. You probably just wouldn’t be able to use the one-click installation unless Helm came with it.
Hope that answers your question.
~ Teli
# July 15th, 2007
Even I have the same problem (Helm). Every time they say the same thing…still searching for the bug.
# July 25th, 2007
Fantastic presentation. I have to admit I had some doubts about installing WordPress, but your presentation helped me a lot. Thanks!
# August 5th, 2007
After hearing all the horror stories about WordPress installations, I must say this was a breath of fresh air and a breeze…
Much success to you Teli!
# August 14th, 2007
Can you install WordPress on a server that has Frontpage extensions installed? I have tried, but can’t access the folder I created
# September 2nd, 2007
Hi John,
You’ll need to contact your hosting provider to get support for any problems you’re having with the folders.
# September 2nd, 2007
I am working through a tutorial on using WordPress as a CMS. I would like to replace an existing site with a WordPress version eventually, but the process will take some time. I don’t want the current version of the site to be disrupted during the transition.
What I was thinking about doing was installing WordPress into a separate folder (wordpress) and doing all the work there. Then when I have the client’s approval, I would like to move the site from that folder to the root folder of the site. Will this work? It seems as if it would, but I’m concerned that there might be some problems with access if everything is changed.
I will back up the static version of the site if all fails, but someone must have done this before.
# September 5th, 2007
Hi Linda,
That would work — developing in a different folder — however, you wouldn’t need to move all the files when you’re done. You could leave all your WP files and just move the main index.php and .htaccess file to the web root when you’re finished. For more info, you can see my post called Installing WordPress in a Different Directory.
~ Teli
# September 5th, 2007
Brilliant! Thanks so much. I’ll try it very soon.
# September 6th, 2007
Impressive. This is a great tutorial and it’s helped me greatly. Thank you.
# November 18th, 2007
Thanks for this wonderful tutorial!
# November 21st, 2007
This tutorial will help me to make an official blog for Camping Stobrec – Split. Even though I’m from Croatia, I visit your site everyday, and I always find something useful. Thanks
# December 7th, 2007
THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!
I appreciated the detailed explanation of how to get started on WordPress. It seems like everyone always said that it’s “simple”. With your help, it really was!!!
# December 19th, 2007
Very nice tutorial. I’m gonna setup my blog just now. Thanks for sharing!
# January 14th, 2008
Hi, Teli. Thanks so much for the time and effort put into this tutorial.
I do have a question: is it necessary for your web hosting provider to be using cPanel, or are the most recent versions of PHP and MySQL good enough?
# March 25th, 2008
Hello Elizabeth,
Not at all. As long as your webhost meets the minimum requirements to run WordPress, then you can install it; however, it’s up to the user to understand his web host’s control panel. (i.e. Setting up a database and upload folder locations.)
Hope that helps,
~ Teli
# March 25th, 2008
Thanks, Teli. Sounds like a new project! (:
# March 26th, 2008
Hi,
That was really clear and nice – thank you.
# June 6th, 2008
What about us folks who use Macs and are struggling to learn? My site was originally set up by a student techie who is no longer available because the semester is over. I learned as much as I can while he was here but not about upgrading to, say, 2.5.1. I’m on a Mac and the site is hosted – at the student’s suggestion – by planet argon.
# June 15th, 2008
I am having trouble uploading the files the way the video shows it, is there something i am doing wrong? In the video the files are highlighted and given a option to upload but when i try it nothing happens. Is there a part that i missed? do i need to put some information into the above boxes port, host…..?
# December 7th, 2008
the part using the FileZilla
# December 7th, 2008
Nice presentation. Noticed that the File, Save As… vocal instruction stated to erase “-config” from the filename instead of “-sample” when saving the edited config file for use, as was demonstrated in the visual.
# April 14th, 2009
After installing wordpress 2.8.3 in the root of my domain, then logging in, I only see all the php files etc listed in the browser window. No pages!
dave
# August 6th, 2009
This is a great tutorial. I love how you explain things and then do them. So we kind of get things twice!
I have one question, though before I install WordPress and I’m hoping this is not a “stupid” question. When I upload the files using an ftp, will the files already associated with my website disappear? In other words, will my website’s content be lost or will I have a url associated with wordpress (domainname.wordpress.com)??
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
# January 29th, 2010