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How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows
Post Info Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 2:01 am by J David Print Print this page Share This

An essential for any aspiring theme developer is a local install of WordPress. There are plenty of benefits to doing so and there are also pitfalls if you don’t. I will tell you about the pitfalls in a second, but before that, I want to tell you 5 great reasons why you should use a local install as your sandbox as opposed to installing a live version on some subdomain of yours:

Install WordPress Locally

  1. Works exactly like the real deal; plugins and all
  2. No need to mess with FTP programs
  3. Develop anywhere (no connection needed)
  4. Make sure your theme is compatible with latest version of WordPress
  5. Code in secret, then release with a bang

I can personally attest that the last reason is a good one. While working on the current theme for this website, I accidentally pinged Technorati, which notified a bunch of people of my latest work. When this site finally got released, it was more of a fizzle instead of a bang. Anyhow, let’s get on to the tutorial.

Install WordPress Locally

  1. Download and Extract XAMPP Lite

    1. Go to http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html#646
    2. Download XAMPP Lite.exe (the .exe is a smaller, faster download)
    3. Move the download to the root of your C drive C:\
    4. Run the .exe and the directory will be installed

  2. Startup Apache and MySQL

    1. Open the xampplite folder
    2. Double click setup_xampp.bat
    3. After the program tells you to have fun, press any key on your keyboard
    4. Now double click on xampp-control.exe
    5. Now start the Apache and MySQL services
      Local Install 1
    6. If everything worked, you will see Running next to those 2 services

  3. Create a New Database

    1. In your browser of choice, navigate to http://localhost/xampp/splash.php
    2. Click on your language
    3. On the left hand side, under Tools, click phpMyAdmin
    4. On that page, you will see the MySQL heading, like in the screenshot below
      Local Install 2
    5. Call the database wordpress and select utf8 unicode ci from the drop down menu
    6. Click Create

  4. Install WordPress

    1. Download and extract WordPress to your desktop
    2. In the extracted folder, open the file wp-config-sample.php in a text editor
    3. Edit the file to look like this:
      define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress'); // The name of the database
      define('DB_USER', 'root'); // Your MySQL username
      define('DB_PASSWORD', ''); // ...and password
      define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // 99% chance you won't need to change this value
    4. Save the file as wp-config.php
    5. Now open up the Xammplite folder on your C drive and then open the htdocs folder
    6. Copy the whole Wordpress folder here
    7. Finally, use your browser and navigate to http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

ENJOY YOUR LOCAL WORDPRESS INSTALL

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35 Responses to “ How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows ”

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  1. Tara: Graphic Design Blog

    HI, I would be interested in trying this, but mainly use mac, I don’t suppose there is an easy way to do this on a mac?

  2. J David

    You know, I completely forgot about that! Here is a tutorial for macs. And I have clarified the title.

  3. Tara: Graphic Design Blog

    Thanks I will take a look

  4. mark

    I use to do joomla sites before and i found www.uniformserver.com very useful to create local host, its quicker and faster than xamp

  5. Jaypee

    Good stuff! I was planning to write something like but I never got the chance to sit down and start it. Anyways, I’m sure your post would have been better. Hehe :D

  6. David

    Just wanted to let you know, If you just unzip the package to your root drive or to the root of a thumb drive you do not need to run the setup.

  7. Ellie

    I am going to try this install this weekend! I would love to be able to tweak everything before I use up loads of bandwidth refreshing LOL

  8. J David

    @Jaypee: Nah. I am sure you could have handled. You have probably known about it longer than I have anyways.

    @Ellie: Yeah, that is a great reason to do it. I waste tons of bandwidth just re-uploading images and things that I have tweaked, over and over again. Let me know if you have any questions about the install.

  9. Jaypee

    Yeah, I did know about this before but I never did get to write about it. Hehe :)

    Anyways, you seem to be very busy on other things coz you haven’t updated in a while.

  10. Alaingonza

    Niceee….thks!

  11. Vamsi

    Will definitely take a look at this. I think installing WordPress on local system and tweaking the theme before uploading is a good idea. Thanks for the light.

  12. Graphic Design Blog » Wordpress as a CMS - Content Management System

    […] How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows J David Macor gives a step by step guide on how to get Wordpress running locally on a PC, ideal if you want to test your Wordpress website before releasing it publicly. […]

  13. 5 Lessons I learned the hard way about Launching a Blog - Part 1 | Bloggercamp

    […] Resources: Windows: How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows Apple OSX: Installing MAMP and WordPress Technorati Tags: blogging tips, Blogging Tips and Tricks, […]

  14. 2 Lessons I learned the hard way about Launching a Blog - Part 1 | Bloggercamp

    […] Resources: Windows: How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows Apple OSX: Installing MAMP and WordPress Technorati Tags: blogging tips, Blogging Tips and Tricks, […]

  15. jameswillisisthebest

    This is my first post
    just saying HI

  16. S

    Very cool, works like a charm; many thanks!

  17. WordPress Theme Building Resources | J David Macor.com

    […] How To Install WordPress Locally On Windows - You need to have a local install to build themes. […]

  18. Jon

    Brilliant! Thank you for this. Worked like a dream…

    I have looked into this before and always ran into problems. This was too easy.

    Cheers!

  19. kitap

    I am going to try this install this weekend! I would love to be able to tweak everything before I use up loads of bandwidth refreshing LOL

  20. Nathan Chapman

    Nice tutorial, here’s also a visual version if people want to see it (swf tutorial):
    Flash Tutorial

  21. Florence

    Straight forward, Easy to follow - Best Tutorial Ever! Thank you :)

  22. Bruno

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

  23. Woody

    Great Tutorial. I’ve being wanting to test some sites beore going live. This saves me a heap of time!

    Great Work

    Just a quick question, if I was happy with what was created locally, is it just a matter of installing WP on your server then copying the folders accross for it to go live?

  24. n00bie Challenge - Page 6 - WickedFire - Affiliate Marketing Forum - Internet Marketing Webmaster SEO Forum

    […] sure if would be of interest to you guys but I found this tutorial on how to install WP locally How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows | J David Macor.com I’ve just done it, very very easy to install. Thought it would save on bandwidth etc. during […]

  25. Whatever-ishere

    thanks for the GREAT post! Very useful…

  26. Andy

    Hey!

    That worked a treat! I tried doing this install from a tutorial on another site and it just didn’t work time and time again - It took me about a minute with your instructions from booting xamp to the login page of wordpress local.

    Fantastic! you just made life 10X easier!

  27. Be Careful Editing Your Blogs CSS

    […] before publishing to the web. If you use WordPress, there are solutions on doing this for Windows here and on a Mac […]

  28. Buffer Dump 27DEC07 « Feet up, eyes closed, head back

    […] How to Install WordPress Locally on Windows J David Macor gives a step by step guide on how to get Wordpress running locally on a PC, ideal if you want to test your Wordpress website before releasing it publicly. […]

  29. Nathan Chapman

    @Woody:
    Yes Woody. If you were happy with the theme you created, you could install Wordpress on your server, then copy the theme files over.
    Easy, isn’t it?

    Nathan

  30. oktay usta

    thanks good article

  31. e-egitim

    of course if you start your own chain no body is going to stop you though.

  32. perde

    thanks good article of course

  33. ask siirleri

    thank you

  34. kitap özetleri

    thanx

  35. GreatVideosOnline

    hi..

    great article.. always love wordpress.. now working on new CMS project using wordpress.. i will try this method..

    thanks..

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