WordPress, the most popular content management system can be used to create all kinds of websites. from personal blogs to eCommerce to almost any type of website. To run WordPress, you’ll need to install a webserver, a database server, and PHP server scripting modules. 99% of the time WordPress will be installed on a Linux system, including Ubuntu with either the LAMP or LEMP stack. However, there are some open-source projects today that are making it possible to install WordPress on Microsoft Windows desktops and servers. One such project is XAMPP. XAMPP is a completely free, easy-to-install Apache distribution containing MariaDB, PHP, and Perl.
How to install WordPress on Windows with XAMPP support
As described above, 99% of the time WordPress will be installed on a Linux system, including Ubuntu with either the LAMP or LEMP stack. However, there are some open-source projects today that are making it possible to install WordPress on Microsoft Windows desktops and servers. Below is how to install WordPress on Windows.
Download XAMPP Package
To get XAMPP installed on Windows, head over to the Apache Friends website and download the Windows version
Install XAMPP
After downloading the Windows version, you should be prompted to install the package. You’ll need to install Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl as shown in the image below. Complete the installation and continue to the next step. Accept the default installation directory: C:\xampp
Configure XAMPP
Now that the package is installed, open XAMPP and start up Apache and MySQL services as shown in the image below. After starting Apache2 and MySQL, these servers should be running. to test whether Apache is running, open Internet Explorer on the host machine and type the URL below: This should bring up the Apache XAMPP default page. To validate that MariaDB is installed and functioning, open the Shell command prompt on the right of the XAMPP Control Panel. This should launch the command shell. then type the commands below: mysql This should you onto the MariaDB database server. To secure the MariaDB database server, open the Shell command windows again, then type the commands below. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.
Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat password Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Y Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Y
Create WordPress Database
While still in the Shell command windows, type the commands below to log on to the MariaDB database server. type the password you enter above when prompted. Then create a database called wpdb Create a database user called wpuser with a new password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.
Download WordPress Content
Now that the WordPress database has been created, go and download WordPress content from its download page. After downloading the WordPress file, extract it into the C:\xampp\htdocs You can delete all the files and folders in there and extract WordPress content that that folder. the htdocs should look like this: When done, open Internet Explorer and type This time you should see the WordPress default setup page. Type in the database connection info and continue Create a WordPress admin account and continue After installing, log on to the WordPress admin dashboard. ~Enjoy!
