All of us use WordPress and all old-bloggers know “everything” about it. But new bloggers are appearing every day and most of them are novices to blogging and WordPress itself. With this post I want to make it easier for everyone to download and install WordPress - everything is described in step-by-step manner with many snapshots.

And I’d like to ask all of you - new bloggers - forget about the free solutions, forget about Blogger-type-shit.

Let’s get started:

Words About WordPress

WordPress is the world’s famous blogging platform and it is best for your blog because:

• It is flexible.
• It is free.
• It allows publishing a lot of information on daily basis.
• Search engines love blogs and particularly WordPress.
• You can use WordPress as a start platform to develop your internet information empire.
• WordPress allows using widgets and advertising.
• WordPress is very easy to support and to add/edit content.

In this guide I am going to show you, step-by-step, how to download and install WordPress on your hosting space.

Downloading WordPress

The new version – 2.5.1. – of WordPress is already available, so I am going to use it for my tutorial. Here are the steps:
Go to - http://wordpress.org/download/ - and click the appropriate link to download the package.

Save the package on your computer and un-zip it. It should look like this:

Now it is time to prepare your database and config file.

Preparing Data Base and WordPress Config-file

Before starting the WordPress installation, you should have a database prepared. It is simple to do and usually your hosting service provider will give you an online tool to manage your database and the other features of your account. The most common web tool is CPanel. My hosting account uses it too.

First you need to create a database for your WordPress installation. Go to CPanel home and click “MySQL Databases”.

Then in the box, shown below, enter a name for your database and click the button “Create Database”.

You should see the new database listed as seen on the picture:

Now you have a database, but you need a user that will be able to access this database. Enter a username and password for your new user and click the button:

Now you will be able to see your new user listed and you have to assign this user to the previously created database.

From the drop-down menus choose your user and the appropriate database. Then check all checkboxes below to give the user some rights on working with the database or keep the “All” box checked. After all, click the button “Add User To Database”.

Now you have a user and a database and you are ready to install your WordPress.

The first step is to prepare your config-file. It tells WordPress how to connect to your database and maintain data. Now go to your installation files and locate the wp-config-sample.php file. Rename it to wp-config.php and open it with a text editor.

You can use Notepad, but I recommend EditPlus. It is free and you can download it here – http://www.editplus.com.

Here’s the initial look of your config file, when opened in a text editor:

The area within the red border is where you are going to write your database settings.

• Replace “putyourdbnamehere” with the name of the database you’ve created a few minutes ago.
• Replace “usernamehere” with the username you’ve created.
• Replace “yourpasswordhere” with the password you’ve entered for the user when you were creating it.
• Leave other fields unchanged.
• Save the file.

Now you are ready to install WordPress 2.5.1. – the world’s leading blogging platform.

Connect to Your Site via FTP

In order to start your blog you need to upload your WordPress files on your server. You don’t need them on your computer.

The first step is to use a software called FTP client and connect to your hosting account. I recommend using one of these two FTP Clients:

• Total Commander – http://www.ghisler.com/
• FileZilla - http://filezilla-project.org/

Download one of these software items, install it and use it to connect to your account. I am going to use Total Commander, so my explanations will be about it. You will need your hosting account data – they are located in an email that hosting company has sent you on purchasing the account. Look at the section “FTP Data”.

Using Total Commander, browse, find and set on the left side your local WordPress files:

Now you have to establish a FTP connection. First click once on the right panel to make it active – here will appear all your remote files that are stored online. Then find and click on the small “FTP” button at the top of Total Commander’s screen:

A screen with all current connections opens. Click on the button “Create New Connection” at the right side of this screen. A new dialog opens and here you have to enter your FTP connection data:

“Session” is the name of the connection and you can give whatever name you want. In the fields “Host name[:Post]”, “User name” and “Password” enter the appropriate data, given by your hosting provider. Then click “OK”.

Your new connection appears in the list. Select it and click the button “Connect”. Wait a few seconds and your connection has been established. In the right panel you can see your remote server files:

We still not uploaded any data here so the folder is almost empty.

Uploading WordPress

Now you must have your local files on the left and your remote files on the right. Select the left pane of Total Commander, click on “[wp-admin]”, hold the Shift key and then click on “wp-register.php” – the last file in the local folder. This way you have selected all files.

Then just drag-and-drop all these files at the right. Confirm the appeared dialog and wait a little for files to upload to your server.

When the process is finished you have your files uploaded, it looks like this:

Now you have to install the WordPress and you will be ready.

Installing the WordPress Itself

Start your browser and type the address where you just uploaded your files. For example http://www.yoursite.com. Hit enter and you are going to see the following screen:

Type in the fields your blog’s name and your e-mail address. Then hit “Install WordPress”. Wait a little and you will see a screen like this:

This screen shows you the admin username and the automatically generated password. Don’t worry – you’ve received an email with this data so you cannot lose it. Copy your password in the clipboard for easier login and click the button below.

Now enter the username “admin” and paste your password in the appropriate field. Then click “Log in”.

Congratulations!

Welcome to WordPress admin panel. Your instance of the most famous blogging platform has been installed and your blog is already online.

If you click the button “View Site” next to the title of your blog, you will be able to see your new blog as others will see it.

As you can see your blog is not quite beautiful at the moment but this is only a start. I the next guide I’ll show you how to download and install a cool theme and make your blog look great!

Summary

Here are the steps you’ve passed through:

• Downloading WordPress.
• Seting up a database and user for your installation.
• Uploading WordPress files via FTP connection.
• Installing WordPress with a few clicks in your browser’s window.
• Logging to WordPress admin panel.