1. Download WordPress
The very first thing you’ll want to do is download a copy of WordPress 2.0. So, go the WordPress site, and look for the link that says “DOWNLOAD.ZIP.” After download the program, you’ll need to unzip the files into their own folder.
2. Set Up Your FTP Program
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and an FTP program will allow you to copy files from your own computer to your web host. There are many FTP programs available, and the one I use is a free program called SmartFTP. You can download it here.
3. Get Your FTP Access Information
You’ll need to enter this information into your FTP program to access and upload files to your web host. Specifically, you’ll need to enter the the domain name, user name and password for your FTP account. You can get this information from your web host. Then setup your MySQL Database your hosting control panel.
4. Enter Your Database Information into Your WordPress Config File
Remember when you downloaded and unzipped the WordPress program on your computer. Open that folder, and you’ll see another folder labeled “WordPress.” Open that folder, and find a file named wp-config-sample. Open this file in a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad. When you open the file you’ll see some text, much of which looks like gibberish, but it’s not. Look specifically for the lines that read:
define(’DB_NAME’, ‘wordpress’); // The name of the database
define(’DB_USER’, ‘username’); // Your MySQL username
define(’DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password’); // …and password
define(’DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value
This is the place to enter the database information you saved from the previous step. So whatever the database name is, enter that information in place of ‘wordpress.’ Just be sure to leave the ‘ marks before and after as it appears above. Do the same for the DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST. When you’re done, save the file, but save it as wp-config.php rather than wp-config-sample.
5. Upload WordPress to Your Server
Okay. We’re in the homestretch. The next thing you want to do is copy the entire WordPress program from your computer to you host’s server. So, first, open your FTP program and connect to your host’s server. Back in step 5, you tracked down your FTP information. If you haven’t already entered it into your FTP program, go ahead and do that now. Again, you’ll need to enter you domain name, your user name and your password. After you enter the information, go ahead and connect to your host’s server.
At this point, you’ll need to make a decision about where you’ll place your WordPress program. You can put it in, either, the root directory of your host server or a sub-directory. Personally, I place mine in a subdirectory because I run several different websites on the same server, and it just makes things a lot easier by keeping them separate. After you make your decision, go ahead and upload all the files and directories located in the WordPress folder you unzipped to you desktop, excluding the folder itself.
6. Run the WordPress Install Script
After you go to this page, WordPress will do the rest. Just follow the onscreen directions, and then you’ll be all done.
