How to install a WordPress blog and give it a new theme

21 May, 2009

So with blogging being so popular, and every man and his dog setting up a blog these days, we are going to look at how to set up a WordPress blog on your site. And once it's set up, we take a look at how to install a new theme.

This is all fairly easy stuff actually, so we'll dive right in.

Installing WordPress

First off you will need to download the latest WordPress from their site. Simply go to their download page and grab the zip file of the latest build.

For the purposes of this tutorial, the latest WordPress build is 2.7.1.

So once you have downloaded the ZIP file, unpack it and open up the file: wp-config-sample.php. There are a couple of entries we need to change in this file. These entries will allow the WordPress scripts to access the database on your web server.

The first line we need to change is:

Replace putyourdbnamehere with the name of the database you are going to use for your blog. This could be something simple like "blog" or perhaps the title of your blog.

Next, we need to make a similar change to the next line:

Change usernamehere to the username you use to access your database.

Now we have the username sorted, we need to set the password to the database on this line:

Change yourpasswordhere to the password for the username you entered above.

Once these changes are sorted, save the file as wp-config.php. WordPress will use this file to access your database and set up the tables it needs.

The next step in the process is to create the database for your blog. You don't need to create any tables, just an empty database using the name you declared in the file above. WordPress will create the files it needs in just a minute.

With the empty database created we are now ready to upload the WordPress files to the web server. There are a couple of files you can leave out of the upload if you like as they're not necessary: readme.html, license.txt, and the wp_config-sample.php we used as a template for our real config. file.

Upload the WordPress files to your chosen directory.

After all the pages are successfully uploaded, navigate your browser to the wp-admin/install.php page. So if you uploaded the files to a blog directory, that will be: http://yourdomain.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php.

If you can see this page, you're well on the track. All your files are uploaded correctly and WordPress can connect to your database with the settings you gave in the wp-config.php file.

Now you simply need to fill in the two fields on the page: a blog title and an email address. You can change the blog title later if you like, but you'll need a real, accessible email address at this point to continue.

When you're ready, click "Install WordPress" and let the scripts do their magic. They will set up the database tables they need in the database you provided, and populate them with the appropriate content.

Once it's all completed you will be presented with a username ("admin") and a password. You need to copy or write this password down now as it's the only time you'll see it and you will need it in a second to log into your new WordPress blog!

Click "Log In" to check out your new blog.

On the log in page enter your username ("admin") and the password you were just given. Click "Log In".

If you entered the data correctly you should now be at your "dashboard". Congratulations! You have just set up your WordPress blog!

You should now change your password to something you can remember. And if you navigate to index.php of the directory you installed your blog in (blog/index.php for example) you should be able to see the front page of your blog.

Let's recap the steps:

• download WordPress
• unpack the files
• change wp-config-sample.php and save it as wp-config.php
• create the database
• upload the files
• access wp-admin/install.php
• enter the data
• log in
• relax

In the next part of this article, we will look at how to install a custom theme to your new WordPress blog.

Installing a new theme

Installing a new WordPress theme is even easier than installing WordPress itself.

Firstly you need to find yourself theme. There are thousands on the Internet and a Google search for "free WordPress themes" turns up many results.

Once you have browsed around and found a theme you like, you will have likely downloaded a ZIP file which contains your theme files. Unpack this file and upload the contents to your web server. Make sure to upload the folder which holds the files (not the parent folder, as there can sometimes be a folder inside the folder). You want to upload the folder to your wp-content/themes/ directory.

Once all the files are uploaded, you are only one short step away from implementing your new theme.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and click the "Change Theme" button.

Now click on the theme you want to select, and then click "Activate 'theme name' " (where theme name is the name of the selected theme). The theme will now be activated. The change probably won't affect your admin dashboard, but if you go and look at one of your blog pages you will see the new theme in action.

• download the theme
• unpack the theme
• upload the files
• activate the theme
• relax

And there it is. WordPress installed, and a custom theme added in just a few easy steps.

We have installed a test blog and theme using this method. It can be found here: http://fcOnTheWeb.com/blog/. We have used the theme "Blue Zinfandel Sqaured Enhanced" for our blog.

Happy blogging!

ferrari_chris