How to Install WordPress on localhost Using WAMPServer

Why Install WordPress on a Local Server

Well, the main reason is testing. Let’s face it; you’re going to be installing new themes and plugins. You may be keeping a backup of all your website content in case a big mistake is made but isn’t it better to avoid the mistake on your live website entirely? This local version of WordPress can be used as a buffer for your actual website and keep it safe. It can also be used to write your content in secret, but it is a bit extreme to make a local server for that depending on your content.

These local servers are commonly used by the theme and plugin developers to test their new designs and plugins. Not only can you test it quickly, but it is also free to do so. This is a big selling point to many theme and plugin developers that don’t make any income until they are done.

Installing WordPress locally on your computer gives you a testing environment that doesn’t affect your live website or blog. A WordPress install on your computer is also referred to as a local server or .localhost.

What is WAMP?

WAMP is a compilation of Apache web server, PHP and MSQL bundled for Windows computers.

All of them are separate open-source software. However, installing them separately is not quite easy even for experienced users. Software like WAMP allows you to easily install them and have a working local environment within minutes.

Step 1. Installing WAMP on Windows Computer

First, you need to download the WAMP software and install it on your computer.

To find out whether you are using a 32 or 64-bit operating system, go to Control Panel » and then go to System and Security » and then click on System on your computer. There you will be able to see your operating system type.

Once downloaded, you can click on the wampserver execution file to run the installation. Make sure that you carefully follow the instructions on the installation screen.

The next window will ask you to agree with the software’s terms and conditions. Check “I accept the agreement” and click “Next.”

Next, select where you would like to install the software and click “Next.” The default is c:\wamp, which I’m going to use for this tutorial.

In the next window, you can choose to create shortcuts so you can quickly and easily access WampServer on your computer. I’m not going to create any for this tutorial.

During the installation process, you need to define the location for the web browser. By default, it will be Internet Explorer. You can change that to Google Chrome or any other web browser by locating it in the Program Files of your computer.

Once installed, you can launch the WampServer to continue.

Once installed, you may be prompted to choose your default browser. In my case, I chose Google Chrome.

You’ll then be prompted again to specify the SMTP server and the email address to be used by PHP. These settings aren’t all that important, so just leave the defaults and click “Next.”

Installation is now complete! Click “Finish” and the software will launch.

Step 2. Setting Up a Database for Local WordPress Setup

The next thing you need to do is to create a blank MySQL database. On launching WAMP, you’ll see a green WampServer icon at the bottom right corner of your screen along with other icons. Simply click on it and then click on phpMyAdmin (a web-based application to manage MySQL databases).

Note: If the WampServer icon is red or yellow, then it means the services (Apache, MySQL, PHP) are not running. You need to start the services by clicking on the icon before setting up the database.

It will take you to the phpMyAdmin login screen on your web browser. Simply enter the username: root and leave the password field blank. These are the default credentials to log in to your localhost phpMyAdmin.

Click on the ‘Go’ button to continue.

Once logged in, you need to click on Databases in PHPMyAdmin to create a new database for WordPress. It will ask you to choose a name for your new database (we named test-site). After that click on the ‘Create’ button.

Your database is ready which means you can now install WordPress on the localhost.

Step 3. Installing WordPress on Windows Using WAMP

The next thing you need to do is download the latest version of WordPress from the WordPress website. It will download as a zip file.

You need to extract the zip file and copy the ‘WordPress’ folder.

Now you need to navigate to the folder where you installed WAMP.

In this tutorial, we installed WAMP in C:\wamp64, so we’ll refer to that folder going forward. But keep in mind, it may be different for you depending on where you installed the program.

Paste the ‘WordPress’ folder into the C:\wamp64\www folder.

You can rename the ‘WordPress’ folder to anything you want, such as a test site, etc. This will be the URL of your local WordPress site, so be sure to choose something you’ll remember easily.

For the sake of this tutorial, we renamed the folder from WordPress to test-site

Next, you can open the web browser and go to http://localhost/wordpress/

First, it’ll ask you to select a language and then show you the database setup information. Once you have read it carefully, go ahead and click on the ‘Let’s go’ button to continue.

After that, you need to enter your database details like database name, username, password, host, and table prefix.

The database name will be the one that you entered in the previous step. In our case, we called it ‘test-site’. The username will be ‘root’, and you can leave the password field blank. You can also leave the database host and table prefix as-is.

Next, click on the ‘Submit’ button and WordPress will create a configuration file for you in the backend.

On the next screen, you will see a success message stating that WordPress is connected to your database, and you can proceed with the installation.

Go ahead and click on the ‘Run the installation’ button to continue.

It will take you to the welcome screen for WordPress. You need to add a title for your new WordPress website, choose an admin username, enter a strong password, and provide an admin email address.

Once you’re ready, click on the ‘Install WordPress’ button.

After the installation process is complete, you’ll see a success message. In the background, WordPress has created new tables in your database and it’s ready to use.

You can then proceed to your WordPress dashboard by clicking on the ‘Login’ button.