Setting up a localhost for your WordPress site enables you to run updates, test plugins, or build your site in private. This means you can make changes without affecting the user experience or worrying about mistakes that could disrupt operations. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at WordPress localhost and its benefits. Then, we’ll show you how to configure WordPress on localhost within 10 minutes.
Do not forget to learn and understand whats is wordpress and its usage before you start the development.
1. Install XAMPP on your PC or laptop
With localhost, you can run a website from your operating system like a PC. This means it will have a different hardware configuration than a live website. Plus, your site won’t be available online.
You’ll create a private and remote environment, using your PC storage as the host. Then, you’ll download third-party software like XAMPP to install WordPress. Click here to download XAMPP.
To install WordPress on localhost, you’ll need a fully functioning operating system like a PC to store your website files. This will work as a virtual server, which is equivalent to a web host’s server that you’d use for a live site.
2. Run the modules
To install XAMPP and WordPress, you’ll need three specific modules:
- Apache (the web server that XAMPP relies on)
- MySQL (the database that WordPress uses)
- PHP (the programming language that WordPress is built on)
You can start these modules from the XAMPP control panel. The status of each one should turn green once it’s launched.
Then, test to see that the local server is working properly by going to http://localhost a web browser.
If it was successful, you’ll now have a functioning XAMPP server on your operating system.
3. Add the WordPress files
Now that you’ve downloaded XAMPP and run the modules, it’s time to install WordPress. To do this, navigate to the official WordPress website and download the latest version of the software by clicking on Get WordPress.
At this point, WordPress will download to your computer. Now, on your computer, head to the folder where you installed XAMPP. This might be named something like C://xampp.
In htdocs, create a new folder for your site. The name of this folder will become the sub-name used to access your site. You might name the folder “test-web” if you’re using WordPress localhost as a staging site.
Then, you would access your site by going to http://localhost/test-web. When you’ve created the folder, extract the WordPress zip file that you downloaded at the start of this step.
4. Create your database
At this point, you’ve downloaded XAMPP, run the modules, and downloaded WordPress. Now, it’s time to create a MySQL database for your WordPress installation.
First, you’ll need to launch phpMyAdmin from your XAMPP control panel. To do this, click on the Admin button for MySQL.
Inside phpMyAdmin, select the Databases tab.
Then, enter a name for your database and select Create. That’s it! You can now move on to the last step.
5. Complete the WordPress installation
The final step only requires a few tasks to complete the WordPress installation. before you visit your local link, you need to setup you wordpress configurations by updating wp-config file details. first duplicate wp-config-sample and rename it to wp-config.
After that, you’ll need to update your database details inside wp-config like this:
- Database name: name of the database you created in phpMyAdmin (you set this up in Step 4 of this guide)
- Username: “root”
- Password: leave blank
Complete the rest of the process. Now, you should see a fresh WordPress install running on your localhost.
Next, you need to set your Theme, menu, and pages. stay tuned for the next post.
