Run WordPress Locally In Just Few Clicks
25.01.10 by Jerome in Tutorials
It’s always a good idea to have a copy of WordPress running on your local PC for anyone who wants to create a new WordPress Theme, test some plugins or try the latest version of WordPress.
One of the quickest ways to install WordPress locally was to use the popular XAMPP on Windows machine: but I have discovered a great free tool from Microsoft called Microsoft Web Platform Installer. In just a few clicks the programme lets you download and install all the software that you will need to run WordPress.
The installer gives you the necessary framework, database and web server:
- IIS web server
- SQL Server 2008 Express DB
- .Net Framework
- PHP 5
The installation is very easy. Just go to the Microsoft Web Platform Installer website to download and install the program. Open the Web Installer Tool and select the Web Application tab –> Blogs. Tick WordPress from list, and click “Install” to continue. Once the installation is complete, you will need to configure MySQL database and your new WordPress blog by entering a username and password.
After the installation is complete you will find your WordPress files under C: –> inetpub –>wwwroot –> wordpress. You can test/run your new blog by typing into your browser http://localhost/wordpress/
It took me only 5 minutes to run WordPress locally on Windows 7. Thanks to Microsoft for making it so quick and easy to setup a test blog. The best part of it is that it’s free and you can test and play with dozens of open sources web applications.
Has anyone tried it? What is your favourite way to run WordPress locally? Please share it with us in the comment section.
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dave
31. Jan, 2010
My workaround is to utilise third-party hosted domain names- one for test and the other two for live blogs. Not a free solution, but a quick workaround for making updates and not having to set up a test environment on a computer (I use OS).
The major benefit of your solution: can work offline!
rinkjustice
11. Feb, 2010
Nice post Jerome. Like Dave, I used third-party hosted domain names, but the link structure can get out of whack if absolute hyperlinking is used.
I'll need to use this method tonight in fact.
Thank you!
Greg Szto
29. Mar, 2010
I tried to install this onto a Win XP machine without wordpress preloaded, and got stuck at the MySQL part, it does not recognise my admin username and password root…. root…. Any hints or help? I do not have a prior database.