Installing WordPress From Scratch

So I have to install WordPress from scratch on a server because the version the hosting company is running is 1. an older version, and 2. not customizable. WTF? Why in the world would they lock down wordPress so the end user, ME, can’t customize it? So the help desk tells me that I have to install it myself and that they won’t support the install. So I’m pretty much on my fraking own. Thanks No-Help-At-All Desk!!! Grrrrr!!!

So it’s the first time I get to install WordPress without the use of any script via the control panel. Needless to say the idea of the task made me a bit nervous but at the same time, I was dancing like a kid who just got a new Lego set. I’m used to being able to point, click, install, and spend the next 9 hours designing a skin. But not this time. I’m thinking to myself “This is going to be a great experience!” followed by, “Crap!!! I have to deal with MySQL!” LOL!!! Nonetheless, I’m a trooper and love a good challenge. Not to mention I had the web at my finger tips in the event I blew things up.

So I dove in. First things first, download the latest and greatest version of WordPress and get cracking. Now If you are a brave sole and the stereotypical male who likes to jump into projects without reading the directions first, I hope you can swim. Unless you’ve been in this pool before, I suggest reading the instructions first. I’m sooo guilty of “I don’t need instructions!” but not this time. I was not trying to be up all night trouble shooting issues. So I took the “Measure twice, cut once” approach with this. But next time…heh!

The install was pretty straight forward. For the most part you can get the gist of things from reading the “Famous 5-Minute Install” section of the installation guide. But if you need further clarification, you can find it further down the page.

So about 2 min into the install I notice that the “create a user” function on the hosting account does not exactly match what was described in the instructions. Figures!, but I figured out what was where and moved on.

So about 3 minutes and some change have passed and it’s time to move the files over to the sub directory I had set up. After double checking my values in the config file and being satisfied with what I saw, I sent the files to the server.

One thing to be careful about when sending the files over. Make sure that all the php files are sent as ASCII. I have seen people send files as binary and strange things grew from their servers, but that’s another story.

The five minute mark has come and gone but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a train! I run the install file and *gasp* there is a brand spanking new WordPress admin page! SWEET!!!!

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It didn’t hurt one bit and I didn’t blow anything up. I even enjoyed the MySQL portion of it all. Although this is not my biggest accomplishment, it still feels good to have successfully pulled it off.