Download XAMPP from XAMPP’s official website. Select your operating system and click on the download button.

Wait a few moments after hitting the download button. Because the file is around 150 MB in size, it will take some time to download. After downloading the file, double click the executable file and follow the installation process. 

Click on the Next button.

On this screen, some of the checkboxes will already be checked. It is enough to select Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin and click on the Next button. On the next screen, select the path where you want to install the XAMPP server. You can leave it as default c:\xampp. Click on the Next button.

Once the installation is complete, remove the tick mark “Do you want to start the control panel now?” and click on the Finish button. We have to run the XAMPP control panel as administrators.

Step 2 – Run the XAMPP server and test it

Once the XAMPP installation is complete, you will need to run XAMPP as an administrator on Windows. To do that, click Start, find XAMPP Control Panel in your Programs list, then right-click and select Run As Administrator. Another option is to go to C:/xampp where you have installed the XAMPP server, run xampp_start.exe as administrator.

This will launch the XAMPP Control Panel.

First, run Apache and MySQL services on the left side of the Control panel. Observe the green tick mark. This will register the Apache and MySQL server as service and it will start the server on every system reboot. Now click on the Start button for both Apache and MySQL which should look like the below image.  You can track the green running status near to it.

Now is the time to test the XAMPP server. Open http://localhost, if everything is good then it should open the page like the below image. 

Create your project folder inside C:/xampp/htdocs and upload the files. For example, create a folder called “project” inside C:/xampp/htdocs and upload a sample PHP file. Now go to the browser and open http://localhost/project. PHP file should open properly.

Creating a Database

We will create a MySQL database using the phpMyAdmin tool. Open http://localhost/phpmyadmin to launch phpMyAdmin.

Click on the tab Databases, enter the database name and click on create button. This will create a database. You can name the database whatever you want.

So, give it a shot and let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to assist you!

The post How to run PHP files on a local computer using XAMPP first appeared on Student Projects.

To build a complete website you need to buy a domain name and a server to host your website files. But if you don’t want to launch your website right away and want to set it up completely before going live, set up everything locally.

Why you should install WordPress on localhost?

When you set up WordPress locally, all the files will be stored on your local computer, and this means only you will be able to access your website. This is a great way for you to learn, making a website for free of cost. Also, this gives you a great testing environment that doesn’t affect your live website.

Step 1 – Download and install XAMPP server on your PC

To install WordPress, you need an Apache web server, PHP and MySQL database. All are separate open-source software and installing this software one by one will be a difficult job for beginners. This is where XAMPP comes into the picture.  XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing Apache web server, PHP and MySQL bundled together. 

Download XAMPP from XAMPP’s official website. Select your operating system and click on the download button.

Wait a few moments after hitting the download button. Because the file is around 150 MB in size, it will take some time to download. After downloading the file, double click the executable file and follow the installation process. 

Click on the Next button.

On this screen, some of the checkboxes will already be checked. It is enough to select Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin and click on the Next button. On the next screen, select the path where you want to install the XAMPP server. You can leave it as default c:\xampp. Click on the Next button.

Once the installation is complete, remove the tick mark “Do you want to start the control panel now?” and click on the Finish button. We have to run the XAMPP control panel as administrators.

Step 2 – Run the XAMPP server and test it

Once the XAMPP installation is complete, you will need to run XAMPP as an administrator on Windows. To do that, click Start, find XAMPP Control Panel in your Programs list, then right-click and select Run As Administrator. Another option is to go to C:/xampp where you have installed the XAMPP server, run xampp_start.exe as administrator.

This will launch the XAMPP Control Panel.

First, run Apache and MySQL services on the left side in the Control panel. Observe the green tick mark. This will register the Apache and MySQL server as service and it will start the server on every system reboot. Now click on the Start button for both Apache and MySQL which should look like the below image.  You can track the green running status near to it.

Now is the time to test the XAMPP server. Open http://localhost, if everything is good then it should open the page like the below image. 

Step 3 – Download the latest WordPress Version

The next step is to get the most recent version of WordPress from the WordPress.org website. It will be downloaded in a zip format. Open to https://wordpress.org/download and click on Download WordPress.

This will download a zip file. Extract the files to C:/xampp/htdocs folder as shown below. You are free to change the folder name from wordpress to anything else.

Step 4 – Create a Database

WordPress uses a database to store the text contents. We will create a MySQL database using the phpMyAdmin tool. Open http://localhost/phpmyadmin to launch phpMyAdmin.

Click on the tab Databases, enter the database name and click on create button. This will create a database. You can name the database whatever you want.

Step 4 – Install WordPress on Localhost

We have set up the server and a database. Now is the time to install WordPress. Open http://localhost/wordpress on your browser. This will redirect to the WordPress installation wizard. Follow the below-given steps to install WordPress. 

On the next step, enter the database name(it is “wordpress” in our case), root as username, leave the password blank as we have not set any password for root user. Click on the Submit button. 

Provide the Website title, a username and a strong password, email id. For security reasons, don’t use admin as a username.

After a successful installation, the success message should show.

Click on the login button or open the URL http://localhost/wp-admin to log in. Enter the provided username and password, click the login button.

This will open the WordPress dashboard. This is your backend dashboard or admin panel, from where you would control everything.

Now is the time to visit your local website. Open http://localhost/wordpress

So, give it a shot and let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to assist you!

The post How to Install WordPress on your Windows localhost Using XAMPP(4 Steps) first appeared on Student Projects.

If you have hosted your website on a dedicated server or cloud server and don’t have a cPanel and PHPMyAdmin access, then click here to read How to move WordPress site to a new server or a new domain using SSH?

Assumptions

Server 1: Current server where WordPress is set up. This can be your local host also.
Server 2: The server where you want to move the website.

Follow the below steps.

1. Server 1: Export database

We can use a simple plugin to export the WordPress database. Login to the WordPress control panel of server1 and install the plugin “WP Migrate DB“

WP Migrate DB helps to export the WordPress database, does a find and replace on URLs and file paths, and then allows you to save it to your computer for free of cost.

Once the installation is completed, open Tools -> WP Migrate -> MIGRATE -> Export database.

Here we have to update the domain name and website file path.

To move the website from one domain name to another or from localhost to the actual domain name, you need to fill Current address and new address. If there is no change in the domain name, then just leave it blank.

File-path is the complete file path of your server. You can get this file path on the cPanel. If you don’t know the full path, you can ignore this.

Click Export Database to export the database. Download and keep it.

2. Server 1: Download the website files

Download complete website files from server1 using FTP or file manager. As there are multiple files, it is better to zip the files and download them as a single file. Login to cPanel and click on File Manager.

Go to the public_html folder. Select all the files inside and click on the compress option on the right-click menu. Give a name and save it in the public_html folder. Now download the zip file.

Alternatively, you can download the files using any FTP application.

Now we have taken the complete back of WordPress files and database.

3. Server 2: Import Database

• Login to Server 2 cPanel
• Create a new database
  • Open MySQL Databases
  • Create a new MySQL database and note down the created database name
  • Create a new MySQL user
  • Add User To Database: Select the created user and database and click add. Provide all the permissions.
• Import the database
  • Open phpMyAdmin
  • Select the database on the left-hand side
  • Click on Import
  • Chose file: Select the exported database dump downloaded from server 1
  • Click on the ‘Go’ button.
  • Once the import is done, there will be a success message.

4. Server 2: Upload the website files

Upload the downloaded WordPress files zip file to the public_html folder of Server 2. You can upload using the FTP application or using File manager.

Login to server 2 cPanel and go to File Manager. Select the public_html folder. Upload the WordPress files zip file. Once the upload is done, unzip the files into the public_html folder.

Edit the wp-config.php file and update the database and user details which you have created and noted down.

/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'database_name_here' );

/** Database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'username_here' );

/** Database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here' );

/** Database hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

5. Update the DNS records

Now you have moved the database and all the website files from one server to another. Now is the time to point the domain to the new server.

Login to the domain control panel and go to DNS or name server settings. Point the DNS of your domain name to the new hosting server. Usually, it will take 12-24 hours to update the records.

6. Browse the website and enjoy!

You are done with all the tasks. Open the URL on the browser and check if the website opens properly. Still, your domain may point to the old server and open the website properly. To check whether the website loaded from the old server or the new server, you use the ping command on the command prompt and check the IP. You can also rename the index.php file of the old server and check if the website loads properly.

Just drop a comment if you get any problems while moving the website. I will be happy to assist you.

The post How to move WordPress site to a new server or a new domain without downtime? first appeared on Student Projects.