WordPress is a comprehensive content management system (CMS) powering a lot of the websites that you visit daily.
If you’d like to get started developing WordPress websites but are not ready to pay for a server on the cloud, you’re able to run and host your WordPress site locally on your PC. Here’s everything you need to know about installing WordPress on Linux.
Why Use WordPress?
According toWordPress, 40% of the websites in the world are built using WordPress. These are impressive stats, and you might be wondering, “Why is WordPress so popular?”
Here are some key reasons why many people choose WordPress to power their websites:
Here are the steps to install WordPress on Ubuntu:
1. Set Up a LAMP Stack
A LAMP stack is a collection of four main software packages required for WordPress to run effectively. LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
XAMPP is a great LAMP stack that bundles all these software packages together. In case you don’t have a LAMP stack on your PC, it is relatively easy to set up.
First, download XAMPP for Linux.
Download:XAMPP
When the download is complete, go to theDownloadsdirectory, then give the newly downloaded XAMPP file execution permissions with:
Start the XAMPP installer using:
You’ll be presented with a graphical installer, so just follow along to finish the installation.
Once installed, you can start or run XAMPP with:
After you start XAMPP, you can go to the following URL using your web browser:localhost. If you configured everything properly, you’ll be greeted with a screen similar to the following:
Remember that WordPress is cross-platform, so you can alsoinstall it locally on Windowsor macOS.
2. Downloading WordPress on Linux
With the LAMP stack set up, you can proceed to download the latest WordPress version.
By default, WordPress will be downloaded to your Downloads directory. Next, go into the Downloads directoryusing the cd command:
Unzip the newly downloaded WordPress archiveusing the unzip utilityas follows:
Download:WordPress
3. Configuring WordPress on Linux
Create a folder within the/opt/lampp/htdocsdirectory that corresponds to the name of the website that you want to create. The folder name is what you will use in the URL for navigating to your WordPress site locally.
Go into theoptdirectory and create a folder namedmuo. Feel free to use any name of your liking.
Copy the contents of the WordPress folder that you unzipped previously into your website directory.
Remember to replace the WordPress version in the preceding command with the correct version.
Change the owner of the site and all its content fromroottowww-datausing:
Also, change the write permissions so that you can easily work with your WordPress site locally.
Don’t use the preceding write permissions on production environments because they are not restrictive enough, but they are okay for testing and local development.
4. Installing WordPress on Linux
Your WordPress website needs a database for storing and persisting website configurations and user details. Fortunately, XAMPP has already installed a MySQL database for us.
you’re able to access the database from your browser by visiting the URL:localhost/phpmyadmin.
Click on theNewbutton on the left-hand side pane and specify a name for your database. Then, clickCreate. I’ve named minemuoto correspond to the site name.
Visit the URLlocalhost/muoto start configuring your website. Replacemuowith your website’s folder name that you specified in the third step.
On the next page, you should provide the database name and other details. The default MySQL username isrootand there is no password so just leave it blank.
Click theSubmitbutton and follow the prompts that follow.
Finally, provide the site title, username, a strong password, and your email address. Then, click on theInstallbutton.
On the next page, you will log in to the WordPress admin panel which allows you to customize and build your website to your liking.
Securing Your WordPress Site Is Important
WordPress is great for developing a wide range of websites. And best of all, it is easy to get started with and install on your local PC.
When you want to deploy your WordPress website in production, you must secure your website to avoid data breaches and exploitation.
Q: How to Check WordPress Version in Ubuntu?
There are several ways to check which version of WordPress is installed on your Ubuntu PC. The easiest way is to use your WordPress dashboard’sAt a Glancecard. Log in to your website’s dashboard and you’ll see the version number mentioned along with the theme you’re using. For example, “WordPress 6.3.1 running GeneratePress theme.”
Another way is to switch to theUpdatestab from the left sidebar and see which version you’re currently using.
Q: Is WordPress Good for Large Websites?
Considering how easy it is to set up a WordPress website, it’s reasonable to wonder if WordPress is robust enough to power large websites. The answer is: yes, WordPress can easily handle large websites.
you may customize WordPress to suit your needs and extend its functionalities by modifying the code. You can create customized plugins and themes for your WordPress website and spruce up the entire admin dashboard if you want to.
Q: Do You Need phpMyAdmin for WordPress Websites?
While you don’t need to use a database administration tool like phpMyAdmin to manage your WordPress website’s database, it’s recommended if you want granular control over the data powering your website. It’s not compulsory to install phpMyAdmin with WordPress, however.
