How to Install Joomla on local host using XAMPP

Joomla is an open source content management system based on PHP and MySQL. You can work with it both online or offline. However, managing Joomla offline requires you to install a compatible web server and the Joomla package as well. Below are instructions to install Joomla on XAMPP - a good web server which can work well on a local machine. This is an extract from the free ebook "Joomla 3.0 Made Easy".

Installing XAMPP

1. Download the XAMPP installer package at  http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
2. Run the installation file as you do with regular software and follow the step by step instructions.
3. Open “XAMPP Control Panel Application” and start “Apache” and “MySQL”.

4. Create a database in phpMyAdmin.

Installing Joomla!

1. Download the Joomla! 3.0.x full package at https://www.joomla.org/download.html
2. Create a new folder entitled “Joomla30” in folder htdocs in the XAMPP folder. Normally it will be located at “C:\xampp\htdocs”
3. Unpack the downloaded package file into the folder “Joomla30”
4. Go to the URL “http://localhost/Joomla30”
5. Follow all steps in Joomla! installation:

• Step 1. Main Configuration
  • Select Language: Choose your own language in the drop-down menu, for example, “English (United States)”
  • Site Name: Enter the name of your site
  • Description: Enter the description of your site
  • Site Offline: Choose status for your website when you access your site: Click “Yes” for “offline” and “No” for “online”
  • Admin Email: Enter the valid email address you want to use for your site
  • Admin Username: Enter “admin” as default
  • Admin Password: Enter your own password
  • Confirm Admin Password: Re-type your password
  • Click “Next” to continue Step 2
• Step 2. Database Configuration
  • Database Type: Select MySQLi
  • Host Name: Enter “localhost”
  • Username: Enter “root”
  • Password: let it blank
  • Database Name: enter the name of the database you created “Joomla30”
  • Table Prefix: let it generate automatically
  • Old Database Process: Click “Backup” to backup tables from former Joomla! installation, or “Remove” to delete these tables
  • Click “Next” to continue Step 3
• Step 3. Overview
  • Finalization: You can choose to install sample data or not, by clicking on the corresponding selection.
  • Overview: This step is to review all information you configured in step 1. After checking, you click “Install”.
  • When installation finishes, you just need to click the button “Remove installation folder” button to complete the installation process. After that, you can either click on “Site” to see your newly created or “Administrator” to access the administration area.

Now you have your first Joomla! site installed successfully! It’s not too hard, right? If you have any trouble with the installation process, you can try in the following sources for the answer:

• Official Joomla! forum

The Joomla! forum is one of the busiest (and most friendly) support forums in the world, and it is a great place to get help and meet other Joomla! users. There are a lot of questions and answers which are discussed here. Because our topic is Joomla! 3.0 installation, so you can find help in the category “Installation Joomla! 3.0”.

• Other Joomla! learning resources

There are many other websites which you can use a s your Joomla! learning resources:

• http://docs.joomla.org/Beginners
• http://www.joomlatutorials.com/
• http://www.joomlablogger.net/
• http://www.ostraining.com/