Nowadays building a website has become pretty easy. Anyone can create a website or a blog without even knowing what html and php are! How can you do this is the obvious question. And the answer is by using a content management system! CMS is some software helps you create, customize and put your text, photos, videos, music or just about anything you can think of in a website. The result will make you feel like a professional!
In this guide I will describe how to create a website using Joomla 1.5.x. Joomla is one of the most popular CMS software and there are thousands of websites using it on the Internet. My previous guide on How to create a website using Joomla refers to the old 1.0.x Joomla so I have decided to freshen it up a little.
I am also going to use WAMP to create a website on my computer. WampServer is a Windows web development environment. It allows you to create web applications with Apache, PHP and MySQL databases. It also comes with PHPMyAdmin to easily manage your databases. Of course you can buy some hosting space and create there your website or transfer the website you created in your computer. So let's get started.
First we will install WAMP. Download WampServer and install it by double clicking on the .exe file. By default it is installed in C:\wamp Leave it as it is. To check if it has been installed correctly open your favorite browser e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome etc. and type in the address bar:
http://localhost
This is the main screen of WampServer. Click the phpmyadmin link under "Your Aliases".
Now we will create a MySQL database for our Joomla installation. Type a name for your database. Here I have chosen the name "joomla". I will create the database as root without any password since this website is for testing purposes on my computer only. If you use it on a production machine or on the Internet you should create another account for MySQL. Also choose utf8_general_ci as database collation. When you are ready just click the create button.
You should see a message "Database joomla has been created".
Note: The requirements for Joomla 1.5.x are PHP 5.2.+, MySQL 4.1.x+ and Apache 2.x+. The latest release of WampServer has the latest PHP 5.3 version installed by default. Currently Joomla doesn't work with this version. Therefore download the latest PHP 5.2.x version from WampServer addons, install it and configure WampServer to operate with it as you seen in the screenshot below.
Next it's time to install Joomla. Download Joomla by choosing the latest Full Package .zip file. Create a directory with your website's name in C:\wamp\www copy the .zip file in there and extract it.
Now go back to your browser and type in the address bar:
http://localhost/joomla
Here choose the Language to use during the Joomla installation.
As you can see in the screenshot WampServer has by default errors On. To turn them of click on the WampServer icon in the tray and go to PHP > PHP Settings > Display errors and click on it to disable them.
In the next scree if Output Buffering is red disable it from PHP > PHP Settings -> Output Buffering and press the Check again button. Everything should be green. Of course if you want to make tests with the PHP of Joomla you'd better leave those two settings On.
The next screen is the GNU Licence of Joomla. Press Next.
In the Database Configuration step select mysql as Database, localhost as Host Name, root as Username, leave the password blank unless you have changed it through PHPMyAdmin, and type the Database Name you've created before throuth PHPMyAdmin.
You can leave the FTP Configuration to No since you are using WampServer. If you are installing Joomla on a Host Provider over the Internet supply the FTP settings you have been given.
In the Main Configuration step give a name to your website. Type your email and choose a password for your Joomla adminstrator. If you are a new Joomla user it is advised to install the default sample data. This way a simple Joomla website will be created along with some articles, categories etc. which you can use to learn how Joomla works. Press the button Install Sample Data to install the sample content. When Sample data installed succcesfully appears click Next.
Congratulations, you have installed Joomla! Before you access your Joomla web site you must delete the installation directory. Delete the installation directory from C:\wamp\www\joomla as you see in the screenshot.
Now go back to your browser and type (or press the site button):
http://localhost/joomla
This is your new Joomla website!
To enter the adminstrator panel from which you can configure Joomla type:
http://localhost/joomla/adminstrator
Now you can find a Joomla template that will make your website look great, install it and start posting your content!
There are also many extensions, modules and plugins that will help enhcance your Joomla website! Download Joomla extensions .
I bet it was pretty easy to create your first website using Joomla, wasn't it?
If you are looking for a good hosting provider to host your new website I suggest Dreamhost !
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Joomla 1.5.x. Joomla is one of the most popular CMS "softare" ---> software
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December 09, 2009
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Thanks for the tutorial. I get an error "under construction" when I type http://localhost. I have IIS installed in my machine.Do I need to uninstall IIS before I use WAMP and Joomla.
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February 23, 2010
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