Getting started
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Ok, so I have installed WordPress, php and sql that were required. Now what??? There is no executable program and I have no idea how to get it going? This all started because I simply (haha) want to add a phone number to the contactinfo widget on my web site but has escalated to wanting to learn enough to administrate/edit my web site. Any direction to basic operating would be helpful. Step one – start WordPress???
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Phew. That was not easy. I did it but more by luck than skill. FYI, AS9100 is a manufacturing standard that certifies us to manufacture for aerospace and military. They are pretty strict about quality control. We get audited (about 5 days) every 18 months. Keeps us on our toes. They do not worry about the web site except that it is a reflection of our business practices. It was very sloppy til now and it was noted in the last audit. The next audit starts Dec 5.
So, I changed the permalinks so that the address bar now shows the page name. Then I changed the url for the titles in the topnav menu in permalinks so that if you clicked on them they would go to the first choice in the list. Worked fine but the background graphic at the top disappeared. Changed it back to # which was there when I started but background graphics are still gone? Can I get them back? The front page is fine but all others except Surplus are not.
Well, I got them back. Almost anyway. Some of the pages have the background a little down from the top but I will work on that. It seems that when I changed things I dropped the background. Lesson learned – do one thing at a time and don’t get too over confident.
navcom376, sorry. I’ve been fighting a cold & fever all weekend, so I called it a night early last night, took some meds, & went to bed, else I feared the hubby was gonna file on grounds of irreconcileable differences, cuz I’ve been pretty useless lolol. Saturday was our daughter’s b-day, & I couldn’t even go out to dinner w/them cuz of my fever :(.
When you go to edit a new post or page, look for a button that says “Screen options”, then click it. 1 of the options you’ll see under there, which may or may not be checked, is ‘Revisions’. Once that’s checked, you can scroll down & review ( then, if desired, go back to) any revision in the list.
Having thus said, & I’ll say again–you are now officially playing with fire.
Please log into your hosting provider’s control panel. Look for softaculous apps installer. If not present, please look for something that talks about 1-click installer script installer, or similar.
Once you’re there, click WordPress. Choose the protocol (http at this point unless you took my advice & got an SSl cert), & then the domain you want to install it to, ie, gsnetworks. There’s a box where you can write in a folder name. Type in wordpress or wp–the latter is quicker. Fill in the remaining info regarding admin username (*DO NOT* use admin, please, & for goodness’ sake, pass on the proffered password of “pass”. Make it bulletproof. Tankproof is better.
Click the ‘Install’ button, & you’ve got a separate WordPress install to play with.
Once you’ve done that, let me know, & I’ll guide you through the process of importing your content.
Get well quick. I mentioned to my wife what a help you were to me in getting started and that you are blind… her comment was “hmmm, the blind leading the blind”. I will put a hex on her for us ok.
I have downloaded my databases from my ISP to my computer so I feel a little safer if I screw up totally. Also, the version that I was using was from 2012 so I have upgraded the version of wp. Everything still works!!! One of the things I want to do is insert the favicon on the left of the address. The procedure I looked up was to use the Appearance/Customize function but when I call it up I just get a blank page. It works for other themes but not the one I am using. I believe that it is not compatible with the one I am using because it was created in an earlier version. I wonder if I could publish another theme then republish my theme would rectify that?I will look into security certs when I have everything else under control. What you are suggesting is a little scary. I think I would rather get wp up and running on my computer to get more experience before I muck around with too much more on the live site. The learning curve is shallowing but there is still some way to go before I consider myself “adequate”.
Well, it’s not actually a live site, ie, it won’t affect your production site. & someone would have to go out of their way to see it. So you’re kind of operating behind the curtain, as it were.
Your theme is simply not compatible, navcom376, I’m sorry to have to say it. I said in a previous post that was the case, & that I thought you needed to just get rid of it. Too many code vulnerabilities, not enough responsiveness on various screen sizes, etc. I’m really sorry, but this is often what occurs w/custom code. Better to get a theme from a source that’s been in business awhile & who has actively maintained their content. Unfortunately, the solution you propose won’t work.
If you do decide to install WordPress to your machine, please consider uninstalling all the other stuff you previously installed. If you can’t use Bitnami, then I recommend xampp. Also, if the program gives you the option to run as a service, it’d be better not to, as these computer installs are not production environments. I personally just start my development environment only when I need it. I also personally use Xampp, but that’s just me. Part of that has to do w/how the various programs interact (or not), w/the software I use to read the computer. So I use the .zip version of Xampp, & then if I want I can load the whole kit & kaboodle to a USB stick & work on it whether I’m at my home base or not.
1 of the folks I helped once described what I do as shedding a little light. Probably as adequate a description as I’ve ever heard. But your wife’s comment is 1 others have made before :).
Ok, I will live with that for now. Unfortunately, I can not shut down our web site while I recreate a new one. I think the best thing will be for me to get wordpress working on my computer, rebuild it there and replace it when it is ready. When I downloaded and installed WP, it asked me to download and install Connector Net 8.0.13, Document 5.7, For Excel 1.3.7, Installer for Windows – Community, Notifier 1.1.7, Server 5.7, Shell 1.1.11, Utilities, Work Bench 6.3 CE, Python 3.7.1 (32 bit) and you suggested that I download and install Bitnami WordPress Stack as well. I have also downloaded the whole Web site from the ISP as well as the databases. Do I have enough to work on my web site on my computer and if so, how do I start? Or can I do all this on the host site without it affecting my current site? By the way, you suggested clicking on Screen options – when I do, nothing happens (no drop down or anything), otherwise everything seems to work on the upgraded WP except the Customize (which does work on other themes, just not mine – a good reason to rebuild).
No, you misunderstand, navcom376. You’re just installing WordPress to a separate folder. Your production site will live on w/no knowledge of the WordPress install elsewhere. They’re two separate entities.
A personal favorite of mine for this process is a plugin called Duplicator, but this does not in any way constitute an endorsement by the WordPress community or Automattic. It will help you clone the site to a separate folder.
WordPress requires a web server in order to run. It also requires a database. Specifically, we’re looking at some sort of webserver, MySQL, & PHP. Some software that’s available to install it on your computer is:
* Xampp: http://www.apachefriends.org
* Wampp: https://sourceforge.net/projects/wampserver/files/latest/download
* Bitnami:
https://bitnami.com/redirect/to/347014/bitnami-wordpress-4.9.8-2-windows-installer.exeOk, when I install it to a separate folder, how do I get to it to work on it? I know that to get to the live site I use website/wp-admin (you taught me well) but since the other folder is not a web site…? I see from my host’s phpadmin panel that there are other folders besides the ont that I am using so much of this may have already been done. Are you saying that I can not create a web site on my computer – off of the internet – and publish it when I am ready?
By the way, I am Ron. Just realized that it is rude to be talking to you using an obvious nick name.
Well, it is kind of a website; it’s just not quite as accessible. So let’s say you installed it to a folder called wp. Then you’d type:
http://www.gsnetworks.ca/wp/wp-admin
to administer that site.I do quite a bit of developing on my computer. But it’s not quite as easy as just importing the database to a live site & off you go. The url’s are different. On a computer, for example, the url’s are likely to look something like:
http://localhost/wordpress/communication-cablesOn a live site, it’d likely look more like:
http://www.gsnetworks.ca/communication-cablesClearly those url’s have to be changed if the transfer is to occur. One either needs a plugin to do a database search-&-replace, or a plugin that helps w/the migration process. Developing a site per my instructions on your already existing server eliminates some of the technical challenges associated w/all that.
O, thank you so much, Ron!!!!!
I will noodle around the other folder to see if I can find a name to try to open it. It will be slow today – it is a snow killer day – I have to destroy some of the snow that fell the other day.
I live in Arizona. My sister lives in Chicago. Even when it hits 120dg out here–& it does–one advantage I stress is that you don’t shovel sunshine. I do not miss those days. Snowshoveling was not a favorite passtime when I lived back there. She can keep it. You’re welcome to it as well :).
I don’t do snow or winter well either. We usually spend the winters on our boat in the Bahamas (Yes, I am Captain Ron). We are late this year because of my adventure at the spa but hopefully going soon. I have spent some time in Arizona. I like it, especially the Sonora Desert area.
I am noodling around the other folder and it looks like everything you say is already set up. I am in the process of changing names and passwords and hopefully will be able to get in and play around without jeopardizing what I already have.
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