Installing Joomla On Your PC

This quick-start guide explains how to install Joomla on your own PC. Experiment with your "localhost" installation before making changes to your live site. Complete documentation is available at Joomla.org.

Installing Joomla on a PC ("localhost")

Download and install XAMPP from ApacheFriends at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html. Choose the full version of XAMPP, not the lite version.
Download latest version of Joomla from http://www.joomla.org. Extract the ZIP file archive to a directory under
```
c:/xampp/htdocs
```
For example, create a folder in
```
c:/xampp/htdocs/joomla
```
and extract the Joomla files there.
Start the XAMPP Control Panel via the Windows Start menu, then start Apache server and MySQL database by clicking the Apache and MySQL Start buttons.
Start your browser, then type http://localhost in your browser's address bar, and press the Enter key. This brings up the XAMPP Welcome Screen.
From the XAMPP Welcome Screen, go to phpMyAdmin by clicking on the phpMyAdmin menu item.
In phpMyAdmin, type a short descriptive name for your database in the Create New Database field. (Take note of the database name. You will need it later in the installation.) Click the Create Database button.
Now you are ready to start the Joomla installation! Using your web browser, navigate to the new Joomla folder. If you followed the instructions above, your new Joomla folder is located at:
```
http://localhost/joomla
```
You should now see the Joomla Installation screen. (Remember, XAMPP must be running first!) Pick your language and click the Next button at the top of the screen.
Click the Next button to continue the installation. On the Connection Settings page, use the following settings:
Database type: mysql
Host Name: localhost
User Name: root
Password: nothing, leave it blank!
Database Name: The descriptive name you chose for your database in phpMyAdmin (see above)
Continue clicking the Next button. Don't worry about FTP settings for now. You can leave them blank.
On the Main Configuration page, type in a name for your site, as well as your email address and a password to the Administrator area. Remember your password!

Be sure to install the sample data by clicking the Install Sample Data button.
When you receive a confirmation that the files were installed, then click the Next button.
If all goes well, you should see a Congratulations screen. But before you can view your site, you must delete the installation folder from your hard drive. It is located at
```
c:/xampp/htdocs/joomla/installation <-- delete this folder only!
```
After deleting your installation folder you can view your website's frontend by going to:
```
http://localhost/joomla
```
You can also log in to the backend as a Super Administrator by going to
```
http://localhost/joomla/administrator
```
Administrator login:

User Name: admin
Password: The password you chose during installation

Where to go from here

Complete documentation and discussion forum is available at www.joomla.org.