Install WordPress on a Local Web Server Using MAMP
MAMP is a web server environment and it stands for Macintosh, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Anyone who works as a web designer or developer knows the importance of being able to run dynamic website content on your local machine for testing and development purposes. MAMP makes the installation of a local web server a simple and quick process.
1. Download the disk image and install MAMP
Depending on what you want to do with a local web server, you have two options to choose from. Either downloading the standard version or PRO version. As with any commercially available software, MAMP PRO version offers a set of features best suited for experienced users. It is designed for professional web developers and programmers, but since we are not going to do anything but installing WordPress for local development, standard version is all that’s needed.
After you have downloaded the installation package, simply unzip it and run the installer. Installation is super easy and won’t take longer than a few minutes. After installation has completed, MAMP can be found into your Applications folder.
2. Launch MAMP
Upon launching MAMP, a very simple window will open featuring status indicators that tells you whether the server is running or not. Also, a few buttons on the right side will come in handy when you want to quickly open the start page, start or stop the server and edit preferences.
It is necessary to check if Apache server and MySQL server status buttons are both green to ensure everything is working as it should. However, if they are not, and nothing you try works out, you should go to the support forums and seek help. The community is helpful and there are people who probably already had the same problem with MAMP as you have, so there should be no problem finding a solution.
3. Set default Apache and MySQL ports
By default, MAMP uses ports 8888 and 8889 for Apache and MySQL, respectively. There is nothing wrong with that, but instead of typing localhost/8888 every time you request a page from local server, typing just localhost/ would be much less time-consuming. To do this, simply click on “Set to default Apache and MySQL ports” to make the life a little bit easier.
4. Create a new database from phpMyAdmin
From the MAMP panel, click on “Open start page” and then navigate to phpMyAdmin. The only thing you need to do here is to create a database for your WordPress installation. To do it, simply give it a name and click Create. For this tutorial I gave it a name wp_test.
5. Download WordPress
Now you should download the latest WordPress version. After that, navigate to “htdocs” (the document root set at the Preferences -> Apache) folder and paste in the “wordpress” folder from the archive you just downloaded.
6. Configure wp-config.php
You’re almost there! This step involves some editing, therefore you’ll need to open up wp-config-sample.php in “wordpress” folder with your favorite text editor and change the following:
- Database Name – from “wordpress” to “wp_test”
- User Name – from “username” to “root”
- Password – from “password” to “root”
Make sure that you save the edited file as wp-config.php or otherwise nothing will work.
7. Run WordPress installation
Everything seems to be in place and now comes the step of actually running the WordPress installation. Simply go to localhost from your browser and select “wordpress” directory. A new window will open where you’ll need to enter all fields and then click to “Install WordPress”. You can skip Privacy option since local web servers have nothing to do with search engines. Finally, log into WordPress by entering your username and password. If you have done everything right, you have successfully installed and configured WordPress for local testing and development purposes.
