How to Create a WordPress Website on Windows Server

This tutorial will teach you how to install and configure a fully featured and functional WordPress web site on Microsoft Windows Server. You will need to have some basic computer knowledge and intermediate Windows Server skills to follow this tutorial. Make sure you have Microsoft Office on your computer before you start working on this tutorial.

Step 1. Install WordPress on a Separate Partition

You will start by installing WordPress on a separate partition or device. This will prevent any problems with the installation process if you have a hardware or software failure. The installer will automatically install WordPress in a folder called “wp” inside of your Windows system drive. You can also choose to install WordPress in a separate directory on your hard drive if you want.

Step 2. Configure the Database and Web Servers

Once WordPress is installed, you will need to configure the database and web servers. You can do this by entering the following into the “Windows Command Prompt” (Start, search, type “cmd”, press “Windows key + R”):

phpMyAdmin\mmc

This will open the MySQL GUI interface, which is the graphical user interface that you will use to manage your database instead of the command line. Navigate to the section of the interface that says “Databases” and click the button next to “CREATE NEW DATABASE.”

Give the database a name (eg: WordPress) and select the local device (eg: C:\\windows\\) as the location where the database should be installed. After you click “Create,” you will see a confirmation window.

Step 3. Install WordPress Admin Panel

The next step is to install the WordPress administration panel. This is a special tool built into WordPress that allows you to easily manage your entire site. To do this, enter the following into the “Command Prompt” again:

phpMyAdmin\mmc

This will open the MySQL GUI interface again, but this time select the wordpress database you just created in the previous step.

From the Tools menu at the top of the interface, click the button that says “Installed Plugins.”

You will now see a list of all the plugins that are installed on your WordPress site. Locate the one that is called “Backup” and click the button next to it. This will open a menu with various options for you to choose from. Select the “Scheduled Backups” option and click the button.

Backup\restore\schedule

This will bring you to a screen that you can configure to set the schedule and frequency of your backups. Make sure to click the “Schedule button” when you are finished editing.

Step 4. Install WordPress Theme

The last step before you can start using your new WordPress website is to install a WordPress theme. A theme is a style or design template that you can apply to your site. The most popular themes are free and can be downloaded from the WordPress repository. To do this, enter the following into the “Command Prompt” again:

phpMyAdmin\mmc

This will open the WordPress GUI interface. Under the Themes section, click the button that says “Add New.”

Type “TwentyFourteen” (or the name of your favorite theme) into the text field and press “Enter.”

You will now see a list of all the available themes that WordPress can install on your site. You can either click the “Install” button next to the theme you want to use or you can click the “Preview” button and see a preview of the theme in a new window.

Step 5. Test Your New WordPress Website

The final step before you can launch your new WordPress website is to test it out. To do this, go to the WordPress dashboard that you created in the previous step. You will see a “Dashboard” area at the top of the page with various widgets and links to other areas of the site. Click on the “Settings” tab located to the right of the Dashboard area.

You will now see a list of all the settings that you can configure for your site. Click on the “General” option to bring you to the settings page for that option.

You can configure several things from this page including the URL address for your site (the web address or “URL” that others will visit when they come to your site), the theme that you are using (the page builder will try to match the theme you choose in the previous step), the language of the site (if you are using a free WordPress license, you will not be able to change this language setting once you launch your site).

That’s it!

That is all there is to it! You have just installed and configured a fully featured and functional WordPress website on your Windows computer. You can now start using your new website and leave the rest to WordPress.

If you run into any problems, you can always return to this tutorial and refer to the documentation that came with WordPress.