[This post is part of the WordPress Guide for Beginners – Step by Step Tutorials]

WordPress is by far the most popular Blogging Platform. Still new bloggers or Blogspot users often find WordPress as an Alien Platform because they are not familiar with it. In order to get acquainted with WordPress you can simply begin by creating a free account on WordPress.com or you can install WordPress on your PC to test it locally. Advantages of installing WordPress locally :

• Get familiar with WordPress
• Get familiar with database
• Make changes locally, then on your live blog
• Local test platform.

To get started with Your local WordPress installation you will need a software named XAMPP. And the latest release of WordPress.

Install WordPress Locally using XAMPP

1. Install XAMPP

2. Download and Extract wordpress.zip. Copy all extracted files to C:xampphtdocswordpress

3. Start XAMPP and start all services

4. Open http://localhost/

5.  Click on phpmyadmin to create a database for your WordPress.

6. Go to http://localhost/wordpress and click “Create a Configuration File”.

7.  Now Enter the details as alluded below.

• Database name : Database name you have created (wordpress)
• Username : root
• Password : Leave it blank
• Database host : Keep it default (localhost)
• Table prefix : Keep it default (wp_)

8. Click on “Submit”. On the next screen click on “Run the install”.

9. Now add your Site Title, Username, Password, Email. The privacy option won’t matter as you are working on localhost.

10. On the next screen click on “Login”. Login with the username ‘admin’ and the password you have chosen.

11. Now you will be taken to your Dashboard.

Whoa! You have just installed WordPress on your local host. Now upload themes and plugins. Try customizations as much as possible. Do everything you need. Test your plugins or themes locally before using them on your live blog.  If you found this post helpful share it with your friends. Don’t forget to Subscribe to RSS feed for updates.