TechNote 0: Install Sequence for WordPress on XP Pro SP3 + References

Introduction (V1.1):

TechNote “Zero” is the preface post to an entire series of TechNotes (current count is 30+) on building a WordPress site on an XP Pro SP3 system before “shipping it out” to a Host Server.  This  series will be released over the next couple of weeks, one by one, as I “polish” them up.  If you subscribe to the Posts on this site you will receive notification of their release.

Trust me.  Building your WordPress blog-site at home first is the best way to do this; especially if you’ve never built one before.  You can keep all of your “errors” and each and every “oops” to yourself.  If this is the first time you’re building a blog-site you will have errors and oops’s.  This is called a learning curve.

This document lays out a “road map”, an index, of the initial documents I’ve written while building my site.  There will be other documents that follow the list below and I will try to remember to come back and update the list here.

Background:

One of my great joys in IT has been mentoring, sharing my experiences and best practices with others in my chosen industry.  And.  Over the years I have been keeping “notes” on what worked and what didn’t; even though I never had a vehicle to share these notes outside of my immediate environment.  Until now.

When I determined I was going to build a web-site/blog-site I instantly fell back on “old”, “hard won”, development “habits”, including this old, but still trusty, rule of mine:

“Design as a whole, build and test by layer.”

There is another option: throw everything into the pot and see what happens.  But that can be very frustrating, and time consuming, as you attempt to figure out what single configuration item (out of dozens if not hundreds) broke your site, how it broke it and why it broke it.  And, trust me, sooner or later something will break.

So, my recommended approach is:  take the time to develop an overall strategy (and design) so there is a plan and direction, and then build your new system layer by layer; carefully testing each one, each piece, before going on to the next.  If the new piece, the new layer, breaks something, figure out why or back it out.

Though it may seem pedantic at times, the TechNotes in this series are geared towards this approach.  They are a record of the exact approach and steps (right and wrong) I took in building:  www.fromtheranks.com.

Trademark Note:

The inclusion of screen shots in this TechNote series without a Trademark ^TM symbol by my “FromTheRanks” Blog-site Title and/or Site Logo does not imply these are not Trademarked.  They are. The screen shots are early in-development versions taken before the ^TM was added.

TechNote Usage Recommendations:

1. As I’ve learned, there is a LOT of information about WordPress and each WP Theme and a whole LOT of configuration options.  So much and so many of both that it would be easy to get lost in possibilities and never get a darned thing built.  As it is impossible to fix or change anything that does not exist, my first recommendation is to start with “the basics” and get a “basic” site up and running.  Then “fine tune”.  These TechNotes are geared towards that goal:  Basics First.  A variant of my rule above is:  STAY FOCUSED on the basics first!
2. I wrote these TechNotes in the order I did because it seemed the most logical “building block” approach.  There may be a better approach, a better order to do them in, but this worked.
3. When you read a TechNote, please read the entire TechNote, all the way through, first, before doing anything in that TechNote.  Why?
   • Because I wrote these TechNotes as I developed my site, in the exact sequence I did the development, I sometimes had to go back and “tweak” a setting.
   • Therefore, occasionally there may be one or more notes later in a TechNote that refined an earlier step (one which turned out to be a “blind alley”).  I tried to remember to go back and add a note that there was a correction but I left the text on the “blind alley” in place so you too can learn that it was in fact a “blind alley”.  For me, knowing that something “did not” work can be just as important as what did.
   • In short, my TechNotes include what did and did not work.  So read it all the way through first.
4. When you first open a configuration page, an option page, a utility, etc., “poke around” and gain some familiarity with it before making changes.  Make note of any “default” settings in case you have to reset something that “broke”.  Screen shots dumped into an MS Word document work great for this.
5. Do regular backups!  Backup your MySQL database regularly, preferably to a completely different drive.  Backup your entire “wp” folder regularly, preferably to a completely different drive.  Backup your system regularly!
   • I use Acronis’s True Image Home Backup software.  It works great.  In addition to doing true full backups that you can restore completely, you can do full image backups that you can “mount” as a drive so you can copy directly from it to another drive. And their support is excellent.  Here’s the link:  http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/.
   • It didn’t happen often, but once in a while a plugin or change would go “boom!” and I’d have to back-track.  Most times uninstalling the plugin or the change would fix the issue.  Once, however, I had to do a complete restore of everything to get back up and running.  Do Your Back Ups Regularly!
6. Finally, a “Note: …” in RED or anything in RED is especially important.

My Development Environment:

Prerequisites:

Reasonable experience and facility with computers and with software installation is required.  The patience to “work it through” until you are successful certainly doesn’t hurt either, as, despite the detailed steps in this series of TechNotes for building a development environment on XP Pro SP3, your environment (and software versions) will, in some way, be different and you will likely run into “moments” of frustration.

High Level Install Sequence:

The current (suggested) install sequence for setting up WordPress and a Theme on XP Pro SP3 is as follows.  There is a document for each one of these steps, as noted below:

1. MMC 3.0 – this should already be present.  But verify it per instructions in: TechNote: 1-WordPress Install – IIS 5-1-MMC 3-0 Install-Setup.
2. IIS 5.1 – this should already be on XP Pro SP3:
   • You cannot upgrade beyond IIS 5.1 on XP.  To move to a higher IIS version, you need to be on Vista or Server 2003 or higher.
   • IIS 5.1 can only “serve up” one web-site at a time.  And, you can only have up to 15 concurrent connections.  This is why IIS 5.1 will not be my final platform.  I am using it for development purposes only.  When ready for “prime time”, everything will move to a “real” server, i.e. a “host server” or “host”.
   • WordPress was initially designed to run on Apache (a different brand of web server).  However.  If your host server (the server you will move your code to so it can be accessed by the Internet) does not serve up Apache – which was my initial case/problem – then you must, and can, use IIS.   The initial problem with IIS is that there is almost zero documentation on using it with WordPress.  I’ve solved this for you.
   • If your initial host uses Apache you can move to it from IIS – I will have a TechNote on this, but it is not ready yet – I’m still writing it – so keep an eye out for it.
3. FileZilla 3.2.4.1 – you may need this to move files onto/off of your final host server.  Some hosts have their own file transfer tools but it certainly won’t hurt to have this on your home box.
4. MySQL 5.1.34 – this is the database server/engine that is used by WordPress, your Theme and various “plugins” (additions to WordPress) to store option settings, pages and posts:
   • MySQL Administrator, and
   • MySQL Query Browser
5. PHP 5.2.9.2 – aka Hypertext Preprocessor, an embedded scripting language that provides a suite of tools for building dynamic websites.  WordPress is built with PHP, as are most, many or all WP Themes.
6. WordPress 2.7.1 – this is the framework for building your blog style web-site, though you can do other “things” besides blogging.  As versions change I will try to update my TechNotes but, unless WP does a major overhaul the information in these TechNotes should still be generally valid.
   • Note:  WordPress has just come out with version 2.8.  I have not upgraded to it, yet, as there are a number of glitches with it and not all of the plugins that I use have upgraded their code to work with WP 2.8.
7. WordPress Theme:  I’m using Atahualpa 3.3.3.  Ditto on the changes in version numbers.

Master List of Install-Setup TechNotes:

[green = published on www.fromtheranks.com]

TechNote:  0-Install Sequence for WordPress on XP Pro + References

TechNote:  1-WordPress Install – IIS 5-1 MMC 3.0 Setup

TechNote:  2-WordPress Install – FileZilla 3-2-4-1 Setup

TechNote:  3-WordPress Install – MySQL Server 5-1-x Setup

TechNote:  4-WordPress Install – MySQL Admin-Workbench Setup

TechNote:  5a-WordPress Install – PHP 5-2-x Setup

TechNote:  5b-WordPress Install – IIS 5-1 PHP 5-2-x phpinfo Tests

TechNote:  6-WordPress Install – IIS 5-1 Adding A Virtual Directory Setup

TechNote:  7-WordPress Install – MySQL Database And User Setup

TechNote:  8-WordPress Install – WordPress 2-7-1 Setup-Part 1

TechNote:  9-WordPress Install – WordPress 2-7-1 Setup-Part 2

TechNote:  10-WordPress Install – Atahualpa Template Setup

TechNote:  11-WordPress-Atahualpa – Configuring Basic Components

TechNote:  12-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Pages

TechNote:  13-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Images – To Page Or Post

TechNote:  14-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Images – Advanced Settings

TechNote:  15-WordPress-Atahualpa – Splitting A Blog Page (and Post)

TechNote:  16-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Categories

TechNote:  17-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Tags

TechNote:  18-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Posts-Part 1

TechNote:  19-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Posts-Part 2

TechNote:  20-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Posts-Part 3

TechNote:  21-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up An Archive Page

TechNote:  22-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up A Sitemap Page

TechNote:  23-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up A Tag Cloud Page

TechNote:  24-WordPress-Atahualpa – Styling Colors Lines Text

TechNote:  25-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 1  (Akisment, Breadcrumb NavXT, LMB Box Comment Quicktags)

TechNote:  26-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 2  (Sociable, SimpleModal Contact Form)

TechNote:  27-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 3  (Customize Meta Widget, Peter’s Login Direct, WP Customized Login)

TechNote:  28-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 4  (FeedBurner FeedSmith, Headspace2)

TechNote:  29-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 5  (Tinymce Advanced [for editor], Hackadelic Table Of Contents Box)

TechNote:  30-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Plugins-Part 6  (WP-PageNavi, Revision Control )

TechNote:  31-WordPress-Atahualpa – Adding Trademarks And CC License

These TechNotes are In Progress and scheduled for future release:

TechNote:  XX-WordPress-Atahualpa – Setting Up Permalinks

TechNote:  XX-WordPress-Atahualpa – Host Install And Checklist

Reference Links:

There is absolutely no way that I could have built my web-site/blog-site without standing on the shoulders of those who have come before.  I freely admit to studying a LOT of on-line installation manuals, reading a LOT of articles on a wide range of web sites, digging through a LOT of on-line forums … and then taking the information (which most often related to other development environments) and piecing it together to create a from-scratch development environment on my XP Pro SP3 system.  Once I had the basic construct working, I then spent more time on the WordPress and Atahualpa Theme sites … mostly in their Forums / Support pages.

As much as possible I kept track of the various links and web-sites I used and while I’ve quoted and referred to some of them directly in the TechNotes, I have listed all of them I can remember below for your easier reference: (note:  versions and URLs are subject to change).

Primary Websites:

Here are the primary links (all of these are also listed on my Techie Blogroll):

1. WordPress Download:  http://wordpress.org/development/
2. WordPress Documentation:  http://codex.wordpress.org/
3. WordPress Plugins:  http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
4. Atahualpa Theme Download:  http://wordpress.bytesforall.com/?p=71 (3.3.4 upgrade expected soon)
5. Atahualpa Theme Forum:  http://forum.bytesforall.com/
6. IIS Reference:  http://www.iis-aid.com/
7. MySQL Download:  http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/
8. MySQL Documentation:  http://dev.mysql.com/doc/
9. PHP Download:  http://www.php.net/downloads.php
10. PHP Documentation:  http://www.php.net/docs.php
11. FileZilla Download:  http://filezilla-project.org/download.php
12. FileZilla Documentation:  http://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Documentation

Reference Websites:

Note:  (1) most of the WP specific references below are talking about sites that were built using the Apache web server, not IIS; if they are referring to .htacess, this is definitely Apache as this file does not exist in the IIS world.  (2) They are all (unless I missed one) referring to sites built on platforms other than XP Pro (example Server 2003).  You will run into “issues” if you try to use their instructions exactly.  With that said, there is valuable information on these sites and I owe them a debt of gratitude:

• “Blogging Tips …” by Lorelle VanFossen: http://www.cameraontheroad.com/?p=1074
• Categories vs Tags: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2005/09/09/categories-versus-tags-whats-the-difference-and-which-one/
• Install WP on Windows (Series): http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2007/12/30/install-wordpress-locally-1-of-2/
• Install WP on Windows (Series): http://dpotter.net/Technical/2009/03/installing-mysql-on-windows/
• Install WP on Windows: http://urbangiraffe.com/2005/05/22/installing-wordpress-on-your-own-windows-computer/
• Install WP on Windows: http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/06/installing-wordpress-locally-under.html
• Learn SEO – SEO Basics: http://www.hybrid6.com/webgeek/2007/06/learn-seo-basic-seo-training.php
• SEO Developer Cheat Sheet: http://www.seomoz.org/user_files/SEO_Web_Developer_Cheat_Sheet.pdf
• Guide To Higher SEO Rankings: http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/#permalinks
• HTML Color Codes: http://html-color-codes.info/
• CSS Color Chart: http://www.somacon.com/p142.php
• Hex Hub Color Charts: http://www.december.com/html/spec/color3.html
• XAMPP (Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl) for WordPress: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
• CSS, HTML, XML, etc. References (used often!): http://www.w3schools.com/
• PHP Manual (used often!): http://us3.php.net/manual/en/index.php
• Trademarks Info: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

Creative Commons License Information:

Creative Commons Copyright License:

All Posts And Pages by DP Harshman are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.fromtheranks.com.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Next Step:

The first next step in this installation sequence is to verify and/or update your version of IIS and MMC.  See:  TechNote: 1-WordPress Install – IIS 5-1 MMC 3.0 Setup.

Note:  If you are doing your WordPress development on something besides XP Pro SP3  (such as Vista, Server 2003, 2007 or 2008) the steps you take will vary somewhat by platform from those documented in this series.  With that said, there is still valuable information and tips in these WordPress TechNotes.

DP Harshman

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