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WordPress Lesson 1 – Setting Up a Development Environment

Публикувано на 24.09.2022
WordPress Lesson 1 – Setting Up a Development Environment

Lesson Goal

The goal of this lesson is to give students the basic knowledge needed to develop an independent website using one of the most popular platforms — WordPress.
We’ll install several essential applications: PHP, Apache server, MySQL database, and a text editor.
This example is suitable for Windows 10, but it can also work on Windows 7, 8, and newer versions.

Installing XAMPP

We’ll use XAMPP, which bundles all required components in one package.
It saves time and simplifies the setup process.

  1. Visit apachefriends.org

  2. Select XAMPP for Windows

  3. For this example, we’ll use version 7.4.29 (older systems may need an earlier version)

Run the installer as administrator (Right-click → Run as Administrator).
During installation, leave only the required components checked (Apache, MySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin).

XAMPP Control Panel with Apache and MySQL running (green indicators)

XAMPP Control Panel with Apache and MySQL running (green indicators)

After the installation, open XAMPP Control Panel and start Apache and MySQL.
If configured correctly, both services should show as active (green status).

Test your setup:

  • Visit http://localhost/ — you should see the XAMPP welcome page

  • Visit http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ — this opens phpMyAdmin

Downloading and Installing WordPress

There are two main WordPress versions:

  • wordpress.com — a hosted online blogging platform with limited customization

  • wordpress.org — the full version for local or self-hosted development (the one we’ll use)

  1. Download WordPress from wordpress.org/download

  2. Extract its contents into C:\xampp\htdocs\

  3. Rename the folder from wordpress to your project name, e.g. picaria.com

  4. Open http://localhost/picaria.com/ in your browser

  5. Select Bulgarian (or English) and continue with the setup

📸 Image placeholder: WordPress language selection screen during installation

Creating a Database

  1. Open http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

  2. Go to Databases

  3. Create a new database called wp_picaria with collation utf8mb4_general_ci

📸 Image placeholder: phpMyAdmin – creating the database wp_picaria

Then return to the WordPress setup screen and click “Let’s go!”
Fill out the database connection form:

  • Database name: wp_picaria

  • Username: root

  • Password: leave blank

WordPress database connection form

WordPress database connection form

If the details are correct, WordPress will proceed to the next step — creating the administrator account.

Initial Setup

Enter the site title, username, and password.
These credentials will be used to access the admin panel at http://localhost/picaria.com/wp-admin.

After logging in successfully, your WordPress site is now running locally.

What is WordPress

WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System) — a platform that allows you to manage website content easily.
Its main advantages include:

  • Open source — continuously improved by developers worldwide

  • Suitable for programmers, designers, and non-technical users alike

  • Huge library of free and paid themes and plugins

  • Ability to create and sell your own plugins or themes

  • Easy to build a blog or e-commerce site in just a few hours

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to install XAMPP, create a database, and set up a local WordPress environment.
This foundation will help us in the next lessons, where we’ll create a custom theme and explore the WordPress file structure in detail.

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