Installing Joomla! Is a very simple process. Beginners want to explore Joomla! And its components, practise and follow a trial & error methodology to develop their dream application. Through Localhost, anyone can install Joomla! Locally into their PC without spending more time and a single penny.
This is a step by step Installation guide to Download & Install Joomla! In the local Windows PC using XAMPP Localhost. We advise you to do the hands-on while reading this article as a result at the time of complete reading this blog, Joomla! Will start running on your Computer.
Why Joomla!?
Among multiple Content Management systems available, Joomla! Has its very unique and advanced features such as Higher flexibility, Open Source And free, Search Engine Ready, Advanced security, Translation Ready to support Multiple Languages, Strong community of developers.
How to install Joomla?
Go to Joomla Offcial website where you could find a detailed description about Joomla! There is a download section for Joomla! In the Homepage. Click on that section.
In the download page, you would find two different versions of files available to download. One is the Full package version and the other is the upgrade package version. Beginners and new users have to download the full package version available in the left side of the page as below.
How to Install XAMPP in Windows
Go to the website named apachefriends. There you find XAMPP available for different OS versions. Click on XAMPP for Windows option and to download the file on your local PC.
Click on the downloaded installer application file and a separate XAMPP Setup window will open. Select NEXT option to proceed with the installation process.
In the next window, a list of components that can be installed inside the XAMPP software will be shown. Select the components that we have highlighted to run Joomla!
After selecting the components, select NEXT option to proceed further.
In the next window, the installer asks for the target location in the local PC. In Windows, it is advised to install XAMPP in the C-drive.
On the next page, select your preferred language as XAMPP for Windows supports two languages English and Deutsch. We are selecting ENGLISH as the operating language for this tutorial.
After successful selection of the language, click on next and you will find XAMPP file start installing into your local computer and make sure this page arrives.
Complete the installation by selecting the Finish button. Once the installation is completed, the XAMPP control panel will pop up. You can access the control panel of XAMPP anytime using the system tray and the system search option.
In the control panel of XAMPP, Start button to run the applications, Config button to modify the configuration of each application will be available and this control panel also provides a shell scripting option in it. Click on the Start button near Apache and MySQL application in the Control panel and you can track the green running status near to it once the application starts running.
You can now access the admin panel in your browser. Open a new browser session and Type “http://localhost/dashboard/” in a new tab. If the XAMPP installation is successful, you will find the following admin page visible in the browser.
How to Install Joomla! In the XAMPP Localhost
After successful installation of XAMPP, if you have followed all the steps we mentioned accurately, you can find a file called “HTDOCS” in the following mentioned path. Go to C:\xampp\htdocs and create a new folder and name is related to the reason for this download. We are naming the folder as testsite and we copied all the extracted files of Joomla_3.9.19-Stable-Full_Package.zip into this folder.
How to create a Database locally for Joomla!
Click on the Admin button near the MySQL application in the XAMPP control panel.
You can find an option named Database in the top left page in the phpMyAdmin page opened in a new page or in a browser. Click on the Database menu.
Create a new database by entering the desired name of the database in the create database tab. Select the type of Database in the next tab. After successfully selecting the database type, click on the create button. For better understanding, we are creating a database with name testsite
How to access Joomla! In your Localhost
Open a new browser session. Make sure your Apache & MySQL are up and running. Type “localhost/testsite” and the Joomla! Installation page will be loaded. The general syntax to access the Joomla! Installation page is “localhost/folder_name (where Joomla! Files resides)”
Also, you can access Joomla! Installation page by using the following URL syntax “localhost/Folder_NAME/installation/index.php”
Joomla! The installation process is very simple and the entire procedure contains 3 Main pages named configuration page, Database page, and Overview page, where you have to fill out all the necessary information. Once to move to the next page, it is still possible to come back to the previous page and perform modifications.
You can select your comfortable language on the top of the 1st Installation page The First page has been divided into 2 columns under the Main configuration title. Joomla! Supports multiple languages. In the left column, you have to provide the site name and the purpose of the site you are going to create locally using Joomla!
In Joomla! Superuser has the ultimate control over the site. Everything that has to happen on the site should be done only with the site’s superuser approval. In the right column, you have to fill the valid mail id, Superuser’s username and password details and you need not change the Site offline details. Once you filled all the details, click on the NEXT button.
Now In the Database configuration page, you have to fill all the details of the database that we have already created in the XAMPP Localhost. Select the Database type at first. Here we are selecting MySQLi, Let the hostname be the “hostname” itself. Now setup and username and password for the database that we created for Joomla! Enter the name of the Database as testsite in the Database Name tab. The table prefix is system generated and it is possible to change the table prefix but we are not changing it to avoid confusion and always select Backup option for safety purposes.
In the Overview page, Under Finalisation Joomla! Ask you the nature of the site and if your site fits into any of the four types of site, Joomla! Automatically put the Sample data where you can make modifications and it will be useful for learning purposes. We are selecting the category as NONE.
Also, there will be an overview of Main Configuration, Database Configuration, Pre-Installation check, Recommended Settings displayed in this page for you to double-check whether you have met all the requirements to install Joomla! Into your Local system. If every configuration is met, you can proceed with the installation of Joomla! By selecting the “Install” button on the top-right corner.
You can now see the Joomla! Start installing on your local Windows PC.
After successful installation, you will be redirected to this page. In this page, there will be instructions about multilingual support provided by Joomla! And the ways to access it. Also in the bottom, you would find the “Remove installation Folder” button as shown in the below image. Select the button to remove the unnecessary files created in your local system while installing Joomla! Locally.
In the next page, the email and the username details of the administrator details will be visible for your future access along with the notification about the successful installation of Joomla! And the removal of the Installation folder. Access your site, by selection the Administrator button in the bottom left of the page.
You will be redirected to the Joomla! Login page. Enter your valid credentials and you will be directed to the backend of the site. Thrilled to know how it looks?
Bravo, Now Joomla! Is installed successfully in your local Windows PC and you have created a site using it. You can pat yourself for learning this today.
This is the control panel of Joomla! Which is the backend admin dashboard of the site. From this control panel, you can control every component of the site with ease and comfort. We wish you a Happy Joomla! Experience!
