How to install Joomla on WAMP server

This tutorial will teach you how to install a fresh copy of joomla into your wamp server. If you are a beginner to joomla, it is a content management system(CMS) that you can use to maintain a web site of your own. It is easier to test our site in local machine before it is hosted in the internet. So we use WAMP server(it works as a actual server, if you are linux user you can use LAMP)

If you are not familiar with WAMP or LAMP please refer these before continue.
Learn more about WAMP
How to install lamp on linux

What you need before start

• WAMP server must be installed on your pc
• check whether it is working or not by typing "localhost" on your browser, it will give you something like this.

if you get a browser window like above, you're ready to go. Otherwise please refer to your wamp installation tutorial again. you can use this one as well. Click here

Then follow these steps carefully.

Step 1

Download Joomla installation files from here

Joomla 3.0 is the newer version of Joomla( but here I'm using version 2.5.8)

You will get a zip file and extract it to wherever you want.

Step 2

Open your www folder, usualy this is located in C://wamp folder. 

www folder is the location we put all of our website files. so copy and paste your previously extracted joomla folder to the www folder. Let's name that folder as "My Site"

Step 3

Now we want to create a database for our web site. so open your browser and go to "localhost" by simply typing "localhost" on your browser address bar.

Then you will be directed to wamp server home page. Click on "phpmyadmin"

At there you can create a database for your web site. (I'm not going to describe it here)

Name your database as 'joomla' (you can use your own name)

Step 4

Locate your browser to "localhost".

At there you can see your joomla folder under My Projects, ( we named it as "My Site")

Click on the folder "My Site"

You will see a page like this.

You can select your preferred language for your installation. I leave it as English. Then click next.(upper right corner)

Then you will see the pre installation check window. 

Here you must see all the settings as 'green' except display errors and output buffering... you can switch off those two by simply using following steps. but it is not mandatory. 

Click on your wamp icon in the taskbar( lower right corner). select php> php settings

then deselect display errors and output buffering

now come back to your browser window and click "check again". now you must see all the things in green. if not please check your php settings and other relevant settings.

Click next

you will see the licence agreement. Read it and click next

Step 5

This is a critical part. now you can see the database configuration window. here we are introducing our previously created database to the joomla installation. 

select database type as "mysql"

host name is 'localhost'

then enter your mysql username and password, usually username is root and password is empty. But if you have changed them before you have to enter those changed values.

Enter the database name as 'joomla' ( you have to enter the database name as we created in the step 3)

leave other settings as it is.. Then click next

Step 6

now you are asked to create a FTP account. FTP account simply use to transfer files to your website. But here we don't need a ftp account just keep it as it is and click next.

Step 7

now you are almost done. Enter a site name. Then enter valid email address. Admin username and password. This user name and password is used to log into the back-end of your web site. all the configuration is done through this account. Just remember what you enter here.Click next

Step 8

In this window click "Remove installation folder" button. It will simply removes files which are used to install joomla on your server. Now you are done.

You can check your site by clicking "site" button on top right corner. You can visit your joomla administrator page by clicking "Administrator" button.