Installing Wordpress Locally Using MAMP
Filed Under: Tutorials
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First of all if you have no idea what I’m even talking about. MAMP is an application that installs Apache, MySQL, and PHP on your Mac. This turns your computer into a server capable of running scripts locally. Macs actually come with most of this pre-installed, but the setup for it is a bit more complicated and using MAMP is far easier. Secondly this tutorial assumes you are using OS 10.4 Tiger, because we rely on a widget to get things rolling. If you are using OS 10.3 Panther you should still be able to follow along.
To start we need to go download the MAMP installer. It’s just like installing any other program on a Mac.
After installation go to your Applications folder and locate MAMP. In the MAMP folder you should see a black icon for installing the widget. Click the widget installer and OS X will ask you if you want to keep it, click keep. Then activate your dashboard by hitting the f12 key and find the widget.
Edit: For those of you not using OS 10.4, you can click on the MAMP application icon in the MAMP folder to get access to the start page and server on/off buttons.
You are going to do two things here. First click the i button on the bottom of the widget to flip it over (this button isn’t visible until you mouse over) and select php 4 on the back. Click done, which takes you back to the front and then click stop servers. When the progress wheel stops click start servers. Once they start, click Open Start Page. The page that pops up can cause your eyes to glass over if you don’t know what you are looking at, but this page contains the info we need to install Wordpress.
Write down the host, user, and password which should be localhost, root, and root. However look at the example they provide and you will notice they enter localhost:8889 which will be important later when we install Wordpress. Click on the phpMyAdmin link. You need to add a new database for Wordpress to connect to. To make things easier we will create a new database named wordpress, however you can call it anything you want. Then click create. That’s it. Now we need to get Wordpress.
Go and download Wordpress. Once it’s done move the wordpress folder to the htdocs folder which is in the MAMP folder where we found the widget earlier. Now if you open the readme.html file in the wordpress folder you will get some instructions that I’m about to run you through.
Since I know all of you have the program TextEdit that’s what we are going to use for this next step (Edit: If you do use TextEdit make sure it’s set to plain text and not rich text under preferences>format). Locate the wp-config-sample.php file in the Wordpress folder and open with TextEdit. We need to modify this file. You need to change the info in this file to the same as what we found on the MAMP start page. Make sure the DB_NAME is wordpress (or whatever you named your DB in the phpMyAdmin panel), Change the DB_USER to ‘root’, DB_PASSWORD to ‘root’, and the DB_HOST to localhost:8889. Save this file as wp-config.php.
Next you need to open http://localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php. Once it’s done you will be given a username and password. Write these down because you will need them to get in to the admin account. Now if you navigate to http://localhost:8888/wordpress/ you should see your default installation of Wordpress.
Now you can work on your blog or develop templates on your local machine without changing your online blog. This also allows you to work on your blog development without an internet connection. For some other tips on how to use MAMP check out How do you use MAMP?.
I hope this got you up and running in 15 minutes like I promised when we started. Now that you are up and running, you will want to select a great looking theme for your blog. Have a look at these 10 beautiful WordPress themes. Good Luck!
Video Tutorial
I’ve added a MAMP video tutorial that gives an advanced peek at MAMP.
FAQ
1. Can I use MAMP to host my web site for other people to see?
-Yes, but not really. MAMP is more like a testing ground to run server scripts on your local computer. This allows you to develop themes, learn more about web based applications and test before you go live. However, if you are looking for a host to biuld a site online I recommend using Bluehost or signing up for a free Wordpress blog at Wordpress.com.
2. I can’t open the start page from the widget.
-This is a known problem and I contacted the developers about it. You can open the start page from the MAMP application, then bookmark it so you can return to it. The start page address is http://localhost:8888/MAMP/?language=English
Edit: Possible fix.
3. When you say I need to “open http://localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php” do you mean open it in a browser?
-Everything you run in MAMP should start http://localhost:8888/ this is sort of like www, then you’ll add the name of the folder you are trying to access in the htdocs folder. So it will be http://localhost:8888/wordpress. Everything you add after that will take you to a different file in the wordpress folder. By opening the http://localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php you set the connection between the database (mysql) and the Wordpress site (php). /wp-admin/install.php is just shorthand.
4. I used to be able to use MAMP, but now I get an unable to connect or failed to open page error when I go to my MAMP sites.
-Check the widget or the MAMP application and make sure the servers are running. There should be green lights to indicate that they are on.
Popularity: 100% [?]
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using TextEdit to edit the wp-config.php file, as editing the plain text file with a rich text editor could lead to problems later on. If you do want to use TextEdit to edit any of WordPress’s .php files, please make sure that you select “Plain Text” under the “Format” preference for TextEdit before opening the file. Alternatively, you could use a third-party plain text editor, like SubEthaEdit or Smultron, to edit WordPress’s .php files.
Thanks James, I’ll make a note in the tutorial.
Text Wrangler is free and does text nicely.
fantastic! excellent and simple walk-thru.
Great walkthrough.
Good tutorial, just stuck on this part:
“Next you need to run /wp-admin/install.php and when it is done you will be given a name and password. Write these down because you will need them to get in to the admin account. Now if you navigate to http://localhost:8888/wordpress/ you should see a default installation of Wordpress.
You can now work on your blog or develop templates on your local machine without changing your online blog. This also allows you to work on your blog development without an internet connection. I hope this got you up and running in 15 minutes like I promised when we started. If you have any questions or comments please post them.”
Could you explain?
Thanks
Not sure what you are stuck on. If you could be more specific, I might be able to point you in the right direction. If you click the links they should open the files you need. If they don’t just open the file /wp-admin/install.php in your browser and the rest should be self explanatory.
Will this work even if I am not using Tiger? Am using panther, I will retry the tutorial.
Hey I’ve got it working, I have successfully logged in and am now editing my blog.
My question is how to change themes and how to save the blog to a domain that I have?
Your best bet would be to go to http://www.wordpress.org and click on support. They have a codex and lots of forum support for new wordpress users. If you Google wordpress + whatever you are looking for (like themes) you’ll find some great results. I’m glad you got it working and Good Luck.
Thanks, Mike
This is a great tutorial.
An excellent tutorial on installing php/apache/mysql on your Mac.
I only wish I had found this a year or two ago it would have saved me some real heart ache.
Its a lot easier than using other software packages that are out there.
Thus far, I think it’s a great tutorial. My only problem is that once I start the servers it won’t open the start page no matter what I do. Is there any other way to get that page to open up, or any explanation you might have for why my computer’s such an ass?
Again, thanks.
Try to restart your computer and then restart the servers and see if that works.
Hi.
I am trying MAMP under 10.3.9. I can get the servers to start, but clicking on open start page gives me “Error: Could not connect to MySQL server!”. I know apache is going because I put a plain html file in the htdocs folder.
Any ideas? Your tutorial is interesting but it seems to focus on widgets which is 10.4 only?
TIA
BP
further to my previous post, I think I might be missing the mysql.sock file from the mysql tmp folder - if I run the command “/Applications/MAMP/bin/mysql4/bin/mysql -u root” I get “ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/Applications/MAMP/tmp/mysql/mysql.sock’ (2)”
frustrating!
Hi,
I got the same problem as Nodda. I cant get the start page to load. Maybe I screw up some configuration when I tried to install wordpress from this http://allforces.com/2005/08/25/wordpress-on-mac-install/ .
Is there a way I can reset to the default settings?
Your best bet would be to redownload a fresh version of everything and start over after restarting your computer. I’ve never had the problem so I don’t know how to resolve it. The best part about MAMP is that it is like any other application. Delete it and you can start fresh, you’re not messing with any root level files.
Michael
I thought you(and other people reading this) might be interested in the tutorial in the Textpattern Wiki.
http://textpattern.net/wiki/index.php?title=Using_MAMP_%28Macintosh-Apache-MySQL-PHP%29_for_Macintosh
Does MAMP handle clean-URLs with WordPress? It was certainly an issue with the previous version and I haven’t yet been able to get them to work with the current version.
I seem to be having the same problem as Eddie and Nodda. Has anyone found a solution other than reinstalling? I tried to reinstsall and I still don’t get the start page.
Ah! got it…
http://localhost:8888/MAMP/?language
just copy and paste that if you’re having the start page problem
God.
So close. When I go to install wordpress I just get a bunch of code that’s not a webpage.
When I open the file in Flock I get mostly code and a little bit of page….
Same with firefox.
Any clue what to do?
When I click on your link /wp-admin/install.php I get this message on my broser: “Error establishing a database connection”. When you say “root” you mean to write “root” or the user name I have set in my own powerbook? or the username I set for my blog on wordpress.org??? I don’t get it! Thanks
guys, I got the start page to load. But not from the widget. I dragged the Mamp program to dock and loaded the start page from there.
Any idea why the widget doesnt work?
never used mamp before. it’s fantastic and so is this tute!
love your work!
It took me close to an hour to get it up and running. Everything seems fine so far.
It’s great that you went through the trouble to supply us newbees with the info that we need in order to start our own blogs.
Thanks and keep up the good work.
Fantastic! It took me four minutes to get all three of my WordPress test sites up and running. Thanks very much for taking the time to write this useful step-by-step!
When you say I need to “run /wp-admin/install.php” do you mean open it in a browser? I am just a bit stuck here. I can’t drag the file into my browser to open it. It wont work. So how do I run it?
If you want MAMP to provide clean-URL’s check out…
http://www.andrewescobar.com/archive/2005/05/17/fix-wordpress-permalinks-with-mamp/
Sara,
You should be able to just click that link, however if you enter localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php that should do the trick.
Good Luck,
Just as a side note, I have opened it through the local url on my machine and it says it cannot be found. It is clearly in the directory. Thanks for your help.
The link isn’t working for me and when I put in “localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php” in the browser I am getting a message saying “the connection was refused when attempting to contact localhost:8888.
Did you start the server using the widget?
What most people are missing when they want to run /wp-admin/install.php, is that they have not copied the wordpress file in the Applications/MAP/htdocs directory.
correction on my post of january 13th:
should read: ….copied the wordpress folder in the Applications/MAMP/htdocs directory.
unreal. this worked awesome and i was up and running fast.
the one thing that i found is that once you are on the start page annd are ready to install wordpress, make use this link- localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
i was trying to open the file with the browser and just got a bunch of junk. once i pasted that link into the browser, it installed.
thanks for the help! can’t wait to start theme testing.
Help Please!
I’m still on Mac OSX 10.2.8. I downloaded MAMP, but there are just a couple folders, no widgets. Does this not work for older OSX?
If not, can someone help me with getting WordPress installed: I’ve got it downloaded, put it in Applications, but that’s not enough, and I’m so inept at computer language, that I can’t get any further with the WP download instructions. Grateful for all help.
Dear Michael
Thank you for the timely blog explaining how to install WordPress locally using MAMP.
All done.
And thank you to Jared :: post item 21. for the ‘heads-up’ on the URI address to enter into your chosen browser. Previously we could not get any result from the MAMP
widget and ‘Open start page’ button .. no matter how many times we clicked the sucker. Yet everything else about the MAMP widget operates 100%. And thank you to Jay :: post item 40. for the ‘heads-up’ on the subsequent browser address line to enter to have WordPress install open. Encountered a couple of moments with Safari on OS X where Safari doesn’t always pick up all of the images for the theme previewing (from the theme’ images folder) and other times displayed visual mis-formatting from an established theme. Few reload clicks usually returned the theme fully. However .. without Firefox .. things could have come unstuck. Firefox performs flawlessly and also displays the WordPress included (tiny) html editor in WordPress. Safari does not.
[ Safari 2.0.1 doesn't display the available html editor at google mail for gmail accounts ].
Firefox confirmed that Safari is the occasional delinquent offender and not WordPress.
Wrapping up :: Tiger 10.4.3 | MAMP 1.1.1 | Safari 2.02 | Firefox 1.5 :: Well done - done well.
warmest regards
Stuart .
Very good tutorial! I’ve followed the instructions but what I’m trying to do is to serve a WP blog out to the outside world. In following the instructions, everything seems to work properly but no one from the outside can “see” my weblog.
Is there something in Apache and/or WP that I have to change in order to allow me to do that?
IronMac, unfortunately MAMP is really designed for running your site “locally”. Hosting your site from your computer is a bad idea especially if you aren’t familiar with system admin type things. I use Bluehost and they are great. Really inexpensive and great service. Then people will be able to see your site. They also offer 1 click Wordpress installation with fantastico.
Michael, thanks for the very quick reply and for the suggestions. Others have done it and I was thinking of giving it a shot. I guess I will have to see where to go from here. Cheers!
thank you for this program
Hi Michael,
there seem to be something wrong with the MySQL, I realised that it doesnt stop even after I quit MAMP. I didnt have any problem until lately, it became impossible to connect to my blog with this error message:
Error establishing a database connection
This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can’t contact the database server at localhost:8889. This could mean your host’s database server is down.
I wonder whats wrong. I have not messed with the settings since I installed MAMP and it had been running well until today.
Check the widget and make sure the servers are on, if they are restart them.
running on panther 10.3.9
have a problem
when pasting this into the browser
/wp-admin/install.php
i have a garbled bunch of code, a couple of forms
admin and password are given at the bottom
(this is in ie, mozilla, firefox and safari
ive reinstalled both mamp and wordpress
to no delight
if i link
localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
i get the error code about passwords installation etc.
Error establishing a database connection
ive updated wp-config.php. using textwrangler
and doesnt seem to be any problems there
any help
would be great
cheers
adam
ignore last post
had an issue defining database
all sweet
and thanks for the tutorial (priceless)
adam
Great tutorial, thank you!
Just wondering: is there a particular reason that the MAMP-distribution doesn’t comprise the most up-to-date versions of the software included? Like: MySQL 4.x instead of 5.x?
I realize that you’re not really the one I should ask this, but maybe you’re in the know. Is MySQL 4.x more compatible with other (older?) stuff around?
The thing is: the v.1.1.1 of MAMP (great icon btw) is updated quite recently (jan 19), but still lacks MySQL 5.x.
Not too important a question though.
Just want to be up-to-date, generally.
Thanks,
katonah
Katonah,
I’m not exactly sure why it’s not fully up-to-date. From my experience MAMP is rock solid and maybe they figured if it isn’t broken why fix it. It’s a good question and if I find out more I’ll be sure to post it. However, you can update any part of the program manually.
Thanks,
MD
Michael,
thanks for your kind reply.
Just gone through the steps, very easy, very well.
Just two things: First, I am yet another guy for whom the “Open start page”-button in the widget does not work (neither restart nor reinstallation help); however, I can call the start page manually or via the MAMP-application.
Second, clicking the link file:///Applications/MAMP/htdocs/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php just produces a page full of gibberish complaining there would be no wp-config.php-file (which is actually there is); however, pointing the browser to: localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php works beautifully.
Could there be a connection between the two problems? the widget linking as well to “file:/// …” not finding anything, instead of “localhost: …”?
Cheers,
katonah
Hi Michael!!!
this was neat!!! although I am not quite sure WHY I want to run Wordpress locally.
First things first, I am also a designer with zero code knowledge. I want a Blog and want to have more control over it.
I have already signed up for a free account on WordPress.com
Now, I am not quite sure what to do with my local version and the free account.
Would these 2 exist independently of each other?
Maybe it was a better solution to install wordpress in my website but I don’t want to screw it up. I have no idea about programming.
Also, I couldn’t open the start page via the widget. I called it via the MAMP-application.
Anyway.. this has been fun and thank you Michael for this very easy to follow tutorial.
Michael,
This was great, and got me most of the way I need to go. But I am just starting out with Wordpress, and I am having a few problems, and I wonder if you could help please?
I have MAMP and Wordpress installed Ok, and I can edit the blog OK on my Mac (running 10.4). But I want to run Wordpress within a larger website, and I am having problems knowing where to put my files. At present the Wordpress files have the path applications/MAMP/htdocs/Wordpress. My web homepage is on the desktop in its own folder. But I want the website structure on my Mac to mirror the structure on my ISP’s web server.
So, should I put the Wordpress files in my local web folder, in which case, how do I format the localhost statement to call up the webpage, equivalent to your “localhost:8888/wordpress/” ? or should I only put the index.php file there, in which case the local structure won’t reflect the ISP server structure?
I think my real problem is that I don’t really understand “localhost” and I can’t find a simple explanation via google (not do I understand why we entered 8889 in your setup yet the localhost is 8888).
Thanks
I also ran into a problem when I got to the install.php stage, I think it had someting to do with MAMP listing my port as 3306 rather than 8888. When running install.php in Camino, I would get a blank screen and my download window would pop up. Then, when trying to get to http://localhost:3306/wordpress/ I would get a PHP file opening in SubEthaEdit and, strangely, Final Cut would launch. Try as I might, I just couldn’t get it to work.
I seem to have now bypassed the issue by putting the wordpress folder in my local ‘Sites’ directory rather than MAMP/htdocs and can now go to http://localhost/wordpress, so far seemingly without issue.
Hello Everyone,
I’m putting together a FAQ for this article that will hopefully answer some of the more common questions I’ve been getting. I’m also writing an Advanced MAMP tutorial that will hopefully address some of your more advanced questions. Please stay tuned.
Hey, MD, my personal and professional compliments on both MAMP and your blog. Excellent!
Here’s a “strategic” question, which I’m asking long in advance of installing either MAMP or WordPress (Rule#1 of old SysAdmins = “After many others bravely test, I humbly follow footsteps of the one survivor.”).
I am running my own Mac OSX SERVER 10.3.8 at http://209.204.170.100 with four top-level domains and the mail-server active. My intent is also to run PHP Version 4.3.11, MySQL 5.0.18, and WordPress 2.0.1 on that same server. More specifically, I want to have each domain show its own blog as a subfolder (.com/weblog, .net/weblog, etc), with each blog clearly linked to the others. Have your run WordPress and/or MAMP with a similar configuration, and if so, any warnings or advice?
My hope is that just one installation of the WordPress application could be used to run the four blogs simultaneously. Note that all four domains have their own Site subfolder but all reside within the same /Library/WebServer/Documents folder.
I don’t want WordPress files to replace the top-level index file or other HTML files of my existing domains, but only to operate within the designated /weblog subfolders.
[Off-topic: Quick esthetic/readability comment -- the gray background of each comment text-block on your blog is too dark.]
THANKS in advance!
An addendum to my previous post….
The main point is that I want to keep my server at its present version# (Mac OSX SERVER 10.3.8). But my intent is also to run lastest PHP and MySQL with the new WordPress 2.0.1 on that same server. I would prefer to use:
– The most recent PHP updates as packaged by Marc Liyanage at….
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/
– MySQL 5.0.18 as listed at….
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html
In effect, I want to stick with my fast, rock-solid, slightly older version of the OSX SERVER software (10.3.8) while also using the latest WordPress, PHP, and MySQL. Anybody out there doing this mix or similar?
THANKS in advance!
Hello Bruce,
I don’t have too much experience running 10.3 Server. However let me try and answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. Each one of your sites needs it’s own installation of Wordpress if you want 4 separate blogs. Once you learn how to install Wordpress you will fly through the process. As long as you keep Wordpress in a sub-folder of the site you shouldn’t have any problems with it interfering with the index file of the main sites. Wordpress is pretty versatile and running it with the latest installations of PHP and MySQL should pose no problems. If none of your sites are live yet you should just test it out. The great thing about things like Wordpress is if you mess up you just delete everything download a fresh copy and try again.
Good Luck,
Man you are brilliant thanks for sharing this
I have almost the whole thing workin but I have one question.
Does anybody knows how I can I set the right permission to folders in the mamp environment?
I need to set a folder writable.
Thanks
In OSX you need to right click on the folder and go to get info. Once you are there you can adjust the permissions at the bottom of the list.
Good Luck,
(Forgive my ignorance. When I’m scrolling through all this I’m mostly thinking, “What are these people talking about?”)
When you say “MAMP is really designed for running your site “locally— do you mean that I can put a site together on my desktop without doing it while online to a host server? How will I get the site published on the server once it’s ready? Will I be running WordPress in a browser when I’m working on my site? Why does this save money, or does it? Will the MAMP installation on my desktop mess with anything else I have installed?
Thank you!
R.S.
I have tried that Michael but that doesn’t work any other suggestion?
Michael, I’m completely switching from hosting multiple websites for multiple clients on IIS to Mac OS 10.4. With Apache’s Virtual Hosts, will I be able to install one or more blogs for each of my clients (each with their own domains)?
-a
Hey Andy,
It sounds to me like you should be able to do it, but maybe this article will be of more help. http://www.sitepoint.com/article/virtual-private-server
Hey thanks for the tutorial….never knew MAMP existed. Should be great for a testing environment. Will give it a try soon, but have three questions.
1. I’m currently hosting a blog and a podcast on a remote web account (shared domain). I’m using Blogger, but use the external FTP option to upload files remotely. Can you point me to info that will tell me how to backup the necessary blog files currently on the server so that I import them into Wordpress once I have the template and other files finished?
2. On my testing machine w/MAMP, what’s the best way to export my finished work from my local test account to the remote server once I’m satisfied with the look and feel of the blog?
I appreciate the assistance; thanks much!
Hello Velanche,
http://codex.wordpress.org/Importing_Content should get you going on moving from blogger to wordpress, and http://cyberduck.ch/ will allow you to ftp your theme to your wordpress site.
Good Luck,
Thanks for the reply, Michael. Asides from a tiny glitch, everything worked nicely. The install was pretty smooth, and I’m very happy that I’m able to work on the blog from my Apple user account instead of my admin account. I don’t know if there’s a way where I can turn on the servers via MAMP in the user account, but probably best not to for security reasons. But nice to see the generic blog pop up in my browser. Should get interesting. Thanks again!
Thanks for the tutorial. New Mac-users like me needs this kind of simple hand-in-hand turorials. Everything works well but blog works quite slowly, does anyone know why?
I just realized this morning that I am a MAMexPert. I think I need to make a CafePress shirt.
Yet another note of thanks; I installed MAMP + WP following your instructions last Xmas. Since then most of my effort centred on importing my old content from iBlog, but I also played around with K2 to try and get a unique site design. I went “live” with DreamHost on Mar 16 and have no problems moving from MAMP on localhost to their servers. I agree with Tuomo that MAMP ran slow, at least compared to my DreamHost installation. And it was so much easier to install on the Mac; it took me most of a day to do the same on a Windoze box.
Thanks for your tutorial it’s been so helpful. I wondered if you could help with the problem I’m having of of upgrading to WP 2.0.2 in MAMP? I followed the instructions on the Codex site, but when I try to click on the admin login I get a page that says I don’t have permission. (I’m sure I didn’t have that problem the last time I upgraded from WP 1.5.2 to 2.0)
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks ,Michael for an excellent tutorial, but your 15 min. estimate was way, way off. It took me all of 20 min. And thanks also to the others who posted questions so I wouldn’t have to.
JEG VIL HA LITT IS!!! ELLERS
I got the installation just about done, but I got the following message:
“There doesn’t seem to be a
wp-config.phpfile. I need this before we can get started.”You need to save the wp-config-sample file as a wp-config file. Read the paragraph that starts Since I know all of you have the program…it’s the very last scentence.
Good Luck,
Hi Mike
I tried the force-upgrade script that I told you about, but now MySQL Server won’t work properly. When I click on Open Start page I get an error message Error: Could not connect to MySQL server! Every time I click on “Stop Servers” My SQL Server won’t stop - the radio button stays green.
I tried re-downloading MAMP and installed it, but I still have the same problem. Any ideas of what may have gone wrong?
When I try to view the blog from another computer (on the same network), using:
http://g3.local:8888/wordpress/
I can see the blogs text but there is no CSS or graphics. Viewing the source shows plenty of instances of “http://localhost:8888/wordpress/etc/etc”.
Is there a way to get the CSS and images working when the site is viewed from another computer on the network?
Cheers
Hi Mike,
I am a newbie at wordpress but I managed to follow through the entire tutorial and was successful. So, whats next for me, if I want to publish the blog on my domain. Do I just upload the wordpress folder?
Worked great, no problems with OSX 10.3.9 and using the new MAMP v1.2.1… and in LESS than 15 minutes! I’m excited about my new capabilities! Thanks for the tutorial!
Many thanks. I’ve been tearing my hair out over this.
Neil
Well done!!
I have been looking for something like this for sometime now and it was on the wordpress site all along. Doh!!
This guide is a great help to getting WordPress up and running locally. Thanks!
Well, everything is fine until I try the installation (/wp-admin/install.php ). All I get is a page with a buncha gobbledy-gook and the message that I have already installed Wordpress. Huh? Well, actually, I have, on the site listed when I posted this. But I’m trying to do the MAMP thing so I can work locally on another site. No go!
Wassup?
To be more precise, here’s what I see when I try to run install.php:
hide_errors(); $installed = $wpdb->get_results(”SELECT * FROM $wpdb->users”); if ($installed) die(’
‘.__(’Already Installed’).’
‘.__(’You appear to have already installed WordPress. To reinstall please clear your old database tables first.’).’
‘); $wpdb->show_errors(); switch($step) { case 0: ?>
ReadMe documentation at your leisure.’), ‘../readme.html’); ?>
I hunted through MAMP and found that there are no tables in my “wordpress” database, ergo nothing to “clear.”
Er… wassup?
Okay, I got it: could NOT install Wordpress from /wp-admin/install.php, no way, no how. Then tried going to http://localhost:8888/wordpress/, where a friendly message said I apparently hadn’t installed Wordpress yet. No kidding. But there was an “install Wordpress” link, so I followed that, and BAM! There I was, installing the blog.
Still don’t know how that came about, but it’s all functioning now. Thank you Mike and the very cool gang at WebEdition for MAMP. I love this stuff.
Thanks James for the tutorial. Am hoping you may advise with some queries. I set up WordPress to run on my Powerbook G4 a year ago using the suppled Apache/PHP with no problems. Running flawlessly for a year. I have just bought an IMac (intel) and have set it up the same (inluding the Tiger socket change to php.ini). It works - sort of - but each http request takes about two minutes! Completely local files, sits there ‘connecting to localhost’ for about two minutes and then suddenly delivers the page almost instantly. As I am not Apache knowledgeable I am now looking an MAMP as a seconary solution.
What I want to achieve is having my WordPress site running on the iMac but still access it with my PowerBook over the LAN. As MAMP seems top be sidestepping the normal route for this, will I still be able to do it? Will I get to the ’site’ (on the PowerBook) by http://LAN-IP:8888 for example?
Sorry - that was an overlong comment just toi ask a simple question but I donlt wantg to install yet another layer and not get the result I am after…
Thanks for any advie you may be able to offer…
andy
I don’t have a clue why I called you James! Anyway ‘Michael’ I downloaded MAMP and while it is superb I don’t think it can do what I need. So no worrying about replying thanks.
What an awesome tutorial! Thanks Michael - I was able to get Wordpress up and running on a mac mini in under 30 minutes. Not bad for an Apache/Php/MySql noob. I was curious however, there is a version of wordpress offering multiple-user/multiple-blog capabilities. It is known as “wordpress-mu”. Would I be able to install and use this version in the MAMP environment too?
Thanks,
Andy-
Hey Andy,
You can use MAMP for anything that runs in an Apache, PHP, and MySQL environment.
Good Luck,
I was exploring wordpress-mu, and even tried it out, but gave up after a number of unsuccessful attempts. Alternatively, I came across a mod to allow a single wordpress install to be able to host multiple blogs, within one database…
http://chetan.gotdns.com/blog/?p=18
but after trying it, i’m sure I’ve messed something up, as it is not working. Do you (or anyone else reading this blog) know of how to implement multiple blogs within the MAMP/Wordpress install?
Thanks,
Andy-
thank you Michael Doig for your helpful tutorial for installing MAMP. i have wordpress running on my localhost and also on wordpress.com.
i need help knowing what files to uploading, as well as how to publish posts from my localhost to wordpress.com using an ftp client - i tried connecting to wordpress.com using my username and password, but not having any luck.
i have my wp-config.php set to localhost should i have set it to wordpress.com?
thanks for any help in advance
david
Hi Andy W,
I read your comment about the my post on single wordpress install supporting multiple blogs. If you would like me to see if I can help out with the problem you are having, please drop me a line.
–
Cheers,
Chetan
thanks for the offer Chetan. Very gracious of you. However, I think I’ve headed down another road. (at least for the time being)
I am trying to set up MAMP/Wordpress to power blogs for a few websites. I would like to have my Mac (running MAMP) to serve as the back-end for the databases, since the hosting servers do NOT run PHP, or MYSql. I would like to store the wordpress databases within each site’s directory.
Is this even possible?
If so, how might I configure MAMP to power the wordpress blogs, while the site and database content live on another machine?
Thanks in advance for any tips
Andy-
Would anyone be able to explain why I receive the following error when I try to open http://localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php :
To view this page, you need to log in to area “Restricted Area” on localhost:8888.
?
I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks!
cindy
Andy I am not clear on what you want. You want to host PHP and Mysql on your Mac. Sounds like you have everything but the bandwidth needed to host a website.
Anyways, you can connect to mysql over the internet (although insecure).
–
Chetan
PS: My rant about this wordpress is one does not get notified when someone responds to your post. Is there a plugin which emails out the response?
Can I use MAMP to publish my site on a registered domain name eg. http://www.mischa.com?
Greets:
I’ve been tinkering with Wordpress and MAMP on and off for awhile, and I’m back on now by deciding to create my own templates/design. So it’ll take a bit a work, but I’m looking forward to it.
What I’m looking for is info on how to transfer my finished Wordpress site to my domain account. I realize that I can FTP the Wordpress directly to the server, but what’s the proper way to import the “wordpress” database?
I’m using Mac OS 10.3.9, Wordpress 2 and MAMP. Thanks for any help on this.
Michael, thanks for the very quick reply and for the suggestions. Others have done it and I was thinking of giving it a shot. I guess I will have to see where to go from here. Cheers!
Thanks so much for this, Michael! Very well written instructions. I couldn’t have done it without this tutorial. It’s people like you who keep us going. Cheers!
Thanks, I really appreciate this! =)
Hi Michael,
Your tutorial looks like it’s exactly what I need but I’m having trouble with the first step. After I install the widget and start servers, I can’t can’t open the start page. Another widget that tracks my networks briefly shows something called Powerhouse in red but it disappears after a few seconds. I’ve tried this on my iMac G5 running 10.4.6 and on a new MacBook pro using the intel version of MAMP. Could some of my network settings be incorrectly set?
Thanks!
TB
Hello again.
Looks like I’m making progress. When I started working on this, I just skimmed the comments. After a more careful read, I was able to access the page and download Wordpress. Looks like I’m on my way.
Thanks!
To those who are having problems with the first click of install.php, where we were greeted with a webpage of unformatted codes instead of initialisation and subsequently a nice install page:
Switch to Firefox (for this initial step). Start a new page and paste this into the address box:
http://localhost:8888/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php
I read it here somewhere but it was not properly explained. Now I’m back using Safari and everything’s fine.
I was exploring wordpress-mu, and even tried it out, but gave up after a number of unsuccessful attempts. Alternatively, I came across a mod to allow a single wordpress install to be able to host multiple blogs, within one database.
nice plugin, thanks for work, more plugins for wordpress here : Word press and here P-Lugins
and custom themes here: Wordpress themes download
Thank you Michael! Yer a peach!
Counterintuitive (to me) is the fact that one is to use ‘root’ as the password, instead of a, well, password.
Your tutorial is gorgeous, and I hope to give back to the web as well.
Again, thanks!
Thanks for the writeup. Thank heavens for MAMP. I’ve tried to go it alone on an install of apache et al with the hopes of being able to design locally for php. What a confusing mess. MAMP takes all those problems away.
Has anyone had any difficulty when it comes time to export your site to the web (database, code, etc). Does MAMP facilitate that process in any way?
Michael, very good tutorial, well written. I do most of my ‘real’ work on a PC and upload to a live server, but I know I should test first. Installing MAMP on a Mac is much easier than trying to do the same thing on a PC - in my opinion.
I think it’s probably a very good idea to do the learning on a local machine that nobody else can see. Especially if you like to tinker with coding when it’s late and you’re tired - as I do!
Hello,
I installed MAMP (on MAC OS X 1.3.9) and when I push the OPEN START PAGE button Safari is not able to open the page.
Here are the things I see on browser:
http://localhost:80MAMP/htdocs/myforums/index.php
Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Client sent malformed Host header
Apache/1.3.33 Server at home.local Port 80
What is wrong?
Hi there,
If your looking for an automated, hands free way to begin earning bundles of cash 10 minutes from now then head on over to http://www.typeathome.biz
Thanks for this Michael
I’ve followed your instructions and have 1 wordpress and 2 textpattern instalations running on it. The problem is that I can’t get any email to be sent from those instalations, be that from contact forms, new comments alerts or anything genarated there . Have it happend to anyone else?
Thanks for any help on this.
thank you very, very, very much!
This is the really five minuts installation (on local), now i can edit my blog loccally… at last!
Very cool. Having a problem installing the widgets plug-in though. It won’t show up in Plug-ins. Is this a MAMP issue?
Also, what do I need to do to move my Wordpress blog over to my internet server after I’ve got it like I like it in MAMP?
Thanks a lot, I used MAMP 1.0 , and follow the instructions word by word, in my case, I’m not english spoken, I’ll change or clear in your manual…
” Next you need to run /wp-admin/install.php and when…”
to
“Next you need to run[hit the link] http://localhost:8889/wordpress/ /wp-admin/install.php and when…”
Also you have in this line localhost:8888 and not 8889 as you use in this GREAT example.
Thanks a lot, Thousands.
Now I’ll be doing this theme changes offline.
Totally perplexed ~!@~@
I have tried everything listed in this blog..
I run: /wp-admin/install.php
and I continuously get a garbled Wordpress page starting with:
wp-config.php file. I need this before we can get started.
The wp-config.php file is present, can anyone help?
OS 10.3.9
MAMP 1.3.1
Wordpress 2.0.4
Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to make such a clear and thoughtful walkthrough. Really took the guess work out of what was looking like a really daunting task.
Youve made me one happy guy! haha
Hey this is awesome! Thanks so much for this tutorial. i am up and running in less than 15 mintues! Also, for those of you that are having problems….dont forget to change the name of “wp-config-sample.php” to “wp-config.php” before you try to use the link to install. This fixed any problems I was having.
…Now, is there was just an easy way to import my current site to my local version…
I had a HELL of a time w/ MAMP. How I finally got it working was to download it, log out and back in, then install it without opening any other program. FINALLY! Before it would not start the servers, even after a restart. I had to trash it and start all over again. So, if anyone else get the widget that hangs fur-eva, now you know what to do!
Thanks again!
First of all, thanks for your tutorial. It’s a great program for newbies like me!
I have been using mamp in order to completely set up a wordpress blog before moving it to an actual webserver. (i have even tested posting and stuff to see how everything looks like before actually going online & public)
Now I have lots of doubts, the first one being what is the best way to move my blog from the development environment onto the remote server?
The second is: once the blog is all set in the local server, do I have to go and reinstall and reset every single modification I made like changing the putting the remote server’s web address intead of the “http://localhost:8888/” in any single graphic I uploaded, plugging setting, etc, etc. I’m afraid I will miss something and the whole theme will break up.
I appreciate any help.
I’ve followed the instructions but what I’m trying to do is to serve a WP blog out to the outside world. In following the instructions, everything seems to work properly but no one from the outside can accessmy weblog.
Very easy to follow! I was up and running in under 15.
Your tutorial was easy to follow and made the install as smooth as could be. Thanks. Ever try installing WordPress MU with MAMP? I’ve spent about two hours on it with no luck. Any advice?
After selecting /wp-admin/install.php I get this error message:
hide_errors(); $installed = $wpdb->get_results(”SELECT * FROM $wpdb->users”); if ($installed) die(’
‘.__(’Already Installed’).’
‘.__(’You appear to have already installed WordPress. To reinstall please clear your old database tables first.’).’
‘); $wpdb->show_errors(); switch($step) { case 0: ?>
ReadMe documentation at your leisure.’), ‘../readme.html’); ?>
But, no previous version has been installed. I have deleted the database and recreated it. I also tried to create a database with a different name and update that in wp-config.php. I also tried downloading a fresh copy of MAMP and Wordpress and I still get the same error.
I’m at a loss. Thanks for any help.
Great tutorial, Michael.
What drew me to your blog in the first place, and what seems to be missing from almost all documentation of MAMP (and the body of the tutorial) is what must seem obvious to anyone who has used MAMP and/or locally hosted servers — but it was completely obscure to me and (from reading the comments) to most first time’rs:
The URL/URI for running one’s local files is a mystery.
Logic says that, if the application MAMP produces a start page whose URI is:
and the application itself is named MAMP, then a directory lodged inside another directory named “htdocs” should be addressed like this:
“Of course it isn’t!” you respond right away. But the new user does not know that.
I suggest making that one piece of information explicit at the appropriate place in your tutorial (where the user needs to run “wp-install.php”). I would guess it would clear up the fog for 90 percent of new users.
Again thanks for a great tutorial.
Oh crud; forgot to protect my links in the previous post!
http://localhost:8888/MAMP/?language=English
is of course the MAMP start page link.
http://localhost:8888/htdocs/index.html
is what a user might expect to follow from that.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Thanks Michael. I was dreading the installation of WordPress on the server, but installing it on my Mac is one step closer and using your tutorial was a breeze. Many thanks. Jen
To echo many others here, I too found the tutorial a joy to behold… Seriously, it rocks! It has saved me untold number of hours alternating between screaming and typing!
A question, however… I travel extensively and find I wish to use my ‘localhost’ version of WP when I don’t have any connectivity. I can observe the changes and make any further changes to text or design in a flash. I realize that MAMP is designed specifically for running a local version of a blog, but what’s the best way to upload those changes to the server to make them ‘live’? Am I missing something here… Is it not easy…?
Is there an intermediate app of some kind that will ’sync’ the two or do I literally have to upload the database and pertinent files each and every time (ACK!) Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Running Tiger 10.4.7 on an Intel Mac.
Cheers! Well done.
Hi
Download goes fine except I get a Stuffit error message (Unexpectedly quit)However when I go to install the widget I follow your promppts but all I have open is “start servers” there’s no”stop ervers” and nothing happens when I hit that button on the widget. The progress whell keeps going forever. I’ve reinstalled the software and widget 3 times. same thing. Running Tiger so any suggestions
TX Mark
I am using osx 10.4 but I don’t get the mamp widget to work properly
even though I have made some changes of code. Could someone help?
Is it poosible to run mamp and the built-in osx apache/mysql at the
same time? For me, that doesn’t work…
Thanks,
Daniel
Good points, i’ll definetely give it a try now, thanks.