You can build a WordPress website before purchasing a hosting plan and domain name by using a web server solution stack such as XAMPP. These web server solution stacks allow the user to create a local server that can be used to host a WordPress website that is only accessible from the computer that is used to create the server.
Step 1 – Download And Install XAMPP
1. Head on over to apachefriends.org.
2. From the homepage select the version of XAMPP that you would like to install based on your operating system (Microsoft Windows, macOS, or Linux).
3. When the download is completed, launch the XAMPP installer and follow along with it.
4. When the installer is done select the checkbox that asks “Do you want to start the control panel now?” then click finish.
For a more detailed installation of XAMPP, you can follow along with my other article and then return to this one.
Step 2 – Create A Database On XAMPP
1. From the XAMPP control panel start both the apache module and the MYSQL module.
2. Next click on the admin button in the MYSQL row. This will launch the PHPMyAdmin dashboard in your default web browser.
3. From the PHPMyAdmin dashboard click on the “new” button in the menu to the left.
4. On the database page give your database a name then click on the “create” button.
Step 3 – Download and Install WordPress
1. Head on over the wordpress.org downloads page.
2. Scroll down then click on the blue download WordPress button.
3. When the WordPress.zip file has finished downloading, locate it in your file explorer. Next right-click on it and extract the content of the .zip file into a new folder.
4. Open the new WordPress folder and rename the folder within it to the name of your website.
5. Finally open a new file explorer window and navigate to “E:\xampp\htdocs\” then move the folder with your website’s name to this location.
Step 4 – Configure Your New WordPress Installation
1. In your preferred web browser type in the address bar http://localhost/the-name-of-your-local-website. This will launch the WordPress installer.
2. Select your preferred language then click next.
3. Now you will need to connect your local WordPress website to your local database. To do this in the provided fields enter the name of your local database, the username “root”, and leave the password field empty then click on continue.
4. Once the connection is made successfully click on run the installation.
5. Give your site a title, then create your WordPress admin account by entering a username, password, and email in the provided fields.
6 When the WordPress installer is finished click on login and enter the username and password you’ve just created to get to your WordPress dashboard.
Final Thoughts
As you can see it is very easy to install and build a WordPress site before hosting. If you have followed along with the tutorial above you should be at the WordPress dashboard of your local website.
This local WordPress installation will function exactly as if it was hosted on a live web server but you must remember that this website will only be accessible to you on the computer that the local server is installed on.
Finally, when you are ready to move your local website to a live server you can follow along with my other article titled “How To Move Your Site From Local XAMPP To The Web Server”.
