How to install Joomla on a web server and in XAMPP

The first step is to get the current version of the Joomla software. To do this, go to the download page on the official Joomla website and download the newest version (4.1.2 in this example).

Extract the ZIP file and upload the Joomla package files to the root directory of your web server (usually ‘public_html’ or ‘htdocs’) using an FTP-Client. We use the open source client FileZilla.

After you’ve uploaded the files and set up a database, you can start to set up Joomla. To do this, open your browser and type in the domain that your project will use. If the last few steps went as intended, you should see the Joomla Installer. Choose your preferred language, assign a name to your Joomla site, and click on ‘Setup Login Data’.

Set the login info for the Super User – name, username, password (at least 12 char­ac­ters), and email address. Then continue the in­stall­a­tion by clicking forward to the next step.

Now it’s time to connect the Joomla instance with the database you set up before. Enter the relevant in­form­a­tion and then click ‘Install Joomla’.

After you’ve installed Joomla, you can log into the admin area of the CMS whenever you want. To do so, enter the admin URL for your web address into your browser. The admin URL is simply your domain plus ‘/ad­min­is­trat­or’.

Once you’re in the backend, you can design your website as you please. For example, you can install blog sample data to get a first im­pres­sion of your site, if you haven’t already done so.

Open the XAMPP control panel and start the Apache server and the MySQL database (the first two items listed). You might encounter a message from your firewall the first time you start the two ap­plic­a­tions. If this happens, grant the necessary per­mis­sions. If the services were able to start as intended, they’ll be shown in green in the control panel.

Then open the database man­age­ment tool phpMy­Ad­min. Select the ‘Databases’ tab and create a new database with the name ‘joomla-in­stall­a­tion’.

Choose your preferred language for the install and enter a name for your Joomla project. Then continue to the next step.

On the next page you’ll set up the login for the Super User, the ad­min­is­trat­or with maximum control of the site. Fill out the fields and then click on ‘Setup Database Con­nec­tion’.

Hold on to the in­form­a­tion for database type, host name, prefix, and en­cryp­tion and generate an in­di­vidu­al database user (with password if you want). Under ‘Database name’, enter the name of the database you created in the last step. Finally, click on ‘Install Joomla’.

It takes a bit of time for Joomla to get set up. You’ll get a no­ti­fic­a­tion as soon as it’s finished.

When you log in to the admin area after the in­stall­a­tion is finished, you can complete the first admin tasks in the backend and get your Joomla project rolling. A good first step for everyone that wants to get to know Joomla better is to install the blog sample data. You’ll find it on the dashboard under ‘Sample Data’. Joomla will then create a small demo blog with place­hold­er content using the standard template Cas­si­opeia.

When you log in, you’ll see an option for setting the language for the backend. However, the only language shown as an option will usually be the one you chose for the in­stall­a­tion. If you want to add ad­di­tion­al languages, follow these steps:

1. Click on ‘System’ in the menu on the left.
2. Go to the category ‘Install’ and then select ‘Languages’.
3. Use the search field or find your preferred language in the list.
4. Once you’ve found the language you’re looking for, click ‘Install’.

Do you already have some Joomla ex­ten­sions in mind for your project? You can install ex­ten­sions in the backend anytime.

Click on ‘System’ in the menu on the left and then select ‘Ex­ten­sions’. You have four options for in­stalling Joomla ex­ten­sions:

• Uploade package file: If you’ve already down­loaded the Joomla plugin, install it using drag-and-drop or by selecting its location via ‘Choose file’.
   
• Install from directory: If you don’t want to navigate step-by-step to the directory where the extension is located, you can use this option to type in the directory.
   
• Install from URL: If you haven’t down­loaded the extension yet but have the download link ready, you can paste it right in. Joomla will auto­mat­ic­ally download the file and install the extension.
   
• Install from web catalogue: You can use the web catalogue to search for ex­ten­sions right in the Joomla backend. They can then be installed on the spot (if free).

If you’ve installed a Joomla template using the Extension Manager, you can make it the standard template for your project in just a few steps:

1. Click on ‘System’ in the menu on the left.
2. Select ‘Template Styles (Site)’.
3. Select your preferred template.
4. Click on ‘Standard’.