These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running under VirtualBox 4.2.12 on Windows 7 with SP1.

They should be the same or similar for other version combinations, but I make no guarantee.

These instructions are the same or very similar for many other Linux distros, however, the VirtualBox Guest Additions don’t work with all distros of Linux. As well, for some Linux distros, the installation does not happen automatically – you have to manually start it.

Why Install VirtualBox Guest Additions?

Installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions better integrates Ubuntu Linux with your system and gives you the following benefits (and more):

1. better video support – more resolutions, hardware acceleration, etc. This is important with Ubuntu because the Unity desktop expects to be running on 3D hardware accelerated graphics card. If it does not find 3D hardware acceleration, it emulates it using LLVM Pipe and performance is definitely on the sluggish side.
2. better mouse pointer integration
3. shared folders – useful for sharing data between OSes
4. seamless windows (instead of having an Ubuntu desktop and a Windows desktop, the two can be combined together. While neat, it is not quite perfect – though, I it is cool to see Linux and Windows applications running side-by-side on your Windows desktop)
5. shared clipboard

1) Click on on the Devices menu and then select Install Guest Additions…:

2) Click Run on the information dialog:

3) Enter your password and then click on Authenticate:

4) A terminal will pop up and begin the process of compiling and installing the Guest Additions – how long this process takes depends on how fast your machine is, but it is at least several minutes:

5) Go to the System Tools icon in the top right corner and select Shut Down:

6) Choose to either Shut Down or Restart the system (it doesn’t matter which):

The next time the virtual machine starts, the guest additions will be installed and integrated.

When Install Guest Additions… Doesn’t Autorun

Sometimes, Ubuntu doesn’t automatically start the install process after after Guest Additions have been added. One of these three techniques will allow you to manually start the installation process:

Method 1

1) Click on the VBOXADDITIONS disk near the bottom of the Unity Launcher – it’s just above the trash can:

2) Click on Run Software and then continue from Step 2) above:

Method 2

1) Click on the Files icon on the Unity Launcher:

2) Click on the VBOXADDITIONS… entry under Devices:

3) Click on Run Software and then continue from Step 2) above:

Method 3

1) Open a terminal and enter the following commands:

cd /media
cd VBOXADDITIONS_4.2.12_84980
sudo sh VboxLinuxAdditions.run

It will then go through the process of compiling and installing the Guest Additions:

The post Ubuntu 13.04 – How to Install VirtualBox Guest Additions appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for installing the MATE Desktop v.1.2 or v.1.4 on Ubuntu 12.04 running the Unity interface.

Installation instructions may be the same or similar for other versions of Ubuntu or for other Linux distros, but no guarantee is made.

The MATE website provides installation instructions for several different Linux distros (including Ubuntu).

What it Looks Like

The basic, straight-out-of-the-box, look of the desktop is:

Quick Instructions

Open a terminal and enter the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

Restart your system.

Detailed Instructions

Opening a Terminal

Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal.

You should now have something that looks like this:

Adding Software Sources

1) Enter the following line exactly in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main"

You can type it or cut and paste it.

It should look something like this when you are done:

2) Press the Enter key.

3) Enter your password (this is the password you use to log into Ubuntu) and press the Enter key:

When you are done, it will look like this:

Updating the Software Sources

1) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get update

2) Press the Enter key.

3) Enter your password and press the Enter key.

Ubuntu will then spend several minutes updating your software sources. The amount of time will depend on the speed of your Internet connection.

When it is done, it should look something like this (ending with an error):

4) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring

5) Press the Enter key.

6) Type y and press the Enter key:

When it is done, it should look something like this:

7) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get update

Ubuntu will then spend several minutes updating your software sources. The amount of time will depend on the speed of your Internet connection.

When it is done, it should look something like this (without errors):

Installing the MATE Desktop

1) Enter the following exactly:

sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment:

2) Press the Enter key.

Some text will scroll across the screen showing exactly what is going to be installed. You will be prompted to continue with the installation:

3) Press the Enter key to proceed with installation. (You can also type y followed by Enter.) If you don’t want to install it, then press n followed by the Enter key.

Installation time will depend on your Internet connection speed (how quickly you can download the code) and computer speed (how quickly you can compile everything).

Part way through the installation, you will get this screen:

4) Press the Enter key.

5) After installation is finished, click on the System icon in the upper right corner of the desktop and select Shut Down… from the drop down menu:

6) Click on Restart:

Selecting the Desktop

After the system has restarted, it is necessary to select the new desktop from the login screen.

1) Click the icon in the top right of the Login box:

2) Select MATE:

3) Login:

The post Ubuntu 12.04 – How to Install the MATE Desktop appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

This tutorial is for Ubuntu 12.04 in which the following error appears when trying to install a package using the Ubuntu Software Center:

This might work for other Ubuntu versions, or other Linux distros based on Ubuntu, but no guarantee is made.

Assumes you know how to open a terminal. Instructions can be found here.

Possible Cause

The error message

Failed to download package files
Check your Internet connection.

when attempting to install software using the Ubuntu Software Center may occur if the package repository lists are out of date.

Updating the Repositories

1) Open a terminal:

2) Type the following command and then press the Enter key:

sudo apt-get update

3) Type your password and then press the Enter key:

Ubuntu will spend several minutes updating the package repository lists:

The post Ubuntu 12.04 – Failed to download package files appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for Ubuntu 12.04 running under VirtualBox 4.1.12 on Windows 7 with SP1.

They should be the same or similar for other version combinations, but I make no guarantee.

These instructions are the same or very similar for many other distros of Linux, however, the VirtualBox Guest Additions don’t work with all distros of Linux. For some Linux distros the installation does not happen automatically, you have to manually start it.

Why Install VirtualBox Guest Additions?

Installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions better integrates Ubuntu Linux with your system and gives you the following benefits (and more):

1. better mouse pointer integration
2. shared folders – useful for sharing data between OSes
3. better video support – more resolutions, hardware acceleration, etc
4. seamless windows (instead of having an Ubuntu desktop and a Windows desktop, the two can be combined together. While neat, it is not quite perfect. Although, I don’t deny it is cool to see Linux and Windows applications running side-by-side on your Windows desktop)
5. shared clipboard

1) Click on on the Devices menu and then select Install Guest Additions…:

2) Click Run on the information dialog:

3) Enter your password and then click on Authenticate:

4) A terminal will pop up and begin the process of compiling and installing the Guest Additions – this takes several minutes (how long depends on how fast your machine is):

6) Go to the System Tools icon in the top right corner and select Shut Down:

7) Choose to either Shut Down or Restart the system (it doesn’t matter which):

The next time the virtual machine starts, the guest additions will be installed and integrated.

When Install Guest Additions… Doesn’t Autorun

Sometimes, Ubuntu doesn’t automatically start the install process after after Guest Additions have been added. One of these three techniques will allow you to manually start the installation process:

Method 1

1) Click on the VBOXADDITIONS disk near the bottom of the Unity Launcher – it’s just above the trash can:

2) Click on Open Autorun Prompt and then continue from Step 2) above:

Method 2

1) Click on the Home Folder icon on the Unity Launcher:

2) Click on File System, then double-click on the media folder:

3) Double-click the VBOXADDITIONS icon:

4) Click on Open Autorun Prompt and then continue from Step 2) above:

Method 3

1) Open a terminal and enter the following commands:

cd /media
cd VBOXADDITIONS_4.1.12_77218
sudo sh VboxLinuxAdditions.run

It will then go through the process of compiling and installing the Guest Additions:

The post Ubuntu 12.04 – Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

This installation procedure is for Movable Type XMLRPC for Joomla! 1.7.1 under Joomla! 2.5.0. It is likely the same for other version combinations, but there is no guarantee.

This installation procedure is NOT compatible with Joomla! 1.5.x. Instructions for installing the Movable Type API for Joomla! 1.5.x can be found here.

Installing the Movable Type API allows frontend clients (such as Windows Live Writer) to manage Joomla! articles via a blog interface. The Movable Type API is widely supported.

Downloading the Plugin

1a) Download the plugin from here. The download link is the package icon – you will need to scroll about halfway down the page:

1b) Accept the GNU license terms to begin the download:

1c) Save the file since you will need to upload the package to your Joomla! install (remember where you saved it):

Installing the Plugin

2) Log into the Joomla! backend:

3) Select Extension Manager from the Extensions menu:

4) Install the movable type module downloaded in step 1:

1. click on Browse, select the file you downloaded in step 1,
2. click on Upload & Install.

5) Confirm the file was correctly installed:

Enabling the Movable Type API

6) Select Plugin Manager from the Extensions menu:

7a) Click on the ID header to sort the extensions in descending order from when they were installed (normally, you will have to click twice – the first time sorts in ascending order). You’ll know when you got it right because the ID numbers will be big (over 10000):

7b) Observe that the top 2 entries are the extensions installed from step 4:

1. System – RSD
2. XMLRPC – Joomla

7c) Click on the red disabled icon for both System – RSD and XMLRPC – Joomla:

7d) Confirm that the icons have changed to green enabled icons:

8a) Verify that XMLRPC is functioning by selecting XMLRPC from the Components menu:

8b) Observe that both joomla and Enabled are in green:

8c) Click on Options

8d) Click on Save & Close:

Information You Need To Provide Client Applications

When connecting a client application (e.g. Windows Live Writer) to your Joomla! site, you will need to provide the following information:

1. Your main site address – what people type to get to your website. Applications vary, some require the full address starting with http://, others will accept just the site name without the http://.
2. The address for the API server.

• For most people using Joomla! to power their website, this is:

  [your site]/index.php/component/xmlrpc/

  e.g. http://www.example.com/index.php/component/xmlrpc/

  Clients differ, some will require you to enter the full address and path, others will work fine with just /index.php/component/xmlrpc/. Modern clients, like Windows Live Writer 11 and Scribefire Next are able to discover the address of your API server, so you would probably never need to enter this.

• For people using Joomla! on only part of their website, you need to enter (1) the website address, (2) the path to the Joomla! install, (3) the path to the API server:

  [your site][your Joomla! path]/index.php/component/xmlrpc/

  e.g. http://www.example.com/joomla/index.php/component/xmlrpc/

  Clients, like Windows Live Writer 11 and ScribeFire Next will not be able to discover the address of your API Server in this case (unless you had entered your site address and Joomla! path in step 1).

4. The user name you use to log into the Joomla! backend.
5. The password you use to log into the Joomla! backend.

Free Clients Supporting the Movable Type API

This is by no means an exhaustive list and only includes those I have been able to try out in Windows. Windows Live Writer used to be my favorite (and it is still probably the best blogging client for most people), but some issues with it (and other blogging clients) made me switch to w.bloggar.

Windows Live Writer (for Windows Vista and Windows 7)
Post2Blog (at the time I wrote this, it was sixth from the bottom of the page)
Zoundry Raven
Scribefire Next (a Firefox plugin)
BlogDesk
w.bloggar

The post Joomla! 2.5 – Installing a Movable Type API Plugin (XMLRPC) appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for Ubuntu 11.10 running under VirtualBox 4.1.8r75467 on Windows 7 with SP1.

They should be the same or similar for other version combinations, but I make no guarantee.

These instructions are the same or very similar for many other distros of Linux, however, the VirtualBox Guest Additions don’t work with all distros of Linux. For some Linux distros the installation does not happen automatically, you have to manually start it.

Why Install VirtualBox Guest Additions?

Installing the VirtualBox Guest Additions better integrates Ubuntu Linux with your system and gives you the following benefits (and more):

1. better mouse pointer integration
2. shared folders – useful for sharing data between OSes
3. better video support – more resolutions, hardware acceleration, etc
4. seamless windows (instead of having an Ubuntu desktop and a Windows desktop, the two can be combined together. While neat, it is not quite perfect. I don’t deny it is cool to see a Linux and Windows apps running side-by-side on your Windows desktop)
5. shared clipboard

1) Click on on the Devices menu and then select Install Guest Additions…. If you are running Ubuntu in full screen mode, move your mouse to the very bottom of the screen in the middle – this will pop up the same menu options. Alternatively, you can just hold the right Ctrl key down and press the D key (the default Host key is the right Ctrl key):

2) Click Run on the information dialog:

3) Enter your password and then click on Authenticate:

4) A terminal will pop up and inside will be a message about not being able to find the headers. Don’t worry about it:

5) The guest additions will be compiled. This takes several minutes (how long depends on how fast your machine is, how much memory the virtual machine has, etc). Once it is done, you will see a message instructing you to press Enter to close the terminal:

6) Go to the System Tools icon in the top right corner and select Shut Down:

7) Choose to either Shut Down or Restart the system (it doesn’t matter which):

Once the virtual machine restarts, the guest additions will be installed and integrated.

When Install Guest Additions… Doesn’t Work

On rare occasions, I have found that Ubuntu doesn’t start the install process after step 1) above. One of these two techniques should allow you to get around that.

Trick 1

1) Click on the disk near the bottom of the Unity ribbon – it’s just above the trash can:

2) Click on Open Autorun Prompt and then continue from step 2) above:

Trick 2

1) Click on the Folder icon:

2) Click on File System, then double-click on the media folder:

3) Double-click the VBOXADDITIONS icon:

4) Click on Open Autorun Prompt and then continue from step 2) above:

The post Ubuntu 11.10 – Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

This tutorial describes how to install Joomla! version 2.5.0 under XAMPP version 1.7.3 on Windows 7.

The procedure should be the same or similar for other version combinations, but no guarantee is made.

Assumes you have already

• installed XAMPP. (Installation instructions can be found here.)
• created a MySQL database. (Creation instructions can be found here.)

Some images may be clicked on images for full size versions.

Downloading Joomla!

1) Download the full Joomla install from here Click on the zip link.

2) Click on Save as.

3) Choose a directory in which to save the file and click on Save. Remember where you saved the file.

4) After the download has completed, you can choose Open to open the downloaded file with the default application or Open folder to open the folder where the file was downloaded (which is what the next step assumes):

Extracting Joomla!

5) Go to the directory where the file was downloaded and open it by double-clicking on it:

6) Click on Extract all files:

7) Extract the Joomla! files to a subfolder of htdocs in your XAMPP folder. By default, XAMPP would be installed to your C:\ drive, so you would enter C:\xampp\htdocs\joomla as the directory to extract to. In my case, I extracted them into a folder called joomla250. Click on Extract to extract the files.

Setting up Joomla!

8) Launch your browser and type http://localhost/joomla into the address bar. What follows http://localhost/ is the directory you installed Joomla! into (in my case, joomla250).

9) Select your preferred language, then click on Next. NOTE: I have only ever tried installing it in English.

10) Confirm you meet the minimum installation requirements, then click Next. It is normal for Display errors to be set to On. NOTE: If having Display errors set to On is really bothering you, you can turn it off by following these directions.

11) Read the GNU license and, if you agree with it, click Next.

12) Fill in the database configuration information:

• Database Type: Mysqli (default setting) NOTE: Mysqli is the improved MySQL interface available for use with MySQL 5.0 or higher. You can still use the Mysql interface if you like.
• Host Name: localhost (default setting)
• Username: if you created a MySql User, enter the name here. Otherwise, use root.
• Password: this is the password associated with the user name entered above. If you used root as your username, then leave the password blank (the default XAMPP install does not assign a password to root).
• Database Name: this is the name of the database you created. Database creation instructions are here.
• Table Prefix: a unique prefix for accessing the table. Using the default (or suggested prefix) is fine.

13) Ensure FTP is set to No, then click Next.

14) Enter a site name (for example, Complete, Concrete, Concise or whatever name you want this site to have).

Enter Your Email address. Joomla! will send notifications to this email address.

Enter an Admin Username. This is the username you will use to log into the Joomla! backend. By default, it is admin (and I leave it as admin). NOTE: if this is a production install, or you are worried about security, then you should choose a better admin name – it should be longer and include letters, numbers and symbols / punctuation. For example, the following admin name worked: -admin.123@sqig.

Enter an Admin Password – this is the password you will use to log into the Joomla! backend.

Confirm the Admin Password.

Choose if you want to install the sample data. I like to install it, since it saves me the trouble of populating the site with sample articles for testing. The sample data is only available in English. NOTE: don’t install the sample data if you are installing the site for “real” use because it is a pain to have to go and clean up all the sample data.

Click on Next.

15) Confirm you have successfully installed. Note that your user name for logging into the Joomla! backend is admin (if you accepted the default name, otherwise it is whatever name you entered into the Admin Username field in Step (14)).

Cleaning Up

As a security precaution, Joomla! requires you to remove the installation directory before the site becomes functional. In Joomla! 2.5, this can be done from the final installation screen.

16) Click on the Remove installation folder to remove the installation folder and complete the installation.

The post Installing Joomla! 2.5 Under XAMPP appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

Joomla! 1.7 is now obsolete. Joomla! 2.5 is the newest release with long term support.

Instructions for installing Joomla! 2.5 can be found here.

Some images may be clicked on images for full size versions.

Downloading Joomla!

1) Download the full Joomla install from here.

2) Choose to either save the ZIP file or to open it over the web. Saving the ZIP file makes it easier to install Joomla again, if you have to.

Extracting Joomla!

3) Open the downloaded file by double-clicking on it. From the File menu, select Extract All. NOTE: this step assumes Windows provides archiving functionality for you. If you have installed a different archiving program, the specific steps for extraction will be different.

4) Extract the Joomla! files to a subfolder of htdocs in your XAMPP folder. By default, XAMPP would be installed to your C:\ drive, so you would enter C:\xampp\htdocs\joomla as the directory to extract to. (In my case, I installed XAMPP to my D:\ drive and specified joomla17 as the folder to extract to). Click on Next to extract the files.

5) Click Finish when the extraction is complete. You can uncheck the Show extracted files checkbox because we don’t need to see the files.

Setting up Joomla!

6) Launch your browser and type http://localhost/joomla into the address bar. What follows http://localhost/ is the directory you installed Joomla! into (in my case, joomla17).

7) Select your preferred language, then click on Next.

8) Confirm you meet the minimum installation requirements, then click Next. It is normal for Display errors to be set to On.

9) Read the GNU license and, if you agree with it, click Next.

10) Fill in the database configuration information:

• Database Type: mysql (default setting)
• Host Name: localhost (default setting)
• Username: if you created a MySql User, enter the name here. Otherwise, use root.
• Password: this is the password associated with the user name entered above. If you used root as your username, then leave the password blank (the default XAMPP install does not assign a password to root).
• Database Name: this is the name of the database you created. Database creation instructions are here.
• Table Prefix: a unique prefix for accessing the table. Using the default (or suggested prefix) is fine.

11) Ensure FTP is set to No, then click Next.

12) Enter a site name (for example, Complete, Concrete, Concise or whatever name you want this site to have).

Enter Your Email address. Joomla! will send notifications to this email address.

Enter an Admin Username. This is the username you will use to log into the Joomla! backend. By default, it is Admin (and I leave it as Admin)

Enter an Admin Password – this is the password you will use to log into the Joomla! backend.

Confirm the Admin Password.

Choose if you want to install the sample data. I like to install it, since it saves me the trouble of populating the site with sample articles. The sample data is only available in English.

Click on Next.

13) Confirm you have successfully installed. Note that your user name for logging into the Joomla! backend is admin (if you accepted the default name, otherwise it is whatever name you entered into the Admin Username field in Step (12)).

Cleaning Up

As a security precaution, Joomla! requires you to remove the installation directory before the site becomes functional. In Joomla! 1.7.x, this can be done from the final installation screen.

14) Click on the Remove installation folder to remove the installation folder and complete the installation.

The post Installing Joomla! 1.7 Under XAMPP appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

These instructions are for WordPress version 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.2.0, and 3.2.1 into a folder other than \wordpress under XAMPP 1.7.3 running on Windows XP with Service Pack 3 installed.

You may want to install into a different folder for various reasons, the two most common being: (1) you want to have multiple WordPress installations, or (2) you want control over where the files are installed.

These instructions should be the same for other versions, but no guarantee is made.

Assumes you have XAMPP installed.

To install WordPress to something other than the default wordpress directory, you need to (1) install WordPress into that directory and then (2) move all the files found in the wordpress directory up into that directory and, (3) delete the wordpress directory.

(1) Extract WordPress into the desired directory under htdocs:

(2) Ensure the Show extracted files checkbox is ticked and click on Finish:

(3) Open the wordpress folder by double-clicking on it:

(4) Select Select All from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+A):

(5) Select Copy from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+C):

(6) Click on the back button to return to the previous folder:

(7) Select Paste from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+V):

(8) Right-click on the wordpress folder and select Delete from the popup menu:

If you want to access the installed site using a “real” web address (like www.wordpress.3) instead of localhost/path-name, you can find instructions to do that here.

The post How to Install WordPress into a Folder Other than \wordpress under XAMPP appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

This tutorial describes how to install WordPress version 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 under XAMPP version 1.7.3 on Windows XP.

The procedure should be the same for other version combinations, but no guarantee is made.

Assumes you have already

• installed XAMPP. (Installation instructions can be found here.)
• created a MySQL database. (Creation instructions can be found here.)

I do not recommend using XAMPP 1.7.4 because of configuration and functionality issues with that version.

Some images may be clicked for full size versions (if your cursor changes when you move over an image, there is a larger version available).

Downloading WordPress

1) Download WordPress from here. Click on the Download WordPress button:

2) Click on the save button and remember where you saved the file:.

Extracting WordPress

3) Open the downloaded file by double-clicking on it. From the File menu, select Extract All. NOTE: this step assumes Windows provides archiving functionality for you. If you have installed a different archiving program, the specific steps for extraction will be different.

4) Extract the WordPress files into the htdocs folder in your XAMPP folder. By default, XAMPP would be installed to your C:\ drive, so you would enter C:\xampp\htdocs as the directory to extract to. (In my case, I installed XAMPP to my D:\ drive). WordPress will be extracted into a folder named wordpress. NOTE: if you want to install WordPress into a different directory under htdocs (say my_wordpress or MySite or whatever, then instructions for doing this can be found here.

5) Click Finish when the extraction is complete. You can uncheck the Show extracted files checkbox because we don’t need to see the files.

Setting up WordPress

6) Launch your browser and type http://localhost/wordpress into the address bar. What follows http://localhost/ is the directory you installed WordPress into (unless you changed the directory in Step (4), this will be wordpress

7) Click on Create a Configuration File at the notification screen advising that a wp-config.php file needs to be created.

8) Click on Let’s go! to begin configuring and installing WordPress:

9) Fill in the database configuration information and click on Submit::

• Database Name: this is the name of the database you created. Database creation instructions are here. (The default is wordpress.)
• User Name: if you created a MySql User for the database (not necessary), enter the name here. Otherwise, use root.
• Password: this is the password associated with the user name entered above. If you used root as your username, then leave the password blank (the default XAMPP install does not assign a password to root). Otherwise, enter the password associated with the User Name.
• Database Host: localhost (default setting)

10) Click on Run the install:

11) Fill in some information about your site and site administrator and then click on Install WordPress.

• Site Title: Enter the name of your website.
• Username: Enter the username that will be used for logging into the backend of your WordPress site. The default is admin.
• Password: Enter a password that will be used to login to the backend of your WordPress site. There is also a strength indicator which shows you how secure your password is.
• Your E-mail: Enter an e-mail address that your site will send notifications to.

12) Click on Log In to log into your WordPress site.

The post Installing WordPress Under XAMPP appeared first on Complete, Concrete, Concise.

Joomla! 1.6 is obsolete. Joomla! 2.5 is the newest release with long term support.

Instructions for installing Joomla! 2.5 can be found here.

Click on images for full size versions.

Downloading Joomla!

1) Download the full Joomla 1.6.6 from here. NOTE, Joomla 1.6 is no longer supported.

2) Choose to either save the ZIP file or to open it over the web. Saving the ZIP file makes it easier to install Joomla again, if you have to.

Extracting Joomla!

3) Open the downloaded file by double-clicking on it. From the File menu, select Extract All. NOTE: this step assumes Windows provides archiving functionality for you. If you have installed a different archiving program, the specific steps for extraction will be different.

4) Extract the Joomla! files to a subfolder of htdocs in your XAMPP folder. By default, XAMPP would be installed to your C:\ drive, so you would enter C:\xampp\htdocs\joomla as the directory to extract to. (In my case, I installed XAMPP to my D:\ drive).

5) Click Finish when the extraction is complete. You can uncheck the Show extracted files checkbox because we don’t need to see the files.

Setting up Joomla!

6) Launch your browser and type http://localhost/joomla into the address bar. What follows http://localhost/ is the directory you installed Joomla! into.

7) Select your preferred language, then click on Next.

8) Confirm you meet the minimum installation requirements, then click Next. It is normal for Display errors to be set to On.

9) Read the GNU license and, if you agree with it, click Next.

10) Fill in the database configuration information:

• Database Type: mysql (default setting)
• Host Name: localhost (default setting)
• Username: if you created a MySql User, enter the name here. Otherwise, use root.
• Password: this is the password associated with the user name entered above. If you used root as your username, then leave the password blank (the default XAMPP install does not assign a password to root).
• Database Name: this is the name of the database you created. Database creation instructions are here.

11) Ensure FTP is set to No, then click Next.

12) Enter a site name (for example, Complete, Concrete, Concise or whatever name you want this site to have).

Enter an Admin Username. This is the username you will use to log into the Joomla! backend. By default, it is Admin (and I leave it as Admin)

Enter an Admin Email address. Joomla! will send notifications to this email address.

Enter an Admin  Password – this is the password you will use to log into the Joomla! backend.

Confirm the Admin Password.

Choose if you want to install the sample data. I like to install it, since it saves me the trouble of populating the site with sample articles.

Click on Next.

13) Confirm you have successfully installed. Note that your user name for logging into the Joomla! backend is admin (if you accepted the default name, otherwise it is whatever name you entered into the Admin Username field in Step (12)).

Cleaning Up

As a security precaution, Joomla! requires you to remove the installation directory before the site becomes functional. In Joomla! 1.6.x, this can be done from the final installation screen.

14) Click on the Remove installation folder to remove the installation folder and complete the installation.

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