J1.5:Use Joomla! 1.5 on your own computer

The "J1.5" namespace is an archived namespace. This page contains information for a Joomla! version which is no longer supported. It exists only as a historical reference, it will not be improved and its content may be incomplete and/or contain broken links.

It may seem a little weird to run a website on a computer by itself which is not seen over the internet. It is, however, very useful to be able to learn and experiment on your own machine - not least because you can view the backend and also the files.

Background

Experience needed

Not everyone using this Manual will have enough experience to feel comfortable doing this. You need to know a little about computing, for example:-

• Know where to find files on your computer and be able to create folders
• You can download something from a website and save it in an appropriate place
• You will not panic if you do not understand a concept!

Experienced developers and people with programming experience will be fine. If in doubt - follow the instructions and try it!

Links to Joomla!'s Quick Start Guide and an introduction to the sample data

The instructions here make use of the very useful Quick Start Guide. Make sure you look at this as well as this tutorial.

http://help.joomla.org/ghop/feb2008/task048/joomla_15_quickstart.pdf This has help with installation and creating your own content.

and

http://community.joomla.org/august-2008/article/522-introductory-learning-joomla-using-sample-data.html This has details about the sample data and what you can learn from it.

Summary

There are three basic stages in doing this:-

1. Downloading and installing some software that Joomla! needs to use to run locally. This is a web server called Apache, a database called mySQL and a scripting language called PHP. There are a few other things as well - which are downloaded together as one package called XAMPP.
2. Downloading and installing Joomla!
3. Configuring Joomla!

Download and install XAMPP

To run Joomla! on a Windows desktop or laptop you need to download and install some software. This includes a web server called Apache, a database called mySQL and a scripting language called PHP. The point of this to to configure your own machine to behave as if it were a server with the difference being that the result is not visible over the internet and is thus confined to your own computer. This is very useful for learning new things and even developing a new web site.

Download sites for using a Mac or Linux with documentation.

Warning: If you are not familiar with downloading software - don't be put off by unfamiliar vocabulary on the download website!

Before download

Make sure you have a separate folder for the download.

Use Windows Explorer

1. Create a folder (called something meaningful like Downloads) beneath the top level of the directory. (Depending on how your computer is set up - this will be C:\Downloads)
2. Create a new folder at the top level called XAMPP - this is where the software will eventually be installed. (Depending on how your computer is set up - this will be C:\XAMPP)

Download XAMPP

Click here for the site for Windows download with some helpful documentation.

This is a page with links to downloads as well as instructions for installation.

Find the heading - Jump-off point

Under Download - Click on XAMPP

Choose the Basic Package -

Click on EXE for the dowmload

In the window that opens

Click Save File

In the Save In box - find your Download folder

Click Save

A file with the xampp logo is saved to the Download folder.

Install XAMPP

This extracts the software and installs the files. In Windows Explorer, Details view, the file type will be Applcation

Run the file - Right Click and choose Open or Double-click the file name

There are some on-screen instructions

Browse for the folder that you have created (for example C:\XAMPP)

Click Install

The progress is indicated on the screen. When the files are extracted - a Windows command file asks a few questions to configure the installation.

Respond to these with the defaults.

The files are placed in the correct locations and you are then prompted to press <Ret> to continue and to confirm the timezone. Finally the screen present 7 choices. Normally - choose 1 to start the Control Panel and then x to Exit the install process

You should see a XAMPP Control Panel on the desktop. If this is not open

Double-click the Control Panel icon on the desktop.

Apache and MySQL need to run as services (indicated by Svc in the Control Panel). Make sure the following are set:-

• Apache Svc is ticked
• Apache is Running (Click Start to run it)
• MySQL Svc is ticked
• MySQL is running (Click Start to run it)

Now test it

• Type in the site's address in your browser - which is http://localhost/

If it has not been successful - you will get a message saying 'Unable to Connect'. The most likely cause is that Apache or mySQL are not running. Check these using the Control Panel.

If it has been successful - there will be a splash page with a choice of languages.

• Choose your language

You now see a Welcome page with various links to documentation and other things to the left.

Installation has been successful and you can move on to downloading and installing Joomla! itself.

Download, install and configure Joomla!

Before download and installation

• Create a folder for the Joomla installation with a suitable name

Under the XAMPP folder (for example C:\XAMPP\) there is a folder called htdoc (C:\XAMPP\htdoc ). This is the folder under which all content that will be seen on the local host website is located. (There are already files there - such as index.html which displays the logo for XAMPP)

Open the htdoc folder

Create a folder under htdoc to contain the Joomla! files. (It can have any name but Joomla15 is usually used for example sites).

Download Joomla!

Go to the Joomla! download site - http://www.joomla.org/download.html

Click on the ZIP for the Full Package for the latest version.

Save the file to the Download folder on your computer

Quick and painless. (It will be called a Compressed(zipped) Folder in the Details list in Windows Explorer)

Right-click the downloaded zip file

Choose Extract All

The Extraction Wizard prompts for where you want the files to be located. This is in the folder created above - for example C:\xampp\htdoc\Joomla15

Browse for the right directory

Click OK

Check that the 'Files will be extracted to this directory' box has the right folder displayed.

Click Next

Progress is indicated by the blue bar. When completed -

Click Finish

The files are in the right place and you are ready to set Joomla! up for use.

How to uninstall Joomla! and XAMPP

You may want to uninstall Joomla! and XAMPP. If you do this - make sure you have copies of anything you may need, such as configuration files.

There are two possibilities.

1. Use the uninstall script OR . .

The easy way - you can use the uninstall script.

• Find the script \XAMPP\uninstall_xampp.bat (It appears on the Details list in Windows Explorer as a MS-DOS Batch File).

Run this script (Double-click on the file name)

This opens a command window and asks if you want the htdocs directory deleted. If you choose 'n' - it does not delete the folders \XAMPP\htdocs and \XAMPP\mysql\data - so you will need to do this yourself. The services are then stopped and the control panel removed from the desktop. The next message is that it will delete the files. Your response should be y for uninstalling the package.

2. Manually delete the files

The installation is uninstalled by deleting all the files under the \XAMPP\ folder, but there maybe errors if you do not stop the services and check that nothing is running first.

• Stop the services using XAMPP Control Panel
• Untick the Svr button - so that mySQL and apache are no longer running as services
• Ensure that no other file is being used

Highlight the folder name and press Delete

There is also documentation on the XAMPP site about uninstalling.

Links

---

--Lorna Scammell December 2010