Can’t even get started!

You’d upload your files into either your ‘document root’ or even a subfolder for example called wordpress.

Database name, database user, and database password are 3 things you might have defined in creating your mysql database.

You might want to review the information here:
Installing_WordPress

Thank you very much Michael. I’ll do my homework and see if I can’t resolve this issue.

Well, I’ve spoken with my host and gone over everything and I still get the following:

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. This could mean your host’s database server is down.

Are you sure you have the correct username and password?
Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?
Are you sure that the database server is running?

My username and password are fine and the server is running. Everything is uploaded on my server in the wordpress folder. I changed the config file name. I just don’t know what else to do. Once I get it running I’m confident I can handle everything else, but I can’t even get there. Very frustrating! Any help will be appreciated.

Changing the config file name is a good start. Did you edit the contents as well?

Yes I did. I did everything by the book. Then I uploaded the wordpress folder via FTP to my server. I typed the domain/wordpress/wp-config.php into a browser window and got the message above. Wow- I’m fairly stumped! I don’t want to try a different blog package, but maybe I should, just as a test?

I typed the domain/wordpress/wp-config.php into a browser window and got the message above.

Is that a typo? Did you try domain/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php ?

My bad Handy- Yes- I did type /install/php

Could it possibly be a permissions thing with my host? I don’t know I guess I’m just grabbing at straws.

i had the same problem. i solved it by checking the name of the MySQL database i created.

apparently when i created the database, it asked me for a “description” of the database and then the name of the “user”. MySQL created a database under the name i used for the “user” instead of the under the name i used for the “description.”

i then opened the control panel for the MySQL database to look at the “MySQL Database Information”. It gave me a different Host Name for the database, rather than the default “localhost” that WordPress says you don’t have to change 99% of the time. i guess i’m part of the 1%.

so i changed the config file to reflect the real name of the database and changed the host name of the database.

now it works fine.

Let’s give it a try and see what happens… Thanks for the tip!!!

I’m up! You were right on target kuinunu! Thanks so much to everyone for their help…

Good deal! Best of luck, and have fun….