Changing Permissions at localhost

  • I’m implementing security measures on a wordpress localhost installation.

    First time out, here. Would someone be so kind as to tell me how to change folder permissions at the localhost location. I’ve searched for the answer for hours and can’t figure it out.

    I see all these “change permissions” windows that you can access through an ftp client—I have filezilla—but I cannot access such a screen there.

    I see all this stuff about CHMOD, and nothing about where it lives.
    Do I have to use CHMOD to change permissions?

    How do I get to these permissions to change them at the localhost installation?

    Thanks

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

  • What operating system are you running?

    Thread Starter adhdcelt

    (@adhdcelt)

    Hey, Matt:
    Running Windows XP Home Edition with SP3.
    Wordpress installed on WAMP localhost.
    Site not online yet.

    Hi there adhdcelt,

    Did you ever find a solution for this? I’m having the EXACT same problem!!
    Thanks in advance for any response.

    Matt

    Hi,
    Not sure if this is what you are searching for, but I use XAMMP (which is almost same as WAMP, only better ;-)…. and I was once trying to do the opposite (I’d forgotten the passwords and needed to get into my local-build sites….) and make them less secure temporarily so I could get in…… By memory I had to get in to the sites by changing the log-on/browser’s recognition process for XAMMP (there are 2 options, one is less strict/secure than the other – by memory, I think the “Cookie” method was the more secure one…) – so if what you are seeking is to secure the local-build sites from others, then you could use the more secure method …(as I don’t think you can use CHMOD permissions on a local build/PC files…).

    I can’t find my bookmarks for the info (I’ve got way too many bookmarks that need sorting….), but this link may be useful anyway for info on protecting MySQL:
    MySQL(5) manual: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/index.html

    I also found this bookmark (easy to follow tutorial):
    Password protection on WAMP: https://guides.jlbn.net/setpw/setpw5.html

    Hope this helps!
    Cheers, Karen.
    Business-In-Site.com

    Hi karen,

    Thanks for your detailed response.
    Here’s the issue I’m having.

    I set up WAMP on my computer (windows xp) so that I could install wordpress on a local host to test build before purchasing web space. I set this all up correctly but when I tried to upload a new theme I had purchased I got an error message saying ‘unable to move theme to d:\wamp/www/wp-content/uploads/2011’

    After googling, I found numerous responses saying that I needed to change the file permissions to 777. However I am unsure of how I achieve this. I saw it was possible to do through filezilla but I can’t connect it to my localhost. The same goes for MyPHPadmin in the WAMP control panel. On here I can’t seem to find an option for changing file permissions of the wp uploads folder.

    I’m very new to wordpress and WAMP and other such software so please excuse me if I ask any silly questions.

    Thanks again in advance!

    Matt

    Hi Matt,
    I think I see your problem….(and the solution!!)

    You are trying to install the theme into the wrong folder – themes don’t go in the uploads folder, they go into your “themes” folder, which is located in the “wp-content” folder….(….I can almost hear you thinking “where’s the wp-content folder” lol!!! hang in there Matt..!!). Here’s where to go:

    Your WAMP folder should be installed on your C Drive, yes? (..for WAMP to work properly it is supposed to be installed there, and it has problems if it’s installed elsewhere..). Go to your CDrive, and find your WAMP folder. Open it up, and look for a folder called “htdocs” – THIS IS WHERE ALL YOUR SITE FILES ARE INSTALLED – (…now, I’d also suggest you create a short-cut to the htdocs folder on your desktop too, because you’ll need to access it a fair bit & so it will save you time & frustration in the future.. so right-click on the htdocs folder & select the “create a shortcut” option – and a shortcut for htdocs folder will appear on your desktop).

    Then open up htdocs folder & you should see your website folder (let’s call it “matts-blog.com”). Open up the “matts-blog.com” folder, and inside it will be a folder called “wp-content”. Inside that is your “themes” folder.

    Copy & paste your theme into that folder (either paste the theme’s zipped folder in it & then unzip it there & then delete the zip archive, OR unzip the theme before copying & pasting the new theme folder into the “themes” folder.)

    Now log on to your site, and (in the WordPress version 3.1+ series) down the left hand side of your screen is a drop-down tab called “Appearance” – click on it to expand the list & go to the tab called “themes” & you will then see all the themes installed in your site. Select the new theme & enable it, and that’s it! (…it takes longer to write about it than to actually do it!).

    You’ll probably need to set up a few things such as the menus etc, it depends on the theme – some are almost ready-to-go, others can take days to get right….

    As for CHMOD permissions, you can’t set them on a PC, only on the web server once the site is live.
    Also, whilst I think of it, do NOT ever use 777 CHMOD permissions – ever. 0777 is highly dangerous, and especially if you don’t know what you are doing such as by using other ways to protect folders (0777 basically gives global (anyone) permissions write to and execute the files … it’s been called the number of the beast by some web experts, & most good web hosts also will not allow it to be used for security reasons). When a developer recommends using 0777, I will always totally ignore it & I will use 0755 instead – you’ll find that the plugin concerned will almost always still work fine…if it doesn’t, then drop it and find another plugin….fast. Folders are often set at 0755 & files such as images are often 0644. BTW, I found that using a (free) online CHMOD tool really helped me understand file permissions easily & quickly.

    Good luck Matt! – all the best.
    Regards, Karen,

    (BTW, you can also install new themes via the back end of your site, even on a local build – that’s accomplished by logging into your site, clicking the “Appearance” tab, then the “Themes” tab, and uploading it there via the upload themes function..)

    Hi Karen,

    Wow! Thank-you so much!! you my friend are a saint!!

    Thanks to you, hours of head-scratching was solved in an instant by simply just unzipping the theme and placing it in the correct folder!

    I no longer need worry about the headaches of changing file permissions!

    Your second post was what I was trying to do in the first place but it was this method that was causing the error message saying ‘unable to move theme to d:\wamp/www/wp-content/uploads/2011’

    Thank-you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed solution in lamens terms! haha. It was clear, simple to understand and very much appreciated!

    Kind Regards,
    Matt

    Hi Matt,
    Thanks for the thanks! it made my day, & was really nice to have someone take the time to say thanks. Glad I was able to be of help.

    Regards, Karen

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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