Unzip Where? Revised

Use the code tag to indent next time ??

If you put wordpress in a folder named WordPress, then your URL will be localhost/wordpress

If you don’t want that, put the files and folders at the same level of cgi-bin

Understood. Thank you for advising. It’s puzzling to see an application install within another (Apache) so I thought I’d better ask. (I have a feeling I’ll be back.)

Ah, well Apache isn’t an ‘application’ in the sense that Word or Excel are applications.

And really, the location depends on how you installed apache. Most of the time, folks recommend you put apache in its own folder and use user folders for running websites, but local installs are different from server ??

I generally suggest WAMP and MAMP to setup webservers on my local box.

> Ah, well Apache isn’t an ‘application’

Well, yes, but…I’ve so far worked with Dreamweaver, and its installation sure isn’t nested under Intepub and IIS. Hence my puzzlement.

Sure wish I’d known about WAMP before separately and manually setting up Apache/PHP/MySQL. (I’m entirely new to AMP). One residual problem: I can’t find anywhere a script or step-by-step instructions for setting up Apache as an automatic service on boot-up (listening at port 8080). It seems I will have to remember to start Apache manually every time.

Sure wish I’d known about WAMP before separately and manually setting up Apache/PHP/MySQL. (I’m entirely new to AMP).

In my opinion, your thinking is backwards. You are doing yourself a huge disservice by not pursuing, properly installing, and understanding the relationship between the individual apps and how they interact. Installing these apps individually on a windows box (if you absolutely must use windows) is a gratifying and well earned learning experience once you’ve done it correctly. But even if you use a pre-packaged WAMP install, web root is web root. Read the Docs on your pre-packaged environment of choice. Apache installs as a service as part of the setup dialog in most cases. There should be no need for starting it manually if properly installed.

Well, yes, but…I’ve so far worked with Dreamweaver, and its installation sure isn’t nested under Intepub and IIS. Hence my puzzlement.

Apples and oranges. Dreamweaver is an instrument of development and design. It has nothing to do with proper server configuration, and certainly wouldn’t be installed in a web accessible directory. Web apps (including WordPress) are served from the defined web-root, or a sub-directory therein, or as otherwise defined in virtual host container configurations.

Whew! A tongue-lashing. I have indeed spent a lot of time learning how to install Apache/PHP/MySQL individually. The problem of Apache not installing as a service presumably stems from having to choose the second of the following options:

(o) for All Users, on Port 80, as a Service — Recommended
(o) only for the Current User, on Port 8080, when started Manually.

and that because Dreamweaver uses IIS, needs port 80 and somewhere I read that a port cannot be shared. So since the auto-service was not set up by the install package, I was trying to find out how to do so.

As for “doing yourself a huge disservice by not pursuing, properly installing, and understanding the relationship between the individual apps and how they interact”, for some of us this is not the be-all and end-all, this being a WordPress forum. I’m anxious to get this thing set up so as to establish a website of which I am the principal editor.

A tongue lashing? Really? While I find that a little humorous, I don’t share your perspective. As just one individual among many here who has installed and configured these applications individually and in pre-packaged “stack” form on a wide variety of platforms more times than I can remember, I simply responded in context based on the level of knowledge you appear to present in your own comments.

As you already know, IIS and Apache are both web servers. I think in most cases, I can’t remember many occasions to find both running on the same machine for the purpose of serving documents to the web – for the obvious reasons – I’m sure there are exceptions. Perhaps Dreamweaver works with Apache as well? That might be something worth exploring.

I think it’s not unusual to find that pre-packaged “WAMP” or “stack” installers are intended to provide a user with a working development environment on a machine that is not meant to be exposed to the web. I also think it’s very easy for serious issues to arise when people assume that they can simply one-click install something like WAMP on their Windows XP/Vista/Whatever, desktop computer, set up a site and expose it to the web without really understanding what they are doing.

Which leads me back to my original statement: I still think you are doing yourself a huge disservice by not pursuing, properly installing, and understanding the relationship between the individual apps and how they interact. The fact that you more than implied that you had already done that, led me to believe you had a little knowledge about what you were doing. That’s all.

for some of us this is not the be-all and end-all, this being a WordPress forum. I’m anxious to get this thing set up so as to establish a website of which I am the principal editor.

I happen to agree with you completely. Teaching people how to install, properly configure and secure the server side applications required to run WordPress is substantially beyond the scope of this venue… which is, as you know, a WordPress Forum. Not a forum on how to build a server. But you’ll still find lots of good information on doing just that.

If you get some time, do some light reading in the wamp documentation, as well as maybe Dreamweaver interoperability (although I’m not sure how serious an issue it will actually be when working locally with no ftp transfers to be concerned with) – and also the Apache documentation. That might place a lot of context on issues you are going to encounter further down the line. ie… why your permalinks won’t work, why your domain won’t resolve to your localhost address, configuring name based virtual hosts, etc.. Lots of good stuff to be found.

My sympathies that you mistook my comments for a “tongue lashing”. Certainly not what I intended. Best of luck to you, and hope to see your site on the web soon!!! Take care.

Cj.

Thank you for taking so much time with me, and for your courteous manner. I am now embarrassed for mistaking you for a scold.
This is a second website our group is setting up. The first was built with Dreamweaver with an IIS localhost a few years ago. This time around I wanted us to take advantage of WordPress’ vast capabilities. Hence the strange partners on at least this machine meant only for development and not exposed to the web (unless I’ve done something wrong). We already have a parallel setup at a web host, courtesy of Fantastico, at least to the extent of seeing the Dashboard.
I should look into switching Dreamweaver to Apache, as you suggest, which would simplify. Thanks also for the advice of reading WAMP documentation and for the heads-up about the deeper knowledge I’m likely to need going forward. It’s a pretty steep learning curve, not least because the documentation so heavily uses the field’s terminology as if the reader already knows what he is there to learn.

There is no law that says a webmaster MUST be savvy in all things. Just because I can build a web server manually doesnt mean I wont use MAMP to make it easy to set up a Mac for local hosting and testing ?? it’s good to learn how it all works, but you don’t have to start in the deep end, IMO.