Quick install for beginners

Set up a Domain and point it to the directory containing Drupal's files To set up and configure a domain name which points to this new directory, you will need to refer to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). This process can be accomplished in a variety of ways and the process is specific to the tools provided by your ISP. In general you want to: Register a Domain Name e.g. http://example.com. Configure your hosting account to use this domain name. Point the domain name to your new folder/directory, which contains the uncompressed Drupal files Note: These steps can take some time. Many ISPs provide an ‘Add Domain’ function, which allows you to simply specify the domain name to be used and the directory which it points to. It can take minutes or hours for this setup to go into effect. If you are registering a sub-domain, the portion of the name that is before the domain name, perhaps in place of the ‘www’ (e.g. http://internal.example.com), these tend to process almost immediately, but again it depends on your ISP. Create the configuration file and grant permissions In order to set up your new site, it is necessary to be able to modify the settings.php file via your browser. By default when you unarchive these files, only the default.settings.php file exists and the permissions are set to Read Only. You will need to copy the file, rename it to settings.php, and then temporarily change the permissions so that the server can Read and Write to this file when a user makes changes via a web browser. You then need to move up one level to the /sites directory and change the permission on the /default directory (folder), as this is the place where files created or uploaded via the web interface will be stored. Copy the file default.settings.php and rename it to settings.php Use your ISP’s file manager to navigate to the /sites/default directory Select the default.settings.php file (usually done by checking a box next to the file) Copy the file, naming the new copy ‘settings.php’ Change the permissions of the settings.php file. In your ISP’s file manager select the file ‘settings.php’ and click on permissions. Add the permissions for the file to be written by the web server (i.e. web users). If your system is asking you to use a numeric value to CHMOD the file you will want to use 666, this will set the file to be written by anyone. Save your changes. Please note: The installation script that runs when you first visit your site should change the permissions of the ‘settings.php’ file back to read-only when you are finished the initial configuration of your site; however, it is recommended that you check that the permissions for settings.php have been set back to Read Only once you are finished. Change the permissions of the /default directory. In your ISP’s file manager select the /default folder and click on permissions. Add the permissions for the folder to be written by the web server (i.e web users). Save your change. Create the Drupal database You must create a new, empty database for Drupal to use. You must also add a user who has full access to this newly created database. The way in which you create a database will likely depend on your ISP. One of the most popular tools used to administer databases is "phpMyAdmin". It is possible that you will have privileges to create new databases using this tool. However, it is more likely that your ISP provides access to phpMyAdmin so that you can work with content in your database. When you create a new site, the related database must be created using the ISP’s control panel. Option 1: Create a new Database using your ISP’s Control Panel In many cases your ISP will provide you with a database section in your account’s control panel. Here you will be able to create the database, adding a username and password to access the database. The approach and steps here will vary depending on your ISP, but generally you will be specifying: A name for the database to be created (usually a shorthand version of the site name) A username and A password The combination of these three things will be used by your website, and perhaps by you, to administer the new database. Please note: Some ISPs will host the databases on a separate server than the server which hosts your website. In this case, you may also need to specify which server the database is on. Your ISP will let you know if this is necessary. Option 2: Create a new Database using phpMyAdmin From your ISP’s control panel, open phpMyAdmin. In the Create new database field, type the name you want to use for your new Drupal database and then click Create. Click the Privileges tab. Click Add a new User. In the User name field, type the username that you want to add (this will be the username for site to access the database, not your own username). In the drop-down menu beside the Host field, select Local. In the Password and Re-type fields, type a password to use for the new user. In the “Database for user” section, select “Grant all privileges" on the database you just created. In the “Global privileges” section, leave all of the global privileges checkboxes unselected. Click Go. This should mark the end of the work that is necessary it in the ISP’s control. From here we are going to use a web browser to configure your new site. Read more about Creating the Drupal Database. Run the installation script To run the Drupal installation script: Using your web browser, navigate to the base URL of your new website, e.g. http://example.com. (If you have registered a new Domain name and it has has yet to go into effect, it is possible that you will still be able to access the website with a link provided by your ISP or even using a numeric IP address.) When you go to your new website, you should see the Drupal installation page. The installation wizard will guide you through the process of setting up your Drupal website. When you first visit your new website having completed the step above, if you receive an error similar to the following “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{' in .../includes/bootstrap.inc on line 679” it may be because you are attempting to install your new site on a server that is running an old version of PHP. Drupal 7 requires at least PHP 5.2.4. See the system requirements page for more information. On the Select an installation profile page, select Standard. Click Save and continue. On the Choose language page, select English. Click Save and continue. On the Database configuration page, select the type of database that you are using. Type the database name, database username and database password (the same ones you used to set up your database). Please note: If your database host is located on a different server, if your database server is listening to a non-standard port, or if more than one application will be sharing this database then you can configure Drupal options for this by clicking the Advanced options link. Click Save and continue. The Installing Drupal page is displayed. On the Configure site page, do the following: In the Site name field, type the name you want to give your site. In the Site email address field, type the email address that automated messages from your Drupal site will be sent from. In the site maintenance account section, type a username, email address and password to use for the maintenance account. In the server settings section, select a country from the list and then select a time zone. If desired, select Check for updates automatically and Receive email notifications (recommended to keep your site's security up to date). Click Save and continue.

You should see a newly installed Drupal homepage, as shown in the screenshot above. The administrator account is automatically logged in, and if you chose the "Standard" install, the black administration toolbar will be displayed across the top of the page. Installation is complete