Installing WordPress on Your Computer

There are some advantages to installing WordPress on your computer. However, we do not recommend this option for beginners.

It can be tempting to choose to have WordPress on your computer. Advanced users do find several useful advantages to this choice:

• Working offline: You can work without an Internet connection.
• Privacy: Your WordPress site will be safe and private, accessible only to people who can access that computer.
• Free: There are no fees to pay.
• Fast: You don’t need to connect to a remote server.

However, there are also several important disadvantages to using a computer:

• Extra installations needed: You need to download and configure special software for your computer.
• Difficult to get help: You can’t easily show it to other people and ask for help.
• Only one computer: You can access it only from the computer you used to install it.
• Need to move to launch: When you’re ready to make your site public, you need to move everything to a web server and adjust for any differences between the two locations. Moving a WordPress site is not easy for beginners.

Because of these disadvantages, installing on your computer can present significant obstacles for a beginner. Do not take this route until you have more experience.

However, if you do feel comfortable overcoming these obstacles, here are video instructions on how to install WordPress on your computer: