For the purpose of practicing you can install and run WordPress on your computer. This way you can practice WordPress for ever for FREE.

To do so we need to download and install a software that create a server for WordPress on your computer. Follow the steps below to setup the server:

FREE WordPress Website with XAMPP:

1. Download and Install XAMPP:
   1. Visit the official XAMPP website and download the version for your operating system.
   2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts. You can leave the default components checked during installation.
2. Start the Services:
   1. Once XAMPP is installed, launch the XAMPP Control Panel.
   2. Start the Apache and MySQL services.
3. Create a Database for WordPress:
   1. In your web browser, visit    http://localhost/phpmyadmin/
   2. Click on “Databases” and create a new database. You might name it “wordpress” for simplicity.
4. Download and Install WordPress:
   1. Download the latest version of WordPress from the official website.
   2. Extract the zip file.
   3. Navigate to the htdocs folder in your XAMPP installation directory (typically C:\xampp\htdocs on Windows).
   4. Create a new folder inside htdocs (this will be your website’s directory) and name it something relevant, e.g., “mytestsite”.
   5. Move the extracted WordPress files into this folder.
5. Run the WordPress Installation:
   1. In your web browser, visit    http://localhost/yourfoldername/  (replace “yourfoldername” with whatever you named your folder in the previous step, e.g., “mytestsite”).
   2. You’ll see the WordPress setup wizard.
   3. Choose your language and click “Continue”.
   4. The next screen will tell you what you need to proceed. Click “Let’s go!”.
   5. Fill in the database details:
      1. Database Name: The name of the database you created (e.g., “wordpress“).
      2. Username: “root” (default for XAMPP).
      3. Password: Leave this blank (default for XAMPP).
      4. Database Host: “localhost”.
      5. Table Prefix: You can leave it as is, or change if you want.
   6. Click “Submit” and then “Run the installation”.
   7. Fill out site details, including site title, username, password, and email. This will be the admin account for your local WordPress installation.
   8. Click “Install WordPress”.
6. Install Themes and Plugins:
   1. Now that WordPress is installed, you can access the dashboard by going to http://localhost/yourfoldername/wp-admin/.
   2. You can install themes and plugins just as you would on a live website. However, since you’re offline, you’ll often need to manually upload plugin and theme files rather than searching and adding them directly from the WordPress repository.
7. Practice:
   1. Now you can practice building your site, creating posts, customizing themes, etc. Everything is stored locally, and your site is only accessible on your computer.

If during Step 5 you faced an error please go to the WordPress folder as shown below:

Manually Create the wp-config.php File:

• In the WordPress folder (htdocs/yourfoldername/), you should see a file named wp-config-sample.php.
• Make a copy of this file in the same directory and rename it to wp-config.php.
• Open wp-config.php in a text editor.
• Locate the following lines:
  • define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name_here’); 
  • define(‘DB_USER’, ‘username_here’); 
  • define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘password_here’); 
  • define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’);
• Update these lines with your database details:
  • define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘wordpress’); // Use your database name
  • define(‘DB_USER’, ‘root’); // Default XAMPP username
  • define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ”); // Default XAMPP password is blank
  • define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’);
• Save the wp-config.php file.

Remember, when working locally, you won’t receive automatic updates (because you’re not connected to the internet). If you need to update plugins, themes, or WordPress itself, you’ll need to do it manually by downloading the latest versions and replacing the files.

Finally, while working on a local environment is great for development and testing, make sure to regularly back up your work, especially if you plan to migrate your site to a live server in the future.

Theme & Plugin Installation

When you encounter the FTP credential prompt or the directory creation error on a local WordPress installation, it often relates to permission issues. WordPress needs certain permissions to write files and create directories. Here’s how to resolve these issues:

1. FTP Credential Prompt Fix:

This happens because WordPress is unable to write directly to the wp-content folder. You can configure WordPress to directly handle file writes without FTP by adding a line to the wp-config.php file.

1. Navigate to the directory where you installed WordPress on XAMPP. It should be something like C:\xampp\htdocs\yourfoldername.
2. Open wp-config.php in a text editor.
3. Add the following line towards the top, after the <?php tag:
   1. define(‘FS_METHOD’, ‘direct’);
4. Save the file and try to install the theme again from the WordPress dashboard.

2. Directory Creation Error Fix:

If you’re unable to create a directory, it typically relates to permission problems. Here’s how to change those permissions:

Windows:

1. Navigate to the wp-content directory in your WordPress installation (e.g., C:\xampp\htdocs\yourfoldername\wp-content).
2. Right-click on the wp-content folder and select “Properties”.
3. Go to the “Security” tab.
4. Click the “Edit” button to change permissions.
5. Highlight “Everyone” in the Group or user names box. If “Everyone” isn’t there, you may need to add it by clicking the “Add” button.
6. With “Everyone” highlighted, check the box under “Allow” next to “Full control”.
7. Click “Apply” and then “OK”.

Mac (if someone is using XAMPP or another local server on macOS):

1. Open Terminal.
2. Navigate to the directory where WordPress is installed, for instance
   1. cd /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/yourfoldername
3. Change permissions for the wp-content directory:
   1. sudo chmod -R 777 wp-content

This command gives full read-write-execute permissions to the wp-content directory and all its subdirectories. While this is fine for a local development environment, you’d never want to use such open permissions on a live server.

After making these changes, you should be able to install themes and plugins without any issues from your WordPress dashboard.