Installing the Joomla
Installing Joomla involves seven steps:
1. Language selection
2. Preinstallation check
3. License acceptance
4. Database connection
5. FTP configuration
6. Main configuration
7. Finalizing
Here’s how the process works: When you copy the Joomla files to the host
server, you copy a file named index.php, written in the PHP online programming
language. When you navigate to the directory containing index.php,
that file runs, starting the installation. The primary job of the installation actually
is to write a file named configuration.php that runs from then on,
starting Joomla whenever you navigate to the directory where you installed
the program. The configuration.php file stores the answers you give
Joomla during the installation process.
You can find the official Joomla installation manual online at http://
help.joomla.org/content/section/48/302/. But an even better set
of installation instructions is at http://dev.joomla.org/content/
view/2013/93/.
Selecting the language
The first of the seven steps is selecting a language. Follow these steps:
1. Navigate to your site on the ISP’s server (for the example in this chapter,
www.myjoomla123.com).
You see the first Joomla installation page (see Figure 2-9).
One of the big attractions of Joomla is that it’s international, with many
languages available. Surprisingly, however, only British English is available
— not American English.
2. Select the only English option: en-GB - English (United Kingdom).
3. Click the Next button.
Doing the preinstallation check
Clicking Next in the Choose Language page navigates you to the next page,
Pre-Installation Check (see Figure 2-10).
A Joomla installation involves a lot of technology — Web server, FTP, MySQL,
PHP, and so on — and it would be a big pain to have to track down the correct
settings of all those components from your ISP and check them against
the minimum requirements in the Joomla documentation. No worries. Joomla
looks up those items for you during the preinstallation check. Make sure that
all items in the top pane on this page read Yes (if you don’t see Yes, ask your
ISP’s tech staff about it):
It’s particularly important to make sure that configuration.php is writable,
meaning that the file can be created and written on your server to store your
configuration when you start Joomla from now on. If not, you need to change
the permission setting of the folder on the host server where you copied the
Joomla files. An FTP application lets you change permissions; check with your
ISP for the best setting.
This page also displays a list of recommended settings. If you’re installing
Joomla on an ISP’s server, you don’t have a heck of a lot of choice about
these settings, because they’re made by the ISP’s tech staff. Following are the
settings we recommend for the example in this chapter
Everything agrees except the Display Errors setting for PHP, which most ISPs
set to On.
If you want to change the settings in this page, you can click the Check Again
button and make your changes, but we recommend starting the installation
over again instead.
When you’re satisfied with the preinstallation check, click the Next button.
Accepting the license
Clicking Next in the Pre-Installation Check page takes you to page 3 of the
installation process: the License page.
Joomla uses the GNU general public license (a popular software license created
by Free Software Foundation, Inc.), which gives you broad rights. You
should at least scan the text of the document before clicking the Next button,
which means that you accept the license.
Connecting to the database
Clicking Next in the License page brings up the Database Configuration page,
shown filled out in
This page is super-important, because Joomla doesn’t store the pages in your
site as actual pages at all — but as entries in a MySQL database. When you
navigate to the page in question, Joomla extracts the content from the database
and constructs its HTML page on the fly. You have to get the database
connection right, because if you can’t connect Joomla to MySQL, your site
isn’t going to run.
If you followed along with the examples earlier in this chapter, you set all this
information when you configured MySQL.
MySQL is notoriously finicky about usernames and passwords; case counts.
Make sure that you pay attention to the difference between, say, Steve and
steve.
When you finish, click Next. Joomla tests the connection to the database, and
if everything works properly, it takes you to the next page.
Setting the FTP configuration
After a successful test of the database connection, Joomla displays the FTP
Configuration page
You don’t need to configure the FTP server if you’re installing in Windows.
This page has mostly to do with Linux and other Unix hosts, because they
can be a little finicky about file permissions. Later, if you have problems with
uploading files to Joomla (such as image files or new templates), you can use
the built-in FTP server (called the FTP layer) or your own FTP application to
upload the files to the correct directories.
If you need to configure the built-in Joomla FTP server, follow these steps:
1. Enter an FTP username and password.
This step creates the FTP account to handle all file-system tasks if
Joomla needs FTP access.
2. Enter the root path.
If your Joomla installation is in the main (root) directory of your site,
simply enter a forward slash (/) in the FTP Root Path text box.
3. Click the Verify FTP Settings button.
You should get a confirmation dialog box.
4. Click OK to close the dialog box.
5. When you’re done with the FTP Configuration page, click Next.
Setting the main configuration
Clicking Next in the FTP Configuration page brings up the Main Configuration
page, which lets you set information about your new Joomla site.
To enter the main configuration settings, follow these steps:
1. Enter the name of your new Joomla site in the Site Name text box.
This name will appear when you log in as an administrator. (For this
example, we’re using Joomla Super Jungle.)
2. Enter an administrator e-mail address in the Your E-Mail text box.
When you log into your new site, you’ll be the super administrator (no
cape or tights required). This fine-sounding title is as high as you can
get in Joomla. The super administrator has maximum control of the site.
(Just try not to let all that power go to your head.)
You can have several super administrators, but you can’t delete a super
administrator account.
Make sure that you enter a valid e-mail address, so that users of your
site can contact you.
3. Enter and then confirm the administrator password you want to use.
Please remember this password. (You don’t need to tattoo it on your
forearm, but you may want to jot it down; you’re going to need it
throughout this book.)
As the super administrator, your username will be admin. You can
change it later (which is a good security measure), but when you’re logging
in as the super administrator, use admin at least to start.
Joomla gives you the option of installing some sample data to see how
the site works, and unless you’re an experienced Joomla user, you
should definitely do that.
4. Select the Install Default Sample Data radio button; then click the
Install Sample Data command button (see Figure 2-13).
When you complete this step, the Install Sample Data button changes to
the Sample Data Installed Successfully! button.
If you don’t install the sample data, your Joomla installation starts off
blank, and your home page is nearly empty. You may want to set things
up this way later, when you’re creating sites for clients, but if you’re
installing Joomla for the first time, load the sample data so that you can
understand the structure of a Joomla site by playing around with the
various management tools.
5. Click Next.
Later, you can also use the Main Configuration page to install a backup copy of
the Joomla data from another Joomla installation, using a Joomla 1.5–compatible
SQL script file, or you can migrate data from a previous version of Joomla. For
details, check the Joomla! 1.5 Migration Guide at http://help.joomla.org/
content/view/1933/294/.
Finishing the installation
Clicking Next in the Main Configuration page takes you to the Finish page
(see Figure 2-14).
You’re all set — nearly. Note the message on the right side of the page, which
reminds you to remove the installation directory.
Pay attention to this message; you really do need to remove the installation
directory before you continue. Joomla requires this step for security reasons:
Details about your site are stored in the installation directory, and you don’t
want those details hanging around.
To delete the Joomla installation directory, connect to your site in your FTP
program, and delete the directory there. (In FileZilla, for example, you rightclick
the installation directory and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.)
As an alternative, you could rename the installation directory, but you have
no reason to keep it around.
After you delete the installation directory, you’re ready to roll. You can click
the Site button to visit your new Joomla site or click the Admin button to
go to the administrator control panel. Skip to “Looking at Your New Joomla
Site,” later in this chapter, which covers both options.
Installing Joomla involves seven steps:
1. Language selection
2. Preinstallation check
3. License acceptance
4. Database connection
5. FTP configuration
6. Main configuration
7. Finalizing
Here’s how the process works: When you copy the Joomla files to the host
server, you copy a file named index.php, written in the PHP online programming
language. When you navigate to the directory containing index.php,
that file runs, starting the installation. The primary job of the installation actually
is to write a file named configuration.php that runs from then on,
starting Joomla whenever you navigate to the directory where you installed
the program. The configuration.php file stores the answers you give
Joomla during the installation process.
You can find the official Joomla installation manual online at http://
help.joomla.org/content/section/48/302/. But an even better set
of installation instructions is at http://dev.joomla.org/content/
view/2013/93/.
Selecting the language
The first of the seven steps is selecting a language. Follow these steps:
1. Navigate to your site on the ISP’s server (for the example in this chapter,
www.myjoomla123.com).
You see the first Joomla installation page (see Figure 2-9).
One of the big attractions of Joomla is that it’s international, with many
languages available. Surprisingly, however, only British English is available
— not American English.
2. Select the only English option: en-GB - English (United Kingdom).
3. Click the Next button.
Doing the preinstallation check
Clicking Next in the Choose Language page navigates you to the next page,
Pre-Installation Check (see Figure 2-10).
A Joomla installation involves a lot of technology — Web server, FTP, MySQL,
PHP, and so on — and it would be a big pain to have to track down the correct
settings of all those components from your ISP and check them against
the minimum requirements in the Joomla documentation. No worries. Joomla
looks up those items for you during the preinstallation check. Make sure that
all items in the top pane on this page read Yes (if you don’t see Yes, ask your
ISP’s tech staff about it):
It’s particularly important to make sure that configuration.php is writable,
meaning that the file can be created and written on your server to store your
configuration when you start Joomla from now on. If not, you need to change
the permission setting of the folder on the host server where you copied the
Joomla files. An FTP application lets you change permissions; check with your
ISP for the best setting.
This page also displays a list of recommended settings. If you’re installing
Joomla on an ISP’s server, you don’t have a heck of a lot of choice about
these settings, because they’re made by the ISP’s tech staff. Following are the
settings we recommend for the example in this chapter
Everything agrees except the Display Errors setting for PHP, which most ISPs
set to On.
If you want to change the settings in this page, you can click the Check Again
button and make your changes, but we recommend starting the installation
over again instead.
When you’re satisfied with the preinstallation check, click the Next button.
Accepting the license
Clicking Next in the Pre-Installation Check page takes you to page 3 of the
installation process: the License page.
Joomla uses the GNU general public license (a popular software license created
by Free Software Foundation, Inc.), which gives you broad rights. You
should at least scan the text of the document before clicking the Next button,
which means that you accept the license.
Connecting to the database
Clicking Next in the License page brings up the Database Configuration page,
shown filled out in
This page is super-important, because Joomla doesn’t store the pages in your
site as actual pages at all — but as entries in a MySQL database. When you
navigate to the page in question, Joomla extracts the content from the database
and constructs its HTML page on the fly. You have to get the database
connection right, because if you can’t connect Joomla to MySQL, your site
isn’t going to run.
If you followed along with the examples earlier in this chapter, you set all this
information when you configured MySQL.
MySQL is notoriously finicky about usernames and passwords; case counts.
Make sure that you pay attention to the difference between, say, Steve and
steve.
When you finish, click Next. Joomla tests the connection to the database, and
if everything works properly, it takes you to the next page.
Setting the FTP configuration
After a successful test of the database connection, Joomla displays the FTP
Configuration page
You don’t need to configure the FTP server if you’re installing in Windows.
This page has mostly to do with Linux and other Unix hosts, because they
can be a little finicky about file permissions. Later, if you have problems with
uploading files to Joomla (such as image files or new templates), you can use
the built-in FTP server (called the FTP layer) or your own FTP application to
upload the files to the correct directories.
If you need to configure the built-in Joomla FTP server, follow these steps:
1. Enter an FTP username and password.
This step creates the FTP account to handle all file-system tasks if
Joomla needs FTP access.
2. Enter the root path.
If your Joomla installation is in the main (root) directory of your site,
simply enter a forward slash (/) in the FTP Root Path text box.
3. Click the Verify FTP Settings button.
You should get a confirmation dialog box.
4. Click OK to close the dialog box.
5. When you’re done with the FTP Configuration page, click Next.
Setting the main configuration
Clicking Next in the FTP Configuration page brings up the Main Configuration
page, which lets you set information about your new Joomla site.
To enter the main configuration settings, follow these steps:
1. Enter the name of your new Joomla site in the Site Name text box.
This name will appear when you log in as an administrator. (For this
example, we’re using Joomla Super Jungle.)
2. Enter an administrator e-mail address in the Your E-Mail text box.
When you log into your new site, you’ll be the super administrator (no
cape or tights required). This fine-sounding title is as high as you can
get in Joomla. The super administrator has maximum control of the site.
(Just try not to let all that power go to your head.)
You can have several super administrators, but you can’t delete a super
administrator account.
Make sure that you enter a valid e-mail address, so that users of your
site can contact you.
3. Enter and then confirm the administrator password you want to use.
Please remember this password. (You don’t need to tattoo it on your
forearm, but you may want to jot it down; you’re going to need it
throughout this book.)
As the super administrator, your username will be admin. You can
change it later (which is a good security measure), but when you’re logging
in as the super administrator, use admin at least to start.
Joomla gives you the option of installing some sample data to see how
the site works, and unless you’re an experienced Joomla user, you
should definitely do that.
4. Select the Install Default Sample Data radio button; then click the
Install Sample Data command button (see Figure 2-13).
When you complete this step, the Install Sample Data button changes to
the Sample Data Installed Successfully! button.
If you don’t install the sample data, your Joomla installation starts off
blank, and your home page is nearly empty. You may want to set things
up this way later, when you’re creating sites for clients, but if you’re
installing Joomla for the first time, load the sample data so that you can
understand the structure of a Joomla site by playing around with the
various management tools.
5. Click Next.
Later, you can also use the Main Configuration page to install a backup copy of
the Joomla data from another Joomla installation, using a Joomla 1.5–compatible
SQL script file, or you can migrate data from a previous version of Joomla. For
details, check the Joomla! 1.5 Migration Guide at http://help.joomla.org/
content/view/1933/294/.
Finishing the installation
Clicking Next in the Main Configuration page takes you to the Finish page
(see Figure 2-14).
You’re all set — nearly. Note the message on the right side of the page, which
reminds you to remove the installation directory.
Pay attention to this message; you really do need to remove the installation
directory before you continue. Joomla requires this step for security reasons:
Details about your site are stored in the installation directory, and you don’t
want those details hanging around.
To delete the Joomla installation directory, connect to your site in your FTP
program, and delete the directory there. (In FileZilla, for example, you rightclick
the installation directory and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.)
As an alternative, you could rename the installation directory, but you have
no reason to keep it around.
After you delete the installation directory, you’re ready to roll. You can click
the Site button to visit your new Joomla site or click the Admin button to
go to the administrator control panel. Skip to “Looking at Your New Joomla
Site,” later in this chapter, which covers both options.
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