Joomla Tutorial Part One How to install Joomla on your Astahost account

In this first part of my Joomla tutorial I will explain how to download and install the Joomla core package.

First of all we need the latest release of Joomla, you can just use the version that is included in the Fantastico installer but I recommend using the latest most stable release from the Joomla site.

Download it here http://joomlacode.org/gf/download/frsreleaull_Package.zip

Next job is to upload it to your Asta account, you can use an Ftp program for this or do what I do and use Cpanel for this. I normally have a backup directory where I keep all my scripts and packages and then upload it to there.

Next you will need to make a folder underneath the public_html folder, (for this tutorial I will make a folder called Joomla) and then copy the zip file from the backup directory to the Joomla directory using Cpanel – This is the fastest way to deploy the package and also cuts down on your bandwidth usage.

Use Cpanel to navigate to the Joomla directory then click on the zip file and choose Extract file from the menu on the right.

After its been extracted then you can delete the zip file because a copy of it is still in the backup directory.

The next step is to navigate via a browser to the Joomla directory and you should see the Joomla installation page.

Scroll down the page and you should a list of directories that are flagged as Unwritable.

You need to go back into your Cpanel and change the permissions on these directories and sub directories. You have to set all the directories in that list to 777.This takes a while but you can check that your progress by using the “Check Again” button on the top of the Joomla install page or refresh it – the directories that you have changed should now turn green and change to “writable”

When all the directories are green and writable you can click on “next” on the top of the Joomla install page.

Click next again to go past the license screen.

Now the next step of the install routine is to provide Joomla with details of where to puts its data, you will need to jump back to Cpanel and open up the MySql page.

First of all you will need to make a new MSql database for Joomla (yes I know you can put it in an existing Db but for this tutorial I want to use a new database) and assign the permissions to your username.

I don’t know why but I have had odd errors in the past when using the permissions manager when I assign “ALL” permissions to a user so now I tend to uncheck the ALL box and check all the others – basically it does the same thing but this way I have never had an error.

Then you should see a new screen with something like this “Granted permissions on MySql database mark420_joomla to MySql user mark420_mark420”

Of course the username will be different in your case! So don’t use mine because it will not work

Notice the fact that the database is NOT named Joomla but mark420_joomla this is very important! All Xisto MySql databases are prefixed with your username on the front then an underscore then the Db name.

When you have made the Db and given yourself permissions you need to fill out the Joomla install page with the details.

The host name is “localhost” and the rest of the details are the details from the MySql page in Cpanel.

If everything is filled out ok you should get a pop up window telling you that it’s going to install the Joomla data into that Db, just click OK and it should proceed to the next page.

The next page is the Sitename page, this is where you can fill out the name of the site – dont worry you can change this later if you like from the Global Config screen within Joomla.

The next page is the confirmation screen which you have to fill out a password and an email. Note that the default admin login is “admin” and then the password that you supply on this screen so you have to remember it! Or you could lock yourself out.

The next page is the final page, here it will repeat your username and password and also display the configuration.php information.

You need to copy the contents of the text box and open up notepad on your pc and then copy all the contents to it and save it with the filename configuration.php and then upload this file using Cpanel to the Joomla directory...continued below...

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Once this is done you need to remove the “installation” directory and all files and directories below it using Cpanel.

Once you have done this refresh the page and you should see the site with the default data installed into it. For instance this demo site I have made is at URL http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ this is the live site.

To get to the Backend administration page just add “administration” on the end of the URL i.e.http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists//administrator/ this is the backend login for you to login in as “admin” and the password you made earlier on.

Now the fun begins!! You now have a brand new Joomla powered website!!

Look out for my next tutorial explaining the basics of Joomla and how to install new templates/modules/components/mambots.

Good Luck and happy Joomlaing

(btw I broke this into two post because I found out you cannot post more than 11 images on one post- grr drove me mad wondering why the last images were links and not thumbs!)

Mark420;))