Install WordPress on Apple/Mac

With this article we show you how to set up a WordPress blog locally on your Mac. We describe two ways to install WordPress, where the installation via "Bitnami" is much easier and faster than the installation via "XAMPP" and "PHPMyAdmin".

Why should you install WordPress on your Mac?

There may be several reasons to install WordPress on your Mac. For example, if you don't want to rent hosting yet, but still want to get up close and personal with WordPress, a local installation makes sense. This way you will not incur any unnecessary costs for WordPress hosting. A second reason could be the testing of certain functions that you would like to try out before integrating them into your live page.

Use "Bitnami" to install WordPress locally on your Mac

As already mentioned, this way of installation is the fastest and easiest. Bitnami provides ready-made packages of more than 130 applications for various platforms. The WordPress package already contains everything you need to run WordPress on your Mac and can be installed with just a few clicks.

The following steps are necessary for the installation via "Bitnami":

1. Download the version for OS-X 64 Bit from https://bitnami.com/stack/wordpress/installer You have to create an account at Bitnami, but you can register with the usual SocialMedia- or Google-Account. The installation file is about 165 Mbyte in size.
2. Open the installation file and double-click on the WordPress icon.
3. Confirm the security message of the operating system
4. Select language
5. Follow the other on-screen instructions
6. When all entries have been made, the installation process should start, see screenshot

When everything has worked, the installation process opens your web browser:

Your WordPress page is available at the address: http://localhost:8080/wordpress/. The administration interface can be found at the address: http://localhost:8080/wordpress/wp-admin/

Installation via XAMPP

The installation is a bit more complicated if you do the installation via XAMPP. Here are some more steps and setup processes to overcome. XAMPP is a completely free, easy to install Apache distribution that includes Apache, Maria DB, PHP and Perl (these things are needed as a "substructure" for WordPress).

1. Get the latest version of XAMPP and PHPMyAdmin:
   XAMPP: https://www.apachefriends.org/de/index.html PHPMyAdmin: https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/
2. Install XAMPP, follow the installation instructions
3. Copy the PHPMyAdmin data into your server directory
4. Call up the local address of the PHPMyAdmin pages
5. Create a new database in PHPMyAdmin by clicking on "Create new database".
6. Assign a database name and choose the character set "utf8_general_ci" under "Collation" - note down the database name, you will need it later for the setup of WordPress
7. With a click on "OK" you confirm the data and the database will be created.
8. Switch to the "Rights" tab and add a database user, assign a password and select the "local" option in the "Host" setting. Make a note of your password and user, you will also need this data to set up your WordPress installation.
9. Download the latest WordPress version: https://de.wordpress.org/download/
10. Extract the data and copy it into the folder of your XAMPP server. The folder is called "htdocs" and is located in the root directory of your Mac.
11. Now call the address: http://localhost/wp-admin/install.php in your browser.
12. The installation process first reports that the configuration file "wp-config.php" is missing. Click on "Create the configuration file". "
13. Click on "Let's go" and let's go
14. Now you need the previously noted access data to the database: Enter all requested information and click on "send".
15. The next step is to enter a name for your blog and create the admin account.
16. Now click on "Install WordPress"
17. If everything worked out, you can access your local WordPress installation under the address: http://localhost/

Migration/copy of an existing blog

The Bitnami installation comes with a plugin for importing and exporting existing blog data. With the plugin "All-in-One WP Migration" you are able to migrate your existing blog locally to your Mac with just a few clicks. You install the plugin on the WordPress system that you want to copy into your local installation. There you export all data including pictures and database via this plugin. You can then import the "export package" into your local WordPress installation using the plugin. You create an image of your live page and can now make local changes and test. Also for this no programming knowledge is necessary.

You can find the "All-in-One WP Migration" Plugin here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/

Conclusion: The installation of WordPress on a Mac is very easy.

As mentioned above, the installation via "Bitnami" is very easy and fast (about 10 minutes). The second way is a bit more complicated. Due to the many things to keep in mind when installing via XAMPP, errors can easily creep in. However, the XAMPP installation is always recommended if you want to test other programs or tools on your Mac that need this environment.