Lesson 02: Setting Up Local WP + Creating Your First Site

Objectives

• Install Local WP on your computer
• Create your first local WordPress site
• Log into wp-admin for the first time
• Understand the Local WP interface

What is Local WP?

Local (formerly Local by Flywheel) is a free desktop application that creates a complete WordPress development environment on your computer. It bundles everything WordPress needs:

• Web server (Apache or Nginx)
• PHP (the programming language WordPress uses)
• MySQL (the database)

No complicated setup required — it handles everything with a few clicks.

Why Local WP instead of XAMPP/WAMP?

• One-click site creation — no manual configuration
• Built specifically for WordPress — optimized experience
• Easy to manage multiple sites — each project gets its own environment
• Live Links — share your local site temporarily with clients (built-in)
• Free — no cost for the features you need

Step 1: Download and Install Local WP

1. Go to https://localwp.com/
2. Click "Download for Free"
3. Select your platform (Windows)
4. Fill in the form (you can use any email) and download
5. Run the installer:
   • Accept the license agreement
   • Choose installation location (default is fine)
   • Wait for installation to complete
6. Launch Local WP

First Launch

When you first open Local, it may:

• Ask you to create a free Local account (optional — you can skip this)
• Request firewall permissions — allow these (it needs to run a local web server)
• Show a welcome screen — click through it

Step 2: Create Your First WordPress Site

1. Click the big "+ Create a new site" button (or the + icon in the bottom-left)

2. Select "Create a new site" (not "Create from Blueprint")

3. Enter your site name: "Learning WordPress"

   • Local will automatically generate a domain like learning-wordpress.local
   • Click "Continue"

4. Choose your environment:

   • Select "Preferred" (this uses the recommended PHP and MySQL versions)
   • Click "Continue"

5. Set up WordPress credentials:

   • WordPress Username: admin
   • WordPress Password: admin (this is local-only, so a simple password is fine)
   • WordPress Email: your email (or any email — it's local)
   • Click "Add Site"

6. Wait for Local to set everything up (this takes 1-2 minutes)

Step 3: Explore the Local WP Interface

Once your site is created, you'll see the site dashboard in Local:

Top Section

• Site name and local URL (e.g., learning-wordpress.local)
• Stop/Start button — starts or stops the local server for this site
• Site status indicator — green means running

Overview Tab

• Site Domain — the URL to access your site
• SSL — you can enable HTTPS (click "Trust" to add the certificate)
• Web Server — Apache or Nginx
• PHP Version — the PHP version being used
• Database — MySQL or MariaDB version

Important Buttons

• "Open Site" — opens your site's front-end in the browser (what visitors see)
• "WP Admin" — opens the WordPress admin dashboard (where you manage everything)
• "Open Site Folder" — opens the file system where WordPress files are stored

Other Tabs

• Database — access to Adminer (a database management tool)
• Tools — Mailhog (catches emails sent by WordPress locally)

Step 4: Log Into WordPress for the First Time

1. Make sure your site is running (green status in Local)
2. Click "WP Admin" button in Local
3. Your browser will open the WordPress login page
4. Enter your credentials:
   • Username: admin
   • Password: admin
5. Click "Log In"

Congratulations! You're now in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Bookmark These URLs

• Your site: http://learning-wordpress.local/
• Admin dashboard: http://learning-wordpress.local/wp-admin/

Step 5: Quick Tour of What You See

Don't worry about understanding everything yet — we'll cover each part in detail. For now, just notice:

The Left Sidebar (Admin Menu)

This is your main navigation. You'll see:

• Dashboard — overview and welcome screen
• Posts — blog posts
• Media — images and files
• Pages — static pages
• Comments — blog comments
• Appearance — themes, menus, widgets
• Plugins — installed plugins
• Users — user accounts
• Tools — import/export
• Settings — site configuration

The Top Bar (Admin Bar)

• Links to visit your site
• Quick links to create new content
• Your user profile

Step 6: Visit Your Site

1. In wp-admin, hover over your site name in the top-left of the admin bar
2. Click "Visit Site"
3. You'll see the default WordPress site with a default theme

It won't look like much yet — that's normal! We'll transform it into a professional site throughout this course.

Managing Your Site in Local WP

Stopping and Starting

• You don't need to keep your site running all the time
• Click "Stop Site" when you're done working
• Click "Start Site" when you want to work again
• Your content and settings are preserved between sessions

Creating Additional Sites

• You can create as many sites as you want
• Each gets its own WordPress installation and database
• Useful for practice projects later in this course

Where Are the Files?

Click "Open Site Folder" in Local to see:

your-site/
├── app/          ← WordPress installation lives here
│   └── public/   ← The actual WordPress files
│       ├── wp-admin/       ← Admin dashboard files (don't edit)
│       ├── wp-content/     ← YOUR stuff: themes, plugins, uploads
│       │   ├── themes/     ← Theme files
│       │   ├── plugins/    ← Plugin files
│       │   └── uploads/    ← Media you upload
│       ├── wp-includes/    ← Core WordPress files (don't edit)
│       └── wp-config.php   ← Database connection settings
├── conf/         ← Server configuration
└── logs/         ← Error logs

Important: The only folder you'll ever work in is wp-content/. Never edit files in wp-admin/ or wp-includes/.

Troubleshooting

"Site won't start"

• Try restarting Local WP
• Check if another program is using port 80 (like Skype or IIS)
• In Local, go to Preferences and try changing the router mode

"Can't access the site in the browser"

• Make sure the site is running (green indicator in Local)
• Try flushing your DNS: open Command Prompt and run ipconfig /flushdns
• Try a different browser

"Forgot the admin password"

• In Local, right-click the site → "Open Site Shell"
• Run: wp user update admin --user_pass=admin

Exercises

1. Create your site: Follow the steps above to install Local WP and create a "Learning WordPress" site.

2. Log in to wp-admin: Access the dashboard and click through each item in the left sidebar — just to see what's there. Don't change anything yet.

3. Visit your site: View the front-end and note what the default theme looks like.

4. Find the files: Click "Open Site Folder" and navigate to the wp-content folder. Look at the themes and plugins folders to see what's installed by default.

5. Stop and restart: Practice stopping your site and starting it again to confirm everything works.

Key Takeaways

• Local WP is the easiest way to run WordPress on your computer
• Create sites with just a few clicks — no server configuration needed
• Access your site at http://your-site-name.local/
• Access admin at http://your-site-name.local/wp-admin/
• The wp-content folder is where themes, plugins, and uploads live
• Never edit files in wp-admin/ or wp-includes/
• Stop your site when you're not using it, start it when you are

Next Lesson: Lesson 03 - The WordPress Dashboard Tour