Installing Drupal

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Many will agree that the installation is the hardest part of Drupal, at least for beginners. I've spend some considerable time writing and rewriting this pages because problems with the installation of Drupal can be the reason why people never come to explore the exciting possibilities of Drupal. And that should be a pity.

Don't be discouraged too fast, an advanced user can install Drupal within 15 minutes or so. Just follow these instructions, and (hopefully) you get there. I always appreciate feedback, also when things worked out fine.

There are 2 different ways of installing Drupal: You can either install it on your own computer (locally) first, or directly on the web.

Directly on the web or locally first?

Besides the fact that drupal.org, the official Drupal-website, recommends it, installing Drupal locally gives you the big advantage that you can test out the site, and/or learn how to use Drupal before going 'live'. Another benefit is that when in doubt of adding a module or changing a theme, you have a test-environment where you can examine the result. There is one downside, though. Setting up Drupal locally requires the extra effort of downloading and installing a program that 'plays' as server on your computer, and that you have to upload your site to the web when it's 'ready'. When in doubt what to do, try at least a local installation.

Drupal can be installed on the web directly, and should work when your webserver fulfills the Drupal-requirements. In that case, you can start using Drupal very fast, and you avoid the hassle of uploading your site. But the big disadvantage is that you can't mess it up anymore, especially when your site starts to attract more and more visitors.

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