Skip to content

WP Database GUI

It sounds like you want to continue the installation process by creating the database WordPress needs. Here's a guide to creating the necessary database and user, assuming you are using a standard local server environment like XAMPP, MAMP, or a manually installed LAMP/WAMP stack.

Step-by-Step: Creating the WordPress Database

You will use a web interface called phpMyAdmin, which is included with most pre-built local server packages, to create and manage your database.

1. Access phpMyAdmin

  • Start your local server (Apache/Nginx and MySQL/MariaDB services).
  • Open your web browser and navigate to the phpMyAdmin interface. This is typically one of the following addresses:
    • http://localhost/phpmyadmin
    • http://127.0.0.1/phpmyadmin
    • If using MAMP, you'll usually find a "Tools" or "phpMyAdmin" link on the MAMP start page.

2. Create the Database

Once inside phpMyAdmin:

  1. Click the "New" button in the left sidebar, or click the "Databases" tab at the top.
  2. In the "Create database" field, enter a name for your database. We'll use local_wordpress for this example.
  3. Select a collation (encoding) like utf8mb4_unicode_ci for best international support.
  4. Click the "Create" button.

The database is now created, but WordPress also needs credentials (a username and password) to access it.

For development, you can often use the default root user. However, creating a dedicated user is better practice:

  1. While in phpMyAdmin, click on the local_wordpress database you just created in the left sidebar.
  2. Click the "Privileges" tab at the top.
  3. Click "Add user account".
  4. Fill in the details:
    • User name: Choose a name like wpuser.
    • Host name: Select Local or type localhost.
    • Password: Create a strong password and confirm it.
  5. Under "Database privileges," check the box that says "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES" on the database named local_wordpress.
  6. Click "Go" at the bottom right.

4. Update the WordPress Configuration

After creating the database and user, you need to tell WordPress how to connect.

  1. Navigate to the folder where you placed your WordPress files (e.g., /srv/http/wordpress).
  2. Rename the file wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php.
  3. Open wp-config.php in a text editor (like VS Code, Notepad++, or Atom).
  4. Find the following lines and update the values with your database credentials:
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'local_wordpress' );

/** MySQL database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'wpuser' );

/** MySQL database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'YourStrongPasswordHere' );

/** MySQL hostname */
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );
  1. Save and close the wp-config.php file.

Now you can proceed to the final step: running the web installation wizard by visiting http://localhost/your-wordpress-folder/ in your browser.