Before installing WordPress…

… You need to check:

1. That your host fulfills the necessary conditions (no panic, most of them meet it).
2. That you have the skills (do not worry, it’s not so difficult).

These two conditions should not be a problem, but it is wise to check it before you start.

Do you have the necessary tools?

Browsers

This seems obvious, but you need a browser to allows you to view your site and log into the Administrator interface.

In general, we recommend instead the standards compliant browsers such as Firefox, Opera, Safari (Mac), Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc.

Text editors

You must know how to use a text editor to edit the main configuration files. If you are a Windows user, Notepad will be ok for the moment. Later you may want to change the page templates. You can do it from the WordPress admin interface, but it is strongly recommended to use a good text editor:

• Mac : TextWangler2, Smultron, SubEthaEdit, Taco HTML Edit, …
• Windows: ConTEXT, TsWebEditor, Notepad++ …
• Linux: Gedit, …

FTP clients

You will need to use a FTP program for file transfer from your computer to the server and possibly change the permissions.

• Mac : RBrowser (freeware), Transmit (commercial).
• Windows : FileZilla, Smart FTP
• Linux : Gftp