WordPress = Hell and frustration!

Are you trying to host it on your own server? If so that’s probably a little ambitious for a beginner — ie you’ve made it unnecessarily difficult for yourself. It is not a problem with WordPress if the web server is not configured correctly before you start.

Get a hosting plan with a decent hosting company if you want the benefit of being able to simply follow the 5-minute install to get up & running. Lots of beginners do mange that with no problems, and the ones who do have problems can get pointed in the right direction by posting on this forum with accurate details of the errors they are experiencing.

Like cubecolour said, the problem you’re having is setting up a server, not installing WordPress.

The “Famous 5-minute installation” doesn’t include server configuration.

Have you read this page of the documentation?
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Installing_WordPress_Locally_on_Your_Mac_With_MAMP

The plan was to set up my mac as a local web server for testing purposes, to see if WordPress is worth anything or not, and learn how it works BEFORE spending money on some domain.

I got Mac OS X Server 10.8, I switched on Web Server, and I can now see the OS X Server website placeholder online through my iphone, by entering my computers IP. So far so good.

Now comes the frustrating task of making WordPress work.
(I’ll try to guide you through my experience, which obviously shows that I’m a web newbie, and might explain why WordPress is such a frustrating product for people like me. But ironically I thought the whole idea of WordPress was to make certain things easier for people like me……)

First I downloaded the latest version of WordPress (3.4.2), unpacked it, and placed it in my webserver directory. I then visit my website again, and now what I see is this:

There doesn’t seem to be a wp-config.php file. I need this before we can get started.

Okay, I guess this is standard when first installing WordPress? I click the big button called:

Create a Configuration File

Next I’m informed that I need several database information:

Database name
Database username
Database password
Database host
Tabel prefix

I have no idea what this is and where I should have had this information from during the installation process.
I check the requirements again for WordPress, and notice that all I need is:

PHP version 5.2.4 or greater
MySQL version 5.0 or greater

Ok I though this was some “under the hood” technology similar to when something needs java or flash to run, and I assumed it was something already included in OSX?

Anyway I check google and see that OS X Server includes PHP 5.3.13 and that MySQL was dropped in favor of something called PostgreSQL (9.1.4), which should be able to do the same thing. So I don’t know what the issue is.

Back to some googling, and I discover that I have to set up something called a database. In “The Famous 5-minute Install” guide the second steps is:

2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.

How?

More frustration and back to googling around.
…And this is currently where I’m stuck. Most of the articles I find seems outdated or contains rather complicated installation and terminal instructions, and reading comments from people doing these procedures and getting themselves into more problems, I’m starting to think I might end up messing up my system badly with this.
I tried to follow some of the long complex guides, but have only ended up in error during terminal use.

It simply cannot be true that this WordPress has to be this complicated for the exact type of users it’s trying to advertise for (“ease of use”, “blogging made easy”, e.g.).

Why is there no solid help to be found on how to install this? All I read is vague instructions like “Create a database” = How??

As we’ve both explained to you, you are unfairly blaming the complexities of server configuration on WordPress. WordPress is meant to run on a web server, and while setting one up is certainly possible, it does take some effort.

The easiest way is to install MAMP, and I’ve already pointed you to the documentation. That page explains how to create a database with MAMP.

PostgreSQL is not the same, and won’t work with WordPress by default. If you really want to try it, take a look at the following plugin.
https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/postgresql-for-wordpress/

Your host would normally give you instructions & support for creating a database on their server using whatever tools they provide, however as you are in effect your own host you need to set up MySQL and your own method to interact with MySQL.

Your options are:

• Use a bundled hosting stack such as XAMPP or MAMP instead of any existing web server/PHP/MySQL
• Use the command line https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/creating-database.html
• install & use a web-based database management application such as phpMyAmin https://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/
• install a desktop database management app such as https://www.sequelpro.com/

Okay I have finally given up on this sh*t. Sorry for my language, but you can’t imagine my frustrating.

What killed me in the end was the database hurdle:

Googling guides that didn’t work or was overly complex, suggesting me to code my way out of it, as if I was already an established Unix programmer?
Lot’s of typing in terminal and receiving error with no clue on how to solve them?
Unsure of what I already had on my computer?
Does Mac OS X or OS X Server already have a database or which one does it support?
If it supports one, when/where/how do I make use of it then?
What users/roles/databases is now on my computer?
Where is the button and GUI to modify it?
Was it running or not and how to manage it?
Where is the button to create a new database and a login?
How do I get the information WordPress is asking for?
What sort of database and how do I make my database set up for wordpress?
MySQL vs Postgresql, which is what and how?
Do I now have multiple databases running and multiple logins?
Why won’t WordPress accept my login?
I’m now getting Profile Manage errors in OS X Server.
Why do googling most of my questions only lead to blind ends?
Why do I need to download a crapload of ancient extra programs to make this database stuff work.

Why does everything I download need a million steps of installation, why make it as complex as possible?
At one time I even had to bring out my calculator to calculate values to put into a file I created in Text Edit (notepad).
No I get the sense that something is corrupt in my system and I have to do a clean install of my computer to get rid of this horrible experience.
All I ever wanted to do, was being able to type in my IP address and then see WordPress so I could start figuring out how it works and if it was the way to go about when creating a blog/website.

Sorry if I sound frustrated, but I am.
I have grown an enormous hate for WordPress, you can’t imagine.
If all this is caused by issues related to databases and not WordPress, then I will argue that WordPresses way of guiding users to overcome one of these necessary hurdles is absolutely horrible. Just absolutely insultingly horrible.

Famous 5-minute installation my ass!
I would encourage everyone to stay away from WordPress if they can.
This product does not help anyone who was not already a hardcore web programmer to begin with.
If you are like me, and fairly new to creating websites, then STAY AWAY from this product, to avoid the same hell and frustration I have been through.
This product will NOT help you! Not even after you dedicate a lot of time to so called guide and tutorials.

I marked this as solved, even though it is not.

I just want to get rid of it, and don’t want people to reply, because I wont be here to view it anyway.

I absolutely hate WordPress, and will advice everyone seeking to make an easy website, to stay away from WordPress.

What a horrible horrible experience and waste of time this has been, trying to follow the guide on this site.