# Installing Joomla! on Windows

## What is Joomla?

> Joomla! is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) for publishing web content. Over the years Joomla! has won several awards. It is built on a model–view–controller web application framework that can be used independently of the CMS that allows you to build powerful online applications. -https://www.joomla.org/about-joomla.html

1. Download XAMPP Download
2. Download Joomla! Download
3. Download Microsoft Visual C++ Download
4. Install Microsoft Visual C++
5. Right click the downloaded XAMPP file > Extract All...
6. Right click the downloaded Joomla! .zip file > Extract All...
7. Rename the extracted folder joomla
8. Cut the joomla folder inside the XAMPP/htdocs directory
9. Copy the extracted XAMPP directory to a safe location to run from, C:\Program Files for example
10. Run XAMPP/setup_xampp.bat to update the configuration files with the new server location
11. Run XAMPP/xampp-control.exe
12. Click the Start button next to Apache and MySQL
13. Navigate to XAMPP/mysql/bin
14. Hold the SHIFT key and right click in the white space > Open PowerShell windows here...
15. Type the following in the PowerShell window to setup the Joomla! database
    ./mysql -u root
    CREATE DATABASE joomla DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
    GRANT ALL ON joomla.* TO 'joomla_rw'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'J00mla!!';
    FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
    EXIT;
16. Open a web browser and navigate to http://DNSorIP/joomla
17. The Joomla! setup screen should be displayed
18. Set the site title and create an administrative account login > Click the Next button
19. Enter the database configuration as follows:

    Database Type: MySQLi
    Host Name: localhost
    Username: joomla_rw
    Password: J00mla!!
    Database Name: joomla
    Table Prefix: jmla_

20. Click the Next button
21. On the Overview page click the Install button
22. Review the configuration and click the Install button
23. When the installation completes, click the yellow Remove "installation" folder button
24. Click on the Site button
25. Welcome to your very own, self-hosted Joomla! installation