WordPress

[charlesp]

What are the advantages and disadvantages to using Fantastico to upgrade my WordPress as opposed to Manual upgrade?

[felgall]

Advantage - you don't have to manually upload the files (a minor saving)

Disadvantages - one database per install instead of being able to share a database and the version you will be running will normally be out of date as you can only update when Fantastico says you can.

[redsox9]

Advantages to using Fantastico:

User-friendly, esepcially for beginners - no need to upload files or create MySQL databases
When upgrades appear, Fantastico can send email notice to let you know about upgrade

Advantages to manual installation:

Install upgrades as soon as they are announced - no need to wait for Fantastico to provide updates


I would say that if you are a beginner and have any doubts, go the Fantastico route. Otherwise, the manual installation would be the better choice.

[Ferdinand]

Matt, who is the head behind Wordpress, just recommended the following service for those without any experience setting up a non-commercial blog:
Install4Free (http://install4free.wordpress.net/), which offers installing WP free of charge.

[Basil]

In case anybody asks, I've written a very detailed tutorial for installing wordpress manually (with pictures!) that can be found here (http://www.bluehostforum.com/showthread.php?t=10935).

WordPress is about as easy as it gets when it comes to installations.

[felgall]

Basically a manual install of WordPress consists of:

1. Create your database (if you don't already have one).
2. Upload all the files to the appropriate folder where you want it.
3. Access that folder using a browser.

It will then access the install process which will ask you to enter the database name, username and password to access the database (all of which come from the database setup step) and a prefix to use for the tables so they don't clash with other installs of WordPress in the same database.

Once you enter that info it will update the config file and give you the password for the admin login to WordPress.

All a Fantastico install would save you is manually uploading the files and entering the database info a second time (if you created a new database).

All the rest of the blog customisations are done via WordPress itself by logging in as admin.

[artfuldodger]

If I created my first Wordpress blog through Fantastico can I use that same database to manually install Wordpress to other domains where I want a blog? Or do I need to start over and create a new database for the manual install and then I can do numerous Wordpress installs through that database? :confused:

[felgall]

As long as you know the database name, user name, password, and select a different prefix for the table names it should work.

[charlesp]

Thanks everyone. I'll have a break at school soon and I think I'll do a manual update using Basil's tutorial then. I would be using the same database.

[Basil]

Your MySQL settings are all in a file called wp-config.php under the wordpress folder. If you don't remember what they were, or if you used fantastico to install it, you can always view them there. That's the file to edit if you need to change those values too.