Title: WP setup block diagram
Last modified: March 11, 2017

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# WP setup block diagram

 *  Resolved [usererror](https://wordpress.org/support/users/usererror/)
 * (@usererror)
 * [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/)
 * Hi, I’m looking to setup a website on WP but not entirely sure how the whole 
   thing works. I have looked for a concept or block diagram of WP, but no luck.
 * When prompted to install WP, what is being installed? What part does it play?
   
   Is this a one-off thing at setup? My wife setup a blog a while ago and doesn’t
   remember installing anything and it’s certainly not on her PC now as it was wiped
   recently, so if anything was installed it isn’t necessary for continued updating
   of her blog.
 * I’ve just installed LAMP & it doesn’t work (can’t connect to database).
    What
   does LAMP do? – is it if i want to host the site on my PC? (I don’t, I have existing
   hosting & domain to map to). Do I need it to create and test my site in a non-
   live environment? I was looking to get the bigger picture of the pieces of this
   puzzle. Many thanks.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/#post-8904370)
 * WordPress is installed onto a machine, but first that machine needs to have the
   requirements of WordPress: [https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/](https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/)
 * The machine could be yours (your PC) or it could belong to your hosting providers.
   The machine (often called a ‘server’) belonging to your hosting providers will
   normally be ready to install WordPress straight away, with the requirements already
   there. Your PC however won’t normally have those requirements. So to install 
   WordPress on your PC you need to first get those requirements.
 * LAMP or other similarly named packages are software that bundles up the requirements
   into one thing. So you just install LAMP and you get PHP, Apache and MySQL.
 * You don’t have to install WordPress on your PC. Many developers do because it
   reduces the chance of breaking a live website when they can test things locally.
    -  This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/).
 *  Thread Starter [usererror](https://wordpress.org/support/users/usererror/)
 * (@usererror)
 * [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/#post-8904945)
 * Andrew,
    Thanks, that clears a lot up. Cheers
    -  This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by [usererror](https://wordpress.org/support/users/usererror/).
 *  Thread Starter [usererror](https://wordpress.org/support/users/usererror/)
 * (@usererror)
 * [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/#post-8906748)
 * In case it helps any other newcomers, I found that my wife’s very easy to set
   up blog is on WP.com. That explains why she didn’t have to install anything, 
   and why I was puzzled by there being no way to “get started” on the WP.org page,
   just the “download” button.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/#post-8906755)
 * Thanks for explaining 🙂

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘WP setup block diagram’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Everything else WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/miscellaneous/)
 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * Last activity: [9 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-setup-block-diagram/#post-8906755)
 * Status: resolved

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