This guide is made to make things a bit easier so you have a single reference to look to. It also highlights an easier method if your host supports it.

The Easy Method

Some web hosting providers like Media Temple and HostUpon have what is called a “One Click Install”. As the name implies, all it takes is a single click to install the entire Drupal website so you can proceed in adding content to your site and setting it up for public launch. This means that you don’t have to do any steps like downloading Drupal, setting up an FTP account to upload the files, creating a MySQL database, and going through the wizard.

While this is a great method for people that want to rush a Drupal site, there are a few things that you should know before choosing this option. First of all, check the version of the Drupal that is offered on your web host and then head to Drupal’s homepage – http://drupal.org and see if the version matches. If there is a minor difference in the version number, see the change log and check if the update is critical. If it is, download the latest version instead and use the standard method because the one click install version may not be upgradable. Contact your host to make sure because they might consider updating their one click install to the latest version so you can install it immediately.

Some one click install methods disallow the editing of any files so installing new templates and extensions may not be possible. On the upside, the one click install may have a large selection of different templates that you can use so you don’t have to look anywhere else. There is also no risk in doing this method and if ever you aren’t satisfied with the limitations, you can easily uninstall Drupal and try the regular method.

The Regular Method

Installing Drupal the ordinary way should work on any host as long as the server requirements are met. Check any of the support, FAQ, or help pages for information regarding your server statistics. Then see if it meets the requirements provided below:

• Apache 1.3/2.x or Microsoft IIS 5/6

• PHP 4.3.5 and above (not supported for Drupal 7) or PHP 5.2 and above

• MySQL 4.1 (not supported for Drupal 7) and above or MySQL 5.0

For better chances of a smoother installation, check your php.ini file and make sure that the register_globals value is set to off and the safe_mode value set to off as well. Also, make an empty MySQL table because that will be used in installation too.

Once you are certain that your host supports Drupal, download the latest version at Drupal’s download page if you haven’t done so yet and then extract the files to a temporary folder (preferably your desktop) using a compression software like WinZip or WinRAR. Before you upload the files to your host, go to the “sites” folder inside the folder where you extracted the Drupal package and then open the “default” folder. You should see a file named “default.settings.php”. Make a duplicate of that file (copy/paste on the same location) and then rename the file to “settings.php” This file will be read during installation. If you miss this step, you should be reminded to do it anyway.

After that, upload all the files via FTP to your root folder if you planning to set up a portal or any other folder if you have a different homepage set. Then simply enter the address of your Drupal installation and you should see the install wizard.

If you did all the preparation steps, you should be able to go through the wizard easily and proceed to setting up your content. If you still have problems, there are a ton of resources located at Drupal’s help page at http://drupal.org/getting-started/install.