Before jumping into the process, let’s quickly understand what WordPress is. At its heart, WordPress is one of the easiest and most popular ways to create a website or blog. It’s open-source, meaning anyone can use or modify it for free. Essentially, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that helps you manage your site’s content without needing to learn any programming!
Now, what about Azure? Launched by Microsoft in 2008 at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC), Azure is Microsoft’s platform for cloud computing. It provides businesses with the ability to build, manage, and deploy apps on a global scale, using your favorite tools and frameworks. One of the features that excites me the most is how reliable and high-quality the servers are—but that’s just the beginning of what Azure offers!
Deploying WordPress on Azure – Step by Step
Follow these simple steps to get your WordPress site up and running on Azure.
- Create an Azure Account
First, you’ll need to sign up for an Azure account. The good news is that Azure offers a free tier to get started, though they also have prepaid plans for more advanced users. - Log in to the Azure Portal
Once you’ve created your account, log in to the Azure management portal. On the left-hand side, click on ‘App Services’ (previously known as ‘Websites’). Then, click the ‘+ New’ button at the bottom-left corner of the screen. - Select WordPress from the Marketplace
After clicking ‘+ New’, choose ‘Create a Web App’ and head to the Marketplace. The marketplace has a variety of open-source apps, including WordPress. Find WordPress, select it, and click ‘Create’. - Configure Your Website Settings
Now it’s time to set up your website. Assign a unique URL for your site, select ‘Create a new MySQL database’ for your WordPress installation, and pick the geographic region closest to your audience for better performance. Once done, click ‘Next’ to proceed. - Install WordPress
After your website is created, you’ll see a link to your WordPress site. Click the link, and you’ll be taken to the WordPress setup page. Here, you’ll enter details like your site title, username, password, and email address. You can also choose whether you want search engines to index your site. - Log in and Start Building!
Once WordPress is installed, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Log In’ link. Use your username and password to log in, and that’s it—you’re ready to start building your site!
And there you have it! Your WordPress site is now live on Azure. It’s fast, secure, and built on a powerful cloud platform. Happy blogging!