How to install MODX in XAMPP Windows 11

MODX is yet another free and cool open-source content management system available today. It is also one of the oldest CMS and was first released on 2004. It was developed by Raymond Irving and Ryan Thrash. And for this post, we are going to make another website via XAMPP's localhost using our Window pc out of it. But before we start, you need to download first the two given files below. These files are XAMPP and the MODX installer.

Requirements:

• XAMPP 8.0.x, download here [via Mediafire]
• Modx-3.0.1-pl, download here [via Mediafire]

Assuming that you already download the files above, continue doing the tutorials below.

Table of Contents

• XAMPP installation on Windows 11
• Running XAMPP Control Panel's Apache and MySQL
• Copying MODX installer to HTDOCS folder
• Creating MODX Database on XAMPP phpMyAdmin
• MODX installation via Localhost or 127.0.0.1
• Accessing MODX website home page
• Accessing MODX website ADMIN account

Here are the steps on how to install MODX open-source CMS using XAMPP in your Windows pc

XAMPP installation on Windows 11

1. Go back to the XAMPP file that you downloaded earlier. Double-click the file to execute it. If a Question appears regarding antivirus running, click on Yes.

2. Now, if a Warning also appears regarding User Account Control, just ignore it and press OK to proceed.

3. In the Setup - XAMPP, just click on NEXT.

4. Under Select Components, just click NEXT again.

5. In the Installation folder, make sure it is set to C:\xampp. Just press the NEXT button again to continue.

6. Under Language, select English and press NEXT to proceed.

7. You are now ready to install XAMPP. Press NEXT again.

8. Wait for the installation to finish.

9. When done, uncheck the "Do you want to start the Control Panel now?" and click Finish to exit.

Running XAMPP Control Panel's Apache and MySQL

1. To open XAMPP, you can click on its shortcut located in your desktop or go to Start and search for "xampp" and press ENTER.

2. Inside XAMPP Control Panel, click on the Start buttons for Apache and MySQL.

3. Apache and MySQL should be running now if you see two Stop buttons.

4. If there is a Windows Security Alert, just click Allow access to exit.

Copying MODX installer to HTDOCS folder

1. Back to the MODX zip file that you downloaded earlier. Extract it and name your extracted folder as "modx". Make sure that all the content of the file is not inside a sub-folder. Copy your modx folder. Go to Start and search for "this pc" and press ENTER.

2. Inside This PC, click your C drive.

3. Inside C drive, click xampp folder.

4. Now, click htdocs folder.

5. Paste modx folder inside htdocs.

Creating MODX Database on XAMPP phpMyAdmin

1. We are now creating a Database that is needed for MODX website installation. Open your internet browser. In the address bar, type in 127.0.0.1 and press ENTER.

2. Inside, click on phpMyAdmin.

3. Inside phpMyAdmin, click on Databases.

4. In the Create database, name your database as modx_db and leave utf8mb4_general_ci as it is. Click Create to proceed.

5. In the Create new table, name your table as modx_table, by default 4 is the value of number of columns. Press Create to proceed.

6. In the Structure, name it as modx and INT should be the default value for Type.

7. For Collation, select utf8_unicode_ci and leave all other fields as blank.

8. Save your work.

MODX installation via Localhost or 127.0.0.1

1. We are now ready to install our MODX website. Open your internet browser and type in 127.0.0.1/modx/setup and press ENTER.

2. In the MODX Installer - Welcome to the MODX installation program, select English as the Language. Press NEXT to proceed.

3. In the Install Options, select New Installation. And for Advanced Options, by default Send X-Powered-by Header is selected. Just leave it and press NEXT to proceed.

4. In the Database connection and login information do the following: Database type - mysql, Database host - localhost, Database name - modx_db, Database login name - root, Database password - none or blank and just leave Table prefix as it is. Press TEST to proceed.

5. You should see a "Connecting to database server: Success!" message. In the Connection character set: it is already set to utf8mb4 and for Collation it is set to utf8mb4_general_ci. Just click Test again.

6. You should see a "Checking database: Success!" message now. For the Default Admin User do the following: Administrator email - input a valid email address, Administrator username - admin, Password - type your desired password (do not forget it). Press NEXT to proceed.

7. Under Installation Summary, just click INSTALL.

8. In the "Installation Summary - Core installation was successful. Click next to complete the installation process." click NEXT again.

9. And you have successfully installed your MODX website. By default the "Check this to DELETE the setup directory from the filesystem." is already checked. Press Login to proceed.

Accessing MODX website home page

1. Now, to open your MODX website homepage, just go to 127.0.0.1/modx or localhost/modx.

Accessing MODX website ADMIN account

1. To go to admin user login page, just click the Go to the manager button.

2. In the login page, enter your username which is admin and then your password. Click Login to proceed.

3. Inside your administration page account, you will see there settings and other important links that is only accessible to you as the owner and admin of your MODX website.

Done! You just created a website using MODX CMS. If you have a question, just leave a comment below. Thank you!