Installing WordPress on Windows Server 2008 R2

I recently got involved with a new website project and was trying to determine the best set up for our situation. I needed a Content Management System (CMS) so the end user could make the changes to the site without my intervention. So, I started looking into different solutions. My first attempt was DotNetNuke community edition. Since I am familiar with both MS SQL and ASP.NET I thought this would be the most logical choice. So, I set up a virtual machine running Windows Server 2008 R2 and set to work configuring DotNetNuke.

After a bit of wrangling I was able to get the site up and running with the DNN sample site running. It was pretty slick but there were a lot of confusing configuration settings. I was able to get a basic sample site running and let the end user mock up a few pages. It worked but it wasn’t great.

So, I remembered that I also have a BlogEngine.net site running on MSSQL and ASP.NET so I looked into that as well. Again not bad, but nothing I would say I absolutely loved.

Now, I am setting up another virtual machine and going through the steps of setting up a Windows installation of WordPress.

I found a great step by step tutorial from someone else that has helped me get up and running. http://www.vsysad.com/2012/04/create-a-wordpress-blog-on-windows-server-2008-r2-iis-7-5-and-mysql/

Now that the site is up and running I can choose a template and begin to customize the site.

So far, I have to say I am more comfortable with WordPress as a CMS and it seems easier to work with than the other systems I have tried. Of course the next big trick would be to create my own custom theme.