Besides the information available here, I might also direct you to DNNCreative.com (a subscription site) and Mitchel Sellers' Blog (MitchelSellers.com).
Installing DotNetNuke is relatively simple these days if you use the Install Wizard that comes with the product.
Here are my "minimum" instructions.
- Install SQL 2005 Express and create a database. I would also suggest that you use "mixed" authentication, create a user for the new database, and make sure that user has owner privileges on the database.
- Unzip the Install package into a fresh directory.
- With IIS, point a website at this directory and make sure that the ASP.NET user account has privileges. Usually, you can accomplish that by simply sharing the directory. Also, make sure that default.aspx is a default document for IIS.
- You can verify that your directory and IIS are set up mostly correctly by putting a file named App_Offline.htm in the DotNetNuke directory created in Step 2. Just put some text you will recognize into the file, and then Browse to the website you created in Step 3. If you see the contents of your App_Offline.htm file, you know that you've at least got the website part working. Rename App_Offline.htm to App_Offline.save.
- Refresh your browser. DotNetNuke should start up in Wizard mode. This will help you connect to the database. Don't forget to use the link to test the connection, and fix as necessary. Then move forward, test the access privileges on your web directory and fix as needed. Then, you should be able to click Next buttons until you can click the final link to visit your new site.
One gotcha is that you need to have AJAX installed for the Wizard to work. I discovered this accidentally. If AJAX isn't installed, download from the Microsoft site before starting Step 4.
That pretty much should be it. It that doesn't work, I'd be interested in hearing what went wrong.
If you are later interested in building modules, customizing the core code (seriously, DON'T think about doing that!), you can open your web site with VWD.
Oh ... the reason that browsing the site from another computer redirects you to localhost is because you haven't properly set the "portalalias." This is one of those RTFM issues, where it isn't particularly clear where the FM is! I'd highly recommend ownership of the Professional DotNetNuke 4 book. While it's a bit outdated (because there's been amazing development of this living product), what is in it is quite relevant. I'm pretty sure that the first several chapters are available on this site as installation instructions, so I'd look for those, too. But, the Wizard isn't covered in the book, and it removes most of the pain for an initial installation.
Hope this helps!