How to convert wordpress files to database?

[Janice K.]

I am an extreme newbie to web design but I work for a company that does social media and graphic design. One of our clients wants us to maintain their website that is down right now. They have provided us with the Wordpress files that the old web designer they had gave to them. I have no idea how to convert that into a database because I know I need one to upload the info onto the host. Please help.

[Chris]

A wordpress site consists of
a) the folder containing all the core php files, themes, uploaded images, plugin files, etc.
b) a database containing pages, blog posts, comments, settings, media data, etc.

Moving a wordpress site requires not just transferring all the files but also the entire database.
If the old web designer made a backup of the database, it's most likely a text file ending in .sql

So in order to put the site somewhere, you need to upload all the files and also restore the database from the backup.
The latter you would usually do using phpMyAdmin, a database management web app that's usually accessible after logging into the member's area on the hosting company's website.