Perplexed and Bursting with Confusion: The Amazement of WordPress

If you’re even remotely curious about website development, you’ve undoubtedly heard of WordPress. This Content Management System (CMS) platform is highly popular for numerous reasons, including its simplicity, powerful features, and customizable themes and plugins.

Yet, despite its popularity, working within WordPress can be an intimidating experience. While adding updates or changes to your site, you might find yourself annoyed or downright frustrated. That’s where developing locally in WordPress comes in – it’s the ultimate solution.

Local WordPress Development: Explained

When you work locally within WordPress, it means you work from your computer instead of the server hosting your website. This has several advantages:

1. Enhanced Security: Developing locally means reducing the risk of hacking and potential security breaches. It’s not a live site accessed by anyone and everyone available on the internet.
2. Experimentation: Test out new themes, plugins, and create customizations without impacting the live site.
3. Speed and Convenience: Developing locally is typically faster and more convenient since you’ll be able to make changes without needing an internet connection to proceed. Plus, you won’t need to worry about slow server speeds when testing things out.

How to Develop Locally in WordPress

If you’re feeling excited by the idea of developing a website locally in WordPress, you can’t move forward without following several steps. Here are the steps outlined in greater detail:

Step 1: Pick a Local Server Environment

You have to create an environment where you can work locally. Several server options are available:

1. XAMPP: This free and open-source software include Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. It’s available on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
2. MAMP: Another popular option that includes Apache, PHP, and MySQL for Mac and Windows.
3. Local by Flywheel: A desktop application that’s perfect for setting up a local WordPress environment on Macs and Windows computers.

Step 2: Download and Install WordPress

After selecting your server environment, the next step is to download and install WordPress:

1. Visit the official website of WordPress and download the latest version available.
2. Extract the downloaded files to a dedicated folder on your computer.
3. Give the folder a memorable name (e.g., “my-local-site”).
4. Move the folder to the “htdocs” folder in your local server environment.

Step 3: Configure Your Local WordPress Site

At this point, you must configure your local WordPress site:

1. Launch your local server environment and start Apache and MySQL.
2. Open your web browser and navigate to “localhost/phpmyadmin/”.
3. Create a new database for your local site by clicking on “New” and giving it a name.
4. Open the wp-config.php file located in the root directory of your local WordPress installation.
5. Update the database details (database name, username, and password) in the file to match the database created earlier.

Step 4: Accessing Your Local WordPress Site

With a configured WordPress site, it’s now possible to access it from a web browser by typing “localhost/” and typing in the name of the folder created earlier (e.g., localhost/my-local-site).

Final Thoughts

That’s it! You now know how to develop a website locally within WordPress. By following the steps outlined above, you have created a local WordPress development environment on your computer. Take some time to experiment with themes, plugins, and customizations without worrying about any adverse effects on the live site. However, always take backups to avoid losing in-progress data or vital changes.