WordPress.org

To install directly from your WordPress dashboard:

1. Go to the Plugins menu and click Add New.
2. Search for Easy Local Site.
3. Click Install Now next to the Easy Local Site plugin.
4. Activate the plugin.

Alternatively, see the official WordPress Codex guide to Manually Installing Plugins.

Using the mu-plugins folder is better

Ideally you should install Easy Local Site in wp-content/mu-plugins (plugins in here are 'Must Use' and are automatically activated). This will mean that it is always activated, even after migrating a database from a production site where the plugin is not installed/activated, so you don't have to remember to manually activate it.

The WP_LOCAL_DEV constant method

You must use the WP_LOCAL_DEV constant method as outlined by Mark Jaquith: markjaquith.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/wordpress-local-dev-tips

If the WP_LOCAL_DEV constant is not defined this plugin will do nothing. This means you can safely put it in your mu-plugins folder and include it in your Git repository on a production site.

Overriding outgoing emails

To override outgoing emails, you must define WP_LOCAL_EMAIL in local-config.php as follows:

define( 'WP_LOCAL_EMAIL', 'me@myemailaddress.com' );

Download from GitHub

You can also download this plugin from GitHub at https://github.com/lumpysimon/wp-easy-local-site