Re-doing old static site to WP

  • kristincurrier

    (@kristincurrier)


    12 years, 9 months ago

    Hello all,

    I have WP installed onto my plain ol’ static site I created a few years back as a simple blog. I’ve had the goal for some time to learn WP theme development, and would like to have my entire site to run on WP. I’d like to be able to develop/test locally on a child theme, then replace my entire site with WP.

    I’m thinking that I should install WAMP or XAMPP (PC) and develop locally, then upload files either thru my DW or some other editor/ftp from what I’ve been researching. Do I have this right? I can’t do this straight out of DW without a local server, correct?

    What is the general procedure for those of you who develop themes off your current server? Do I create a separate directory or subdomain for this? I’m suffering from information overload at this point.

    Also, any thoughts as to which is better: WAMP or XAMPP? I’m concerned about security.

    Links and resources appreciated.

    Thanks in advance,
    Kristin

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • s_ha_dum

    (@apljdi)

    12 years, 9 months ago

    I have an Apache server on Slackware Linux, so I can’t really comment on WAMP or XAMPP, but it sounds like you have the right idea. The local server is by far the best option and DW does not have one built in– last I checked anyway.

    Setting up a subdomain would be overkill but I would create a directory for your project. That way, if you want to put something else on the server later you won’t have to worry so much about conflicts.

    Your local server should not be accessible from the web. That is, make sure it is behind a firewall and only accessible from behind that firewall. That should take care of security.

    Thread Starter kristincurrier

    (@kristincurrier)

    12 years, 9 months ago

    Thanks for the reply. Makes more sense now. I saw someone in a video set up a subdomain, but wasn’t sure if that’s just his thing or standard practice.

    What confused me about DW is that I can easily see all my WP files remotely, and can work on them…just can’t see them really work unless uploaded. A “duh” moment for those used to PHP, but I’m still in static mind-set. I’ll catch up 🙂

    I was confused about the security during upload procedure. I originally thought I had to set up XAMPP to access my database on the host my site lives at. Apparently this is not the case? How do most folks go about uploading new files? I’m assuming I dump it into a new directory and upload via DW, correct? That way XAMPP stays truly local and safe?

    Thanks again!!

    s_ha_dum

    (@apljdi)

    12 years, 9 months ago

    I originally thought I had to set up XAMPP to access my database on the host my site lives at. Apparently this is not the case?

    Right. WAMP and XAMPP will install a local MySQL server as well– that is the ‘M’ in the names. You don’t want to test new code on your real data anyway. Download the xml file from here. Its a really good set of test case data.

    I upload and download with FileZilla, mostly. Upload over sftp if your host supports it.

    I’m assuming I dump it into a new directory and upload via DW, correct?

    I don’t know what this means. Why would you ‘dump’anything to a folder before uploading.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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