the answer is quite broad here but answering specific to your questions:
> slow and page not opening – type of hosting and which host matters. also DNS propagation takes time, and same goes for permalinks. calculate like a day or even 2 for the URLs to set in properly.
> assets?
> code – impossible if you havent hacked the core. but core files WILL change (during upgrade, etc) – hence, never hack the core. themes and plugins are the only external code which comes new into WP installation 99.99% of the time. or wp-content folder to say as a whole including media data. and if you dont see them, re-FTP them in.
apart from these, working on a staging server, using relative URLs, version control etc are methods i would recommend for you now..
migrating themes and plugin (esp ones with lot of settings) is a pain and needs manual re-checks.
also, unless yours is a full-fledged CMS site, for static or smaller content sites, create pages and posts post installation on server. easier and less sql hassle (esp if you got html code within) this way..
Thanks for taking time to answer my not-too-great question. I was asking for the most hassle-free way of deploying a site to a live server and I guess your suggestions take a stab at it. How will using a relative URL help with this?
not at all.. i guess my answers to your questions and suggestions got mixed up. lemme try clearing things up with more like a good coder perspective of things..
primarily, you are using the opensource and self-managed WP, so it goes a great deal in understanding wordpress file structure and basic working.
so i will assume for now that you know that ‘wp-content’ folder is kinda like ‘your area’ – holds your themes, plugins and media contents; and everything else is part of core, except wp-config.php and htaccess files at root.
the above is ofcourse for front-end code, there is also the DB which is totally you.
now going back to development,
Theme –
1. use relative URLs in code – php/css/js,etc.
2. try to contain all code implementation within your theme folder and avoid external calls to other files placed randomly on server.
3. goes without saying, good coding standards and understanding WP APIs matter.
4. have a good understanding of wp-config.php settings (siteurl, homeurl and such) and keep an eye on functions.php for any code that might mess up things. esp if suing 3rd party themes.
5. use good editor and utf-8 encoding.
Plugins –
1. use only the most necessary ones for development purpose. you can install others (like SEO) later after going live. the beating a fresh site takes on SEO front after going live is bare minimal so you neednt worry.
2. preferably use trusted/common plugins. some of them create a nightmare while porting or in future while upgrading etc.
Contents –
1. images and other media files uploaded to your local server would go into the database as absolute URLs through post data. this is the reason why you need to run sql queries later on after porting.
2. so depending on the type of site you are developing (like static, corporate or a proper CMS blog), streamline your work and check how much of content filling should be done locally and how much on live server. also remember that there are plugins which help in showing a ‘coming soon’ or ‘under maintainance’ frontpage while you get to work on the files in background on live server. so this i recommend based on personal experience – if you happen to use html/php code within the post content, DB export/import might trouble you later.
other –
1. its always good to have a staging server with similar mapped platform as your live server. also code version control.
2. too many changes to settings, permalinks, etc on wp-admin dashboard can confuse you after migrating. so try keeping that too to minimal and noted down for later.
3. permalinks – understand them, disable/enable while migrating.
your server – go for a good host and a hosting plan, good config, have the DNS mapped and all.
so basically, a good understanding of WP, good coding practice, and good server will ease things up which migrating.
for migrating WP:
heres the codex – http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress
and heres a good tutorial – http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/04/08/moving-wordpress-website/
the codex will give you some healthy pointers and reminders, and the smashingmag tutorial i found more relevant and professional than the other link you shared. no offense to wpbegginer, it was my favorite during my initial days.
clear?
