MAMP, Live Servers, & PHP versions

  • traveler

    (@visualeight)


    9 years, 5 months ago

    Hello,
    I’ve started having some issues recently with a WordPress site that I built using MAMP and then transferred to a live server. I would built a site and launch it, it looked fine, then entire sections of the site would disappear, even though they were present in the backend and the content still was present in the theme sections. Originally I thought it was due to building the site in PHP 7.0.11 and launching it on a server running PHP 5.6.x. I’ve had this issue with Godaddy and also with Rochen, and in both cases the site works fine on my computer using MAMP.

    I was hoping for advice on how to work within multiple versions of PHP. Should I always try to use the most recent stable PHP version that I can with an updated WordPress site, or should I try to build it in MAMP using the same version that the live server will use? If I switch between PHP 7.0.11 and 5.6.25 in MAMP will that affect the “php build” that a WordPress site uses? If I have multiple WordPress sites running in MAMP, will they be harmed if I change the PHP version in MAMP?

    When I’ve had this issue of sections disappearing, I try to restore to the live server from a backup of the MAMP site, in this case the site was built in MAMP with 7.0.11 and then uploaded and installed on a server running 5.6.25. This issue never happened immediately, the site would work fine and then just change by having sections removed.

    I’m running WordPress 4.6.1, custom theme is built using the Gantry5/Hydrogen theme from Rockettheme (please note this is the core framework they use to build all of their themes). I am using plugins, but they are common plugins that are actively supported and everything is updated.

    I feel the issue is in the PHP switching within MAMP, and also possibly when I upload to a server running PHP 5.6.x. I’ve searched for answers and information on this but it seems to be a very rare issue- perhaps my PHP questions are fairly common knowledge so this isn’t a mistake really that happens often. Either way, I’m hoping someone can help shed some light on this and perhaps inform me of the best practice for managing PHP versions in MAMP with multiple sites within my htdocs folder, and also best practice for building and migrating to a live server.

    Thanks.

    • This topic was modified 9 years, 5 months ago by traveler. Reason: forgot to put the topic tags in
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  • RossMitchell

    (@rossmitchell)

    9 years, 5 months ago

    Some hosting environments let you choose which PHP and mySQL version to use on your site, I have once needed to set the PHP version but this was not with WordPress.

    I doubt that your problem is the PHP version.
    Among the plugins you use, do you have any handling security, suggest “All In One WordPress Security”, it will tell you if any of your PHP files change on you.
    When you see a section disappearing from your site, have you been able to view the said articles and categories and menus etc ? In the WordPress dashboard ? In the database ?

    Have you examined the website access logs ?

    As for best practice in developing multiple sites in localhost, I use the “VirtualHost” option
    details here: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/vhosts/
    and put the final site name into my hosts file, details
    here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_%28file%29
    This way each site stays independant, and does not need a “Moving WordPress” step when it goes live. Developing a website with address “localhost” is IMO like calling your dog “dog”, it works only so long as you only have one.
    If you do need to do a change of name then the plugin DUPLICATOR does an excellent job of fixing the database entries.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

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