Test WordPress Site

  • hazzardzone

    (@hazzardzone)


    4 years, 9 months ago

    Hello,

    A couple of things I need to know:

      1. How is an existing website downloaded to my desktop for re-tooling with full WP functionality?
      2. How then is the existing live site replaced with the re-tooled site from my desktop?

    I’m not interested in creating a sandbox, or a WP test area at this time.

    Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Joy

    (@joyously)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    Everyone has their own workflow, so are you looking for one to use?

    Thread Starter hazzardzone

    (@hazzardzone)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    Not sure what’s meant by “Everyone has their own workflow”?

    If you’re referring to the Workflow plugin, its objective appears to be helping manage content publication on multiple author websites. Nothing to do with my scenario.

    I need to test a new themes and layouts off the grid so-to-speak. Then, when it is to my liking I wish to overwrite my current site with it.

    Joy

    (@joyously)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    I was trying to make sense of your questions, not referring to a plugin…
    You say you need to test, but you don’t want a sandbox or a WP test site. I don’t understand that contradiction.
    You could use an existing sandbox: http://poopy.life/
    But “existing website downloaded to my desktop” doesn’t have much meaning. Is this a backup? Is the existing website made with WordPress? How are you downloading it and why?
    Of course, the second question can’t be addressed until the first question is cleared up.

    Thread Starter hazzardzone

    (@hazzardzone)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    My understanding of a WordPress test site is that it involves writing code to partition off a portion of your server space so you can hide a new or duplicate site for testing.

    My understanding of a sandbox is that a new site, or a duplicate of your existing site is created using a plugin.

    Evidently both the “test site” and “sandbox” methods are limited as to what can actually be accomplished. For example, the sandbox allows you to test different themes and CSS, but you cannot use plugins. Also partitioning my server space requires that my server support some algorithm or other, which it does not.

    And that brings us back around to to my original question. About downloading WordPress, as well as a backup of my existing site to my desktop computer. This is called a “localhost” and makes it possible to put WordPress through its paces. Plugins and all.

    That’s what I want to do. Have a totally separate and independent work area with full WordPress functionality. Where I can test themes, create content, use plugins, fiddle with style sheets, et al.

    Then, when I get it all as I want it, I wish to back it up and restore it to my current publicly accessible server. Effectively overwriting my existing site.

    A search brought up a page in the WordPress forums which claimed to give step-by-step instructions for doing all that. So clearly it’s possible, and has in fact already been done. Unfortunately, the page was incomplete. With a short sentence at the end saying something like “More to come.” And that was the end of it. More never came.

    I’d think such a localhost setup would be so popular as to elicit a myriad discussions, but I can’t find anything else.

    So far I’ve succeeded in loading the latest version of WordPress on my computer, as well as a backup of my existing site. However without instructions on how to proceed from there, then overwrite my existing site with the resulting content, it’s for naught.

    Please help.

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by hazzardzone.
    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by hazzardzone.
    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by hazzardzone.
    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by hazzardzone.
    Joy

    (@joyously)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    OK, you are mistaken in the definitions of test site and sandbox.
    A test site is any site that you do tests on. It can even be a live site on the internet. A sandbox is usually running a plugin that resets the state of the site on a timer. The site I gave you (poopy.life) is such a sandbox.

    Here are instructions for how to install WordPress on your computer:

    Installing WordPress on your own Computer


    It’s no great mystery.
    But for your situation, there might be a better way.
    When I am working with a static site to convert to WordPress, I usually install WordPress into a a folder on the existing site, get the content loaded and all the plugins and theme tweaked, and redirects figured out, then delete the existing HTML files and make a small change to the WP index file so it controls the root instead of just the folder. Put any redirects needed in and save permalinks twice.

    If it’s already in WordPress, use an export plugin or a migration plugin to get the data to load into your local installation. Tweak away on local. Do the same thing in reverse to get the data back to the live site.
    An alternative is to just make small changes at a time on the live site, after testing it on the local.

    Thread Starter hazzardzone

    (@hazzardzone)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    TY. I may need clarification at some point. Can this topic be left open for a month or so?

    Joy

    (@joyously)

    4 years, 9 months ago

    If when you have the next question, the topic is open and the question is close to this one, you can post it here. But it is unlikely to be seen if it is very long between posts. (At least I won’t see it, unless I’m mentioned. Others might.)
    But this question can help others that search for certain keywords.
    More likely, your next question is different, so it deserves its own topic anyway.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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