Setting Up WordPress Development Environments

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Development Guide: How to Set Up WordPress Configuration Environment?

WordPress Development Environment: What is it?

Have you ever been in a position where you wanted to test your site before it goes live? WordPress development environment makes this task easier for you with a collection of tools for testing. Before deployment, it’s always a good idea to test all the components. WordPress development environment is similar to the production server which hosts your WordPress.

There are two options for setting up a development environment on WordPress; Local and Remote.

For both local and remote development environments, you need WordPress installation and other software that’s required by WordPress

Development Guide: How to Set Up WordPress Configuration Environment?

What is WordPress Local Development Environment Good For?

  • All the plugins and other files are stored in your PC if you’re using a Local WordPress environment.
  • Local environment configuration has several benefits. You don’t have to rely on the server, which in turn makes the development process fast.
  • You can test all the major components immediately on your browser without any delay. Remember that all the files are stored in your machine and are called from there in your local environment. There’s no hosting involved.
  • Additionally, you don’t even need an internet connection for this.

What is WordPress Remote Development Environment Good For?

  • Remote development environment works in the same way as the local development environment, but the files are not called from your PC. They are called from the server.
  • First of all, you have to buy a hosting plan. Hosting is like renting a space on the internet where your website resides.
  • Remote development environment hosts your site from a remote location.
  • It is beneficial if you’re working in a team. Your teammates can also access the site from any location.

The local environment is always preferred if only one person is working on the site to avoid delay in testing and for other benefits mentioned above. However, if you’re working with a team, then you should go for the other option i.e., Remote development environment.

Local WordPress development requirements and Features

How to Set up a Local WordPress Environment

There are several local development applications. You can choose the application for yourself. Here we’ll quickly download “Local by FlyWheel”.

  • WAMP – for Windows
  • MAMP – for MAC
  • LAMP – for Linux
  • Once you’ve downloaded “local by FlyWheel” or any other local development application, you’re good to go.
  • It depends on you whether you want to start from scratch or build on an existing theme or website.
  • here’s a one-click WordPress installation on most of the local applications. After installation, you can set-up your development environment on your local machine.
  • If you’re building on an existing project, make sure the file you’re importing has a “.zip” extension.

Next, you have to select your code editor. Make sure you’re comfortable with the text-editor you are choosing since you’ll be editing and debugging your code on this. WordPress’ top recommendations include Sublime, Atom, etc. However, you’re not limited to these options. You can always choose the one you’re comfortable with.

Lastly, the choice of your browser is also important. As we discussed earlier that we’d be viewing our site on a local browser. So, make sure to use the browser that is developer-friendly. We recommend Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox since they are the most popular browsers among the developers today.

Remote WordPress development requirements and Features

How to Setup a Remote WordPress Environment

Here we need a space on the internet where we can keep all the files, applications, and software to run our WordPress website. You have to pass all the stages without going live until your site is ready to launch.

We recommend Visual Studio IDE for this purpose. You can also look for various cloud-based solutions instead of setting up a virtual environment. But it should support WordPress development. Plug-in and tools installation:

It doesn’t matter what development environment you’re using. For WordPress. You will need a LAMP stack. Let’s go into the details of LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP).

  • Linux is ideally used for WordPress. You can also use Apache, MySQL, and PHP with OS, like Mac and Windows.
  • Apache is a web server layer that fulfills the requests made by the users on the browser.
  • MySQL is the database used to store all the data. It’s completely free to use and store data efficiently.
  • PHP, as we know Hypertext Pre-processor, is the programming language that runs on WordPress.

There are plenty of ways to add LAMP stack to your remote WordPress environment. In addition, you can also consider options that come with LAMP stack as an easy installation option. Time and energy is saved by this method. Now you’re ready to access your Remote WordPress development environment. This is done through SSH. You can easily connect to the server through SSH (Secure Shell). However, it depends on the application you choose.

How can we help?

Are you Looking for a WordPress Expert?

Whether you want to set-up a local development environment or you want to operate it remotely, it totally depends on your requirements of use. However, we suggest that you opt for a local development environment if you’re building your own site. It saves you from a lot of trouble and makes the development process very smooth.

Clarity deals with all facets of WordPress. If you don't want to take the stress of technicalities then you should simply hand over your project to us, and we'll handle all your worries and provide you exactly what you are looking for

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