Install and Run WordPress in XAMPP Local Host
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If you are planning to test WordPress before launching into your live FTP server, the best way is to test it first at the local host. For those that are completely unfamiliar with the term “local host,” it is a web server hosted right in your local computer (not a web server in a hosting company). This two-part article will show you how to test things out using XAMPP.
XAMPP is the most powerful local host for Windows XP that can execute PHP scripts and host the MySQL database, the vital programming components of WordPress. With XAMPP as a web server installed right in your Windows XP computer, you can launch and edit WordPress files just as you would in an actual hosting FTP web server.
An XAMPP tutorial is beyond the scope of this article, though I encourage you to read my XAMPP tutorial here first for better understanding of this local Apache web server. It does provide you with the most important concepts on how to install and configure XAMPP in your Windows XP computer.
Below are the primary reasons you should test your WordPress website at a local host.
Speed up your on-site work. It is always faster to work at the local host than in the live FTP server. Things can be done faster, such as editing and saving files. If you work at the live FTP server directly, you will experience a bit of latency, so things will be a bit slower, which could affect your productivity.
Avoid catastrophic mistakes. For example, if you have a live site that already attracts a substantial amount of daily visitors, it would be distracting for them to see ongoing live on-site errors. So in order to provide the best customer experience, it is best to edit all WordPress files at the local host before uploading to the live FTP server.
Back up your work. Working with the local host will require you to download your FTP server files and then work on them. Thus, you still have a backup of your actual website files right in your web host. This is safer and in fact the recommended thing to do, as accidents do happen during editing that prevent your website from working properly, resulting in lost visitors.
There are two possible scenarios where you can start editing WordPress at XAMP local host. In the first scenario, you still have not launched the site in your actual FTP server. Or you still have not installed WordPress in it. This means you will be starting the work entirely from scratch.
In the second scenario, you already have a fully running WordPress website and you would like to make some improvements to it that require files to be downloaded locally for editing and then uploaded to reflect the changes.
Next: Installation Starting From Scratch >>
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