Wordpress test site - how would I set it up?

valve90210

valve90210

valve90210

Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2006
Posts
4,313
Hi All

Ive currently got a very basic website which I put together using some free wysiwyg webdesign software (and ended up editing the html to get what I wanted...) But I would like to move it to something rather more user friendly and easy to update.

I'm considering using wordpress for this as it looks to have loads of options and plugins etc that would make the site easy to keep updated.

However first I would like to give it a try to see how it works and if I can get it doing what I'd like.

My hosting uses Cpanel and I could auto install wordpress via this, which would be nice and easy but I'm wondering if there is an easy way for me to be able to install it for test purposes so I can have a good play with it and check it out on different browsers etc without publishing it to the whole wide world.

Would this be possible/easy to do? If so , how would I do i?

Any help anyone can give me would be very very much appreciated.

Valve
 
If your hosting allows you to have sub domains, create one, install word press on it. Job done. If not, I don't think you can.
 
Have you considered just creating a free WordPress blog at http://wordpress.com to experiment with to see what WordPress can do. This saves you messing up your current web setup. You can even create a private blog that only the people you specify can access it.

If you want to install it on your own hosting account then installing WordPress in a sub-domain is the way to go. You could then prevent people from accessing it by requiring them to enter a userid and password by using a .htaccess file.

You may find that your hosting company's web interface provides a way to create/manage .htaccess files. My hosting company does not use Cpanel so I cannot check for you.

A quick web search should find you lots of information on how to set up .htaccess for authentication.
 
Why bother using .htaccess or any sort of authentication?
Just install it into a randomly named folder, no one will ever find it!
 
Could always use WAMP.

Install WAMP, extract Wordpress directory to the www subfolder in C:\wamp. So something like C:\wamp\wordpress.

Run WAMP and see the WAMP icon in the task bar, mouse over the icon to check it says "server online". If that is go then open a browser and navigate to localhost (or http://localhost. You'll see a page load up with lots of info about configuration. Near the bottom it'll say, "Your Projects". Whatever folder you extracted Wordpress to is in there. Click on that and it'll take you to the install page for Wordpress to let you set Wordpress up.

Once you've done that you can use Wordpress as if you're using it online but without being online. :) And you can use any browser as well so its a perfect offline situation to mess with Wordpress in private but check it with any browser to check everything looks good across the board.

I use WAMP when I make my static PHP pages so I can be sure they render identically in FF, IE and Opera. :cool:
 
tres said:
Why bother using .htaccess or any sort of authentication?
Just install it into a randomly named folder, no one will ever find it!
Click to expand...

_lecro_ said:
if you want to keep it on your server just install in a folder .. i.e www.YOURDOMAIN.COM/wordpress

EDIT : dohhh 2 mins too late
Click to expand...

This sounds like the easiest way to give it a try. If I do this and spend ages playing around on it and getting it doing what I like, would it be easy to move it from the test area to the actual site? Is it a case of copying files into my main domain folder?
 
copy all the files from the folder into your root folder, and then you have to change the folder location in the config file.
if you get stuck, give me a shout and i'll assist
 
Well, I was having a play with Wordpress over the weekend, and found it to be pretty good, bit of a learning curve but I think I'm getting there.

Hardest part at the moment is customing the look of the site (using a theme but want to change colours etc) using the CSS which I've never used before. Found some decent software to allow me to do it though making sure I'm changing the right things has taken some time.

Next step is to install an ecommerce plugin (thinking probably WP-Ecommerce - unless anyone can suggest something easier and better). I need it to be really simple to add new items so my girlfriend, who the site is for, will be able to add things herself to save me having to do it all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom