Tools for local WordPress website development

Was gibt es schöneres als an einer lokalen WordPress Installation zu arbeiten… Geringe Ladezeiten, volle Kontrolle, Unabhängigkeit von Remote Server und Internet! Doch bevor man loslegen kann, benötigt man noch eben eine lokale Entwicklungsumgebung. Puh, klingt erstmal nach Arbeit, doch zum Glück stellt hier die Web-Community viele kostenlose Tools zur Verfügung, die teils seit über einem Jahrzehnt einen hervorragenden Job leisten. Lokale Entwicklung von WordPress Websites: Los geht’s!

Local Apache web server with XAMPP

One of the most common methods is to install a ready-made Apache distribution on Windows or MAC. One of the best-known complete solutions here is definitely the free XAMPP. Dieses Open-Source-Paket ist denkbar einfach zu installieren und daher gerade (aber nicht ausschließlich) für Einsteiger geeignet. Das Paket kommt mit der Datenbanklösung MariaDB, PHP sowie Perl daher. Ist die Installation erledigt, muss lediglich eine WordPress Installation in das htdocs-Verzeichnis kopiert sowie eine neue Datenbank angelegt werden. URL aufrufen – WordPress installieren – fertig! So einfach kann es sein. Diverse Tutorials gibt es online bereits wie Sand am Meer. Auf der offiziellen Seite WordPress.org page is awarded in the category Local Server Stack besides XAMPP also MAMP (for MAC only).

Virtual machine

Another common solution is to work in a virtual environment. For this, a virtual machine must be used, i.e. a completely independent system is simulated by means of special software. For this there are various software such as Hyper-V, VMWare Fusion, VMWare Player and many more. For this article we will look at Oracles virtualization software VirtualBox more precisely. Once the software is installed, there are several ways to trigger a WordPress installation. In the following we will look at two particularly easy procedures.

Bitnami Stack

Bitnami provides a large number of preconfigured open source packages, including a WordPress package. You download this and start it in the Virtual Box. This procedure creates a virtual Linux environment including a ready installed and configured WordPress installation. So you have to take care of almost nothing, but you are also bound to the finished package from Bitnami.

Local by Flywheel

Ein Tool, dessen Name bereits die Intention “lokale Entwicklung” erkennen lässt: local by Flywheel. Es wurde eigens für die einfache lokale WordPress Installation entwickelt wurde und basiert auf einer virtuellen Umgebung. Local by Flywheel is the insider tip for all those who not only want it to be uncomplicated, but are also into various extras, such as:

• Divisible demo URLs
• SSH and WP-CLI access
• One-click installation
• Local SSL certificates (my personal Highlight)
• Switching between NGINX + Apache as well as PHP versions

Those who host their WordPress site with this service can also put their local installation online without any additional tools.

Advanced solutions

Besides these easy to implement solutions, there are many other ways to create a local development environment for WordPress. These are rather recommended for more technically experienced users and will only be touched upon here.

Varying Vagrant Vagrants (VVV)

With the help of VirtualBox and Vagrant, a Ruby application for creating and managing virtual machines, can be used to run a development environment optimized for WordPress. There is a special Vagrant configuration called Varying Vagrants Vagrantswhich was created specifically for WordPress development. Interested parties can for example at the VVV Tutorial on WordPress.org start

Container virtualization (via Docker)

Ähnlich wie die “normale” Virtualisierung, allerdings mit einigen Unterschieden, welche an dieser Stelle keine Rolle spielen sollen. Eine Software für eine Containervirtualisierung ist beispielsweise Docker. For those interested is suitable the documentation in Docker Hub.

Happy Developing!

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You are interested in the CMS WordPress? Maybe you are also interested in my article 13 reasons why WordPress is the best CMS for websites.