We’ll also discuss some best practices for experimenting with code and testing WordPress using XAMPP. Finally, we’ll cover how to use XAMPP with a WordPress multisite installation.<\/p>
Download all-in-one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p> \n<\/p> A locally-hosted WordPress site is one that is only accessible by people on your network (that is, there are no live components). As such, this type of site can serve as a safe environment<\/a>, in which new features and troubleshooting methods can be tested.<\/p> Local websites are perfect for performing the following types of tasks:<\/p> For these reasons, creating a locally-hosted WordPress site is highly recommended for just about any development project. First, however, you’ll need a tool that will make the process of setting up a locally-hosted site quick and easy.<\/p> A few crucial ingredients are needed if you want to install WordPress locally<\/a>. These consist of web server software (such as Apache<\/a>), programming languages like Perl<\/a> and PHP<\/a>, and the database management software – MySQL<\/a>. Installing each of these elements separately, however, is time-consuming and difficult.<\/p> XAMPP<\/a> (an acronym for cross (x)-platform, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl) enables you to install all these elements quickly and easily. You can then use XAMPP to set up the environment required to run WordPress on a local machine. There, you can test plugins, experiment with themes and coding, and carry out other development activities safely.<\/p> XAMPP is free and open-source software, backed-up by a sizable support community<\/a>. It’s also extremely lightweight, and all the elements required to set up a local web server are contained within a single extractable file. What’s more, learning how to use XAMPP is relatively straightforward, as we’ll discuss in the following XAMPP tutorial.<\/p> In the following steps, we’ll walk you through how to use XAMPP and install WordPress<\/a> on it. For this tutorial, we will be covering the steps for the Mac version of the software. However, XAMPP can also be set up and run relatively easily on both Windows<\/a> and Linux<\/a> devices, using a similar process.<\/p> First of all, you’ll need to go to the Apache Friends website<\/a>, and select the relevant download link on the homepage:<\/p> Next, drag XAMPP into your Applications<\/strong> folder:<\/p> Once the initial loading sequence is completed, XAMPP will be installed on your system. This part of the setup process doesn’t require much on your end.<\/p> It should be mentioned that if you are running XAMPP on Windows, and another program on your machine is using ports 80 or 443, you may encounter a port error. For example, the World Wide Web Publishing Service program commonly uses port 80 and may cause a conflict with XAMPP.<\/p> To resolve this, you’ll need to stop that service from running by doing the following things:<\/p> If this doesn’t resolve the issue, it may be caused by your Windows firewall. To forcibly unlock your ports, you will need to set up a new firewall rule:<\/p> Once XAMPP is installed, you’ll be all set to start running XAMPP.<\/p> Now, open up the XAMPP application and hit the Start<\/strong> button. You should see a green light in the upper right-hand corner of the display:<\/p> Next, navigate to the Services <\/strong>tab. You will need to ensure that the status of both the Apache and MySQL stack services are running (i.e. that they have a green light). This will ensure that your database management and server software elements are in place for your local environment. For now, you can ignore ProFTPD (which is a configurable File Transfer Protocol server).<\/p> If MySQL or Apache are not running (if they display a red light), simply select them and hit Start<\/strong>:<\/p> Then, switch over to the Network<\/strong> tab. Here, you can define the port forwarding rules between your host machine and your stack. Select the localhost option you wish to work on, and then hit the Enable<\/strong> button. In this example, we will be using localhost:8080<\/strong>:<\/p> You will now be able to access your localhost<\/a>, and start using XAMPP as a server environment. To do this, open up your preferred web browser, and type in your localhost name (which in our case would be localhost:8080<\/strong>). This will bring up the XAMPP dashboard. Once there, select the phpMyAdmin<\/strong> button in the top right-hand corner of the page:<\/p> You’ll then need to create a database for your WordPress installation. To do this, select the Database<\/strong> tab, type in a name for your database (in our case, we’ll simply go with WordPress<\/strong>), ensure the next drop-down menu is set to Collation<\/strong>, and then hit Create:<\/strong><\/p> After that, you’ll be ready to learn how to install WordPress on XAMPP.<\/p> At this point, you’ll need to go to WordPress.org and download the latest version<\/a> of WordPress:<\/p> Open up the WordPress folder on your machine, and locate the wp-sample-config.php<\/strong> file:<\/p> Open this file in your preferred text editor (such as TextEdit). You’ll need to locate this line of text:<\/p> Replace database_name_here<\/em> with whatever you named your database in the last step. Then, look for these two lines:<\/p> You’ll need to replace username_here<\/em> with root<\/em>, and delete password_here<\/em> entirely. The resulting text should look like this:<\/p> Once you’ve done that, save the file as wp-config.php<\/strong>. You’ll need to ensure that it is placed in the htdocs<\/strong> subfolder within the XAMPP folder. You’ll also need to paste your WordPress install folder into htdocs<\/strong> as well.<\/p> Finally, navigate to http:\/\/localhost\/wp\/<\/em> in your browser. Once there, follow the standard WordPress installation procedure. When that’s all done, you’ll have a locally-hosted WordPress site ready to go!<\/p> Now that you know how to use XAMPP for a single WordPress installation, you may want to use it to create a multisite network. This enables you to create a network of websites that are all managed from a single WordPress installation. There are a lot of applications for a multisite installation. For instance, it presents a useful way to test how your newly-developed themes and\/or plugins will function on a variety of sites.<\/p> To get started, you’ll need to open up your wp-config.php <\/strong>file in a text editor again. You’ll then need to add the following lines of code at the bottom, right above the line * That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. *<\/em>:<\/p> After you’ve ensured that Apache and MySQL are still running on XAMPP, log in to your localhost site. Then, navigate to Tools<\/strong> > Network Setup:<\/strong><\/p> Once you’ve entered a network title, select Install<\/strong>. You will be prompted to edit your wp-config.php<\/strong> and .htaccess<\/strong> files.<\/p> Open up your wp-config.php <\/strong>file once more. You’ll need to add the following code beneath the lines you added previously:<\/p> Next, you’ll need to open up (or create) your .htaccess<\/strong> file<\/a> in the same directory as your wp-config.php<\/strong> file. Then, replace all the existing lines in that file with the following snippet:<\/p> Save the file and close it. Now, you should be able to access individual sites in your dashboard when you log in to your local WordPress installation.<\/p> Once you know how to use XAMPP and have a local WordPress site to experiment on, what you do next will largely depend on the kind of development project you’re embarking on. To get you started, WordPress.org offers a great beginner’s guide on how to test drive WordPress<\/a>.<\/p> If you’re interested in theme development, you may want to see our guide on how to develop a WordPress theme<\/a>, or check out such sites as Theme Shaper<\/a>. Using your local environment, you can safely edit your files to experiment with new themes and their associated functionality.<\/p> If you want to learn how to use XAMPP and WordPress together to test your coding knowledge and gain more PHP experience, there are a number of helpful guides for that as well. Codecademy<\/a> offers an excellent variety of tutorials that cover PHP and HTML fundamentals, plus much more.<\/p> While using your local WordPress installation for development, you’ll also want to have resources at hand for troubleshooting and honing your skills. Stack Exchange<\/a> is a thriving online forum where you can pose questions to the WordPress development community, as well as gain invaluable insights. Finally, you’ll probably want to become a regular on the WordPress.org support forum<\/a>.<\/p> As we have seen, XAMPP is a powerful and versatile solution for setting up a local web server. It presents a perfect way to create an environment for basic WordPress coding, experimenting with multisite settings, tweaking themes, and much more. Though it is not the only tool that you can use. A great alternative is setting up WordPress using Docker<\/a>.<\/p> Do you have any questions about how to use XAMPP or your new local WordPress site? Let us know in the comments section below!<\/p> \n Why You Might Need a Local WordPress Site<\/h2>
\n
An Introduction to XAMPP<\/h2>
How to Use XAMPP to Set Up a Local WordPress Site (In 3 Steps)<\/h2>
Step 1: Install XAMPP<\/h3>
![\"Download](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/download-xampp-page-1.png\/w=1024,h=1024,fit=scale-down\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>![\"XAMPP](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/XAMPP-drag-to-Applications-Folder.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n
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Step 2: Run XAMPP and Configure Your Environment<\/b><\/h3>
![\"XAMPP](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/XAMPP-Start-Button-Screenshot.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>![\"XAMPP](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/XAMPP-Services-Menu.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>![\"XAMPP](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/XAMPP-Network-Tab-Screenshot.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>![\"XAMPP](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/XAMPP-Dashboard-phpMyAdmin-Button.png\/w=1024,h=1024,fit=scale-down\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>![\"phpMyAdmin](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/phpMyAdmin-Database-Tab.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>Step 3: Download and Run WordPress<\/h3>
![\"Download](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/download-wordpress-landing-page.png\/w=1024,h=1024,fit=scale-down\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>![\"The](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/The-wp-config-sample.php-file.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');<\/pre>define('DB_USER', 'username_here');\ndefine('DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here');<\/pre>![\"wp-sample-config](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/wp-sample-config-file.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>How to Set Up WordPress Multisite on XAMPP<\/h2>
define('WP_DEBUG', false);\ndefine('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true);<\/pre>![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/WordPress-Tools-Network-Setup-Option.jpg\/public\")
<\/figure><\/div>define('MULTISITE', true);\ndefine('SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', false);\ndefine('DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', 'localhost');\ndefine('PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '\/');\ndefine('SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);\ndefine('BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);<\/pre># BEGIN WordPress\nRewriteEngine On\nRewriteBase \/\nRewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]\n\n# add a trailing slash to \/wp-admin\nRewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+\/)?wp-admin$ $1wp-admin\/ [R=301,L]\n\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d\nRewriteRule ^ - [L]\nRewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+\/)?(wp-(content|admin|includes).*) $2 [L]\nRewriteRule ^([_0-9a-zA-Z-]+\/)?(.*.php)$ $2 [L]\nRewriteRule . index.php [L]\n\n# END WordPress<\/pre>What to Do With Your Local WordPress Installation<\/h2>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/New-WP_in-text-banner.png\/w=1024,h=1024,fit=scale-down\")
<\/a><\/figure>Conclusion<\/h2>