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WordPress Installing WordPress Locally Installing WordPress Locally Introduction to Local Development

Alberto Medrano
Alberto Medrano
12,917 Points
Posted by Alberto Medrano
Alberto Medrano
12,917 Points

Most recommended option for a WP developer: DesktopServer, XAMPP, MAMP, other?

I have installed DesktopServer, by recommendation of the course How to Install WordPress on Your Computer. In another course they implement XAMPP. Here in this course, they are using MAMP ... Which option is the most recommended for a WordPress developer?

6 Answers

Jonathan Grieve
MOD
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points
Jonathan Grieve
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points

I think the answer is very much an individual thing. There's no right or wrong answer but you could spend some time looking into all the options and see what works best for you.

I use XAMPP for Windows which is all (up to now) I've ever needed! If you feel more comfortable start with the program demonstrated in the course and then maybe see what else is out there! :-)

Alberto Medrano
Alberto Medrano
12,917 Points
Alberto Medrano
Alberto Medrano
12,917 Points

But will there be any kind of conflict when installing "DesktopServer" and MAMP at the same time in Windows?

pat barosy
pat barosy
6,759 Points
pat barosy
pat barosy
6,759 Points

Like Johnathan said, I think for the most part it's personal preference.
As an online learning resource, I think they're just doing their due diligence by showing you multiple options & allowing you to decide which you prefer. I've found Desktop Sever to be the easier option as far as going from iinstall to development. Feature sets are pretty much the same

Lori Moritz
PLUS
Lori Moritz
Courses Plus Student 9,150 Points
Lori Moritz
Lori Moritz
Courses Plus Student 9,150 Points

For Wordpress, I like to use local by flywheel.

Mike Hatch
Mike Hatch
14,940 Points
Mike Hatch
Mike Hatch
14,940 Points

Flywheel is what Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks uses and recommends. He wasn't the first WP Expert I've seen recommend it. Brad Schiff is another one. That's what I'm going to use.

Unsubscribed User
Unsubscribed User
13,197 Points
Unsubscribed User
Unsubscribed User
13,197 Points

Like the others here have said, it's very much a personal preference. All of them basically do the same thing but one may have features that appeal to you more. Personally I use MAMP Pro and have done for years. Desktop Server looked good when I was watching some of the WordPress videos but I didn't really see anything that made me want to change from what I know. If you've never used any of them maybe try the demos of each and see which you like.

I don't think there would be any issues having each of these installed on your machine at the same time as long as they're not all running at the same time. Having said that, you would probably need to duplicate you WP database into each of them as the database will only exist in the one you set it up in. You would also have to change your wp_config file to connect to each one. I would suggest that you do a fresh install of WordPress using each one and try them out. I would do any vital work until you know which one you want to go with for the whole project.

Syed Shah Zahurullah Hussaini
Syed Shah Zahurullah Hussaini
3,847 Points
Syed Shah Zahurullah Hussaini
Syed Shah Zahurullah Hussaini
3,847 Points

I somehow feel WAMP is more convenient to use.

Joseph Alejandro
Joseph Alejandro
1,428 Points
Joseph Alejandro
Joseph Alejandro
1,428 Points

In my personal opinion I think that using Vagrant and VirtualBox is a better, cleaner and a more versatile approach. Yes its going to be as easy to set up as WAMP, XAMPP, DesktopServer, etc. But once you get the hang of it you're going to be developing you programs or websites in an environment that you can configure to be as close as possible to the server where you're going to host it.