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Greg Kitchin
Greg Kitchin
31,522 Points
Posted by Greg Kitchin
Greg Kitchin
31,522 Points

Testing site on multiple devices without uploading to WWW

Odd question for yourselves. I want to try out a few different designs for a few websites, and I'd like to see how they look on different devices (my Ipad, my Android phone, etc), but I don't want to spend time buying a domain, choosing a hosting package etc, since the sites would just be prototypes at the very most, and are really just exercises for myself.

Is there a way to host them somewhere privately and for free, that I can showcase them to myself, and other people to show them what I've been up to? Is it possible through something like Dropbox for example? Or is there another way to do this?

Thanks.

6 Answers

Casey Clayton
Casey Clayton
16,708 Points
Casey Clayton
Casey Clayton
16,708 Points

Well the simplest way would be to install the resolution test extension in chrome, this allows you to pick multiple resolutions and see how it would be viewed in each one at the same time. This saves you from having to start a local server and testing on all those devices.

You can get it here Resolution Test

Stephen Crockett
Stephen Crockett
18,614 Points
Stephen Crockett
Stephen Crockett
18,614 Points

Local server and navigate to your IP with a MAMP/WAMP/LAMP stack. Make sure you have the server configured on port 80. You may need to update the configuration a bit to respond to more than localhost and 127.0.0.1.

If you're on Mac MAMP pro has some dynamic DNS configuration for a domain/subdomain you can take advantage of for a more human-readable address if you want.

Waqar Mohammad
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Waqar Mohammad
iOS Development Techdegree Student 9,914 Points
Waqar Mohammad
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Waqar Mohammad
iOS Development Techdegree Student 9,914 Points

you can use WAMP and MAMP server for windows and Mac respectively.

Adam Greenough
Adam Greenough
7,742 Points
Adam Greenough
Adam Greenough
7,742 Points

You can use Google Drive as some temporary dummy web hosting. :)

James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points
James Barnett
James Barnett
39,199 Points

If you want to share the site with people not on your local network you can use http://progrium.com/localtunnel/

Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points
Anthony Hind
Anthony Hind
5,715 Points

I use XAMMP on my wIndows machine and on my Mac I use MAMP, for quick responsive testing I use http://lab.maltewassermann.com/viewport-resizer/ its a nice little bookmark tool that allows you to resize your browser to different device widths also there is a chrome extension https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/window-resizer/kkelicaakdanhinjdeammmilcgefonfh?hl=en That I also use.