{"id":4600,"date":"2018-08-10T18:08:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T18:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/2018\/08\/10\/getting-started-with-a-wordpress-development-environment\/"},"modified":"2021-07-12T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T20:03:18","slug":"getting-started-with-a-wordpress-development-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/edu\/wordpress\/getting-started-with-a-wordpress-development-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started with a WordPress Development Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re going to continue using WordPress into the future, at some point you’ll need your own “local” WordPress development environment<\/a><\/strong>. So why not start learning how to use one today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working seriously and intelligently with your WordPress site means you’ll need a local installation to play around with. This is most important for developers and designers who are trying to learn the ins and outs of WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But more novice users could also learn a lot from having a local development site. You can try out new things without fear of crashing your live site. If you break something, just start over again with a new site; it can be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desktop Server (for Mac OS and Windows)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many popular applications out there that let you create local WordPress sites. Desktop Server<\/a>, also known as ServerPress, is a popular option because it’s easy to use, doesn’t require a lot of server knowledge, and comes with a free version. All you need to do is download the package from their website and run the installer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the free version, you can create three WordPress sites to start playing around with. You’ll need a premium license to create more. But three is plenty to get you started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have a live test site installed, you can visit it in your browser just as you would a regular WordPress site. Open your favorite text editor, and you can can actually edit the files for your WordPress site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Important Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As you’re starting to learn more about makes a WordPress site tick, you will want to focus your energy first on themes and plugins. You can do all of the custom configurations you’ll need in WordPress just from editing themes and plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress Developer Resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WordPress provides extensive documentation you can follow along with to learn how you can become a master:<\/p>\n\n\n\n