#007 – Setting Up the Local Development Environment

(Updated on )

We want to be working locally while working on this project. Just a few reasons:

  • It’s fast.
  • We can work offline from anywhere.
  • We’re working on a complete redesign that will take many days, we can’t leave a live site half-cocked.
  • There is no risk working locally.
  • We can use version control, giving us a record of what changed when and making future team work easier.
  • We can use preprocessors.

To work locally, we use MAMP to create a local domain name with a local folder as the root. We use Sequel Pro to create (and manage) a local MySQL database. We download and install a fresh copy of WordPress and install it. We export all the posts/pages/comments/attachments and stuff from Jeff’s live site and import it locally.