Hi, I want to load WordPress.org onto my harddrive so I can play around with it to see if I want to migrate to WP from Dreamweaver. Is your program what I need to do this?
Just want to load some Themes into it to see what they look like, try editing some code and other stuff like that.
Thanks
Yes, Local by Flywheel allows you to create local WordPress sites on your computer with ease. If you’re just looking to test the waters of WordPress, you could also create a free demo site on the Flywheel hosting platform (app.getflywheel.com). That would allow you to play around with WordPress without downloading any software like Local.
Agree with @trevan. I am aware of another site where you can test WordPress:
- The unfortunately named poopy.life - Though, ignore their advertisements and host with FlyWheel if you end up liking WordPress!
We are a great community. (To be fair, I haven’t encountered a “bad” WordPress community, but FlyWheel’s integration with Local is cool, and many other hosts don’t have active forums like FW does.) - Unrelated note, since you are new to WordPress: You might try installing the Gutenberg plugin. It is to be the new (default) editor in WordPress later this year (though it is easy to switch back to the current/“classic” editor if it isn’t your cup of tea). I mention it because some content creators think it’s bee’s knees while others do not - just mentioning options in case you dislike one or the other. There are tons of editor options available for WordPress, but Gutenberg and the classic editor are easiest to play with out-of-the-box, without a lot of extra tinkering (IMO & YMMV).
Keep in mind that everything new has a learning curve, but when you get the hang of WordPress, you’ll fall in love with all of the add-on options available, and not having to constantly reinvent the wheel.
More on-topic: Speaking strictly of WordPress (and not something like Laravel or Joomla, etc), I’ve used most of the major local development stacks (for Mac, though I have used many for Windows as well). Local is, in my opinion and observation, the easiest to get up-and-running with, and is also a delight to use. (It also has some pretty amazing things under the hood, but those are technical details.)
There are some other decent options that have been released recently, but none of them make it as pleasant or are as polished as Local, especially if you are new to WordPress.
Are you a Windows or Mac user? Just curious - not really important, but it is helpful to know if you need assistance with installation/setup… If you need any help finding themes “that look like X,” advice/a plugin to accomplish a certain task, or just want to know, “Can I do this in WordPress?”, feel free to ask.
Have fun!
Daniel
Hi guys,
Thanks for the detailed replies. I’ve loaded Local and am well into the process of ‘playing around’. I think I’ll stick with Local for now instead of setting up a Demo site on Flywheel (fear of the unknown ) and I no doubt will have plenty more questions! enjoy…