The idea is that you would be able to add local projects based on folders without going through the export/zip and import process.
+ add website > select existing local folder
I think this would have plenty of usecases for the community.
Usecases :
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work on same project, multiple OS on same computer - Read website directly from a folder, to enable cross-platform development
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work on same project, multiple computers same storage (NAS or cloud storage onedrive, google drive etc)
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custom archiving process : being able to handle your projects, save and restore them the way you want as a developer I think is fundamental. Maybe you are using git or want to drag and drop folders between your working folder and an archive folder. Maybe each of you clients have different needs.
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Non zip archives (if you can extract manually there is no issue) - Import websites from .DAF-archives (Duplicator back-ups) - #4 by FBFATA1020
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Non wordpress projects - this would probably make it easier to handle non wordpress projects aswell which is officially unsupported but already used by the community -Feature Request: Support for Non-WordPress Sites - #4 by Nick-B
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This would also be an alternative solution to the same issue : Install and run Local from USB disk (Portable Local)
Solve 30 feature requests with 1 button. This simply gives more control to developers to implement their solutions and not get stuck because of their specific needs. Meanwhile you focus on making flywheel better for the standard usecases.
My usecase :
I actually use 3 usecases from above. I have a current projects
folder where I have all my local projects and an archive folder where I drag and drop completed projects when I am done.
In addition I use cloud storage solution. My current projects
is synced on laptop and desktop. Being able to switch computer without having to do any manipulation is a godsend. I just continue working whether I am home or on the go.
I really want to start using git to snapshot websites states. Being able to save files and ddb at the same time is an opportunity that few software like local offer. You could easily manages branches of data+files of a websie. Add core to .gitignore and you’re basically set for theme + plugins + ddb instant snapshots. But we can’t really take advantage of it in a practical way without this small local feature addition.
Why you should implement it
There is literally no reason not to. Just as non-wordpress websites, local is already capable of doing this. Create a local project, empty it and replace files. But it is really cumbersome, and in cases of shared storage, it can be very unpractical. But it is already a feature, just needs the button “add folder” to make local super powerful.
Forseeing implementation issues
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./conf/
not cross platform: I don’t think windows and mac use the same executables for apache / nginx, php, sql etc. So when adding a project as a folder, maybe local would have to add the local environment server executables - if possible same version but working in parallel (not replace but add) so that the two environments can keep using local. I still think it would be worth releasing the feature without managing this at all (at least people on same OS could start using it). But maybe have the possibility to setup to setup the local environment manually either on import or after. -
Not have multiple computers working on the same files - AT THE SAME TIME - it would probably result in loss of progress (but that’s the responsibility of the user and is true for many type of projects). But the good thing is that way I think Local works makes database corruption very unlikely.