I know … You already have a very logical question … Why the heck do I need to install WordPress on my own computer?
Well … You don’t NEED to. But, you should …
And I am going to give you a few reasons …
First of all, if you are reading this tutorial you’re probably not a WordPress super-user. Now, being a newbie is definitely not a crime, but I can tell you from my own experience: you are going to have one million questions right from the beginning and once you find the answers, you will want to try out, to test every single detail, option, setting, etc. Which is absolutely normal … and extremely useful, because will help you to learn a LOT of new things. But, doing continuous changes and all kind of “experiments” on a live website is nothing else, but a recipe for disaster … a disaster which can be easily avoided using a safe offline environment.
Also, you’ll be able to:
- test different website changes – for example, a new theme or layout – without altering your live site
- to install and test new plugins or widgets without creating annoying crashes or conflicts in your existing configuration
- detect and solve any issues before they affect your audience
- also, the local development can help you to speed up the development process
So, no matter if you are a beginner or an experienced WordPress user, I strongly recommend you to install WordPress on your computer in order to create an offline environment where you can safely try out any crazy idea you might have …
... something that i asked about and discussed in one of my early salad WA blog days here -- when are 'we live' on the net?! ...
.. yes, agree & quite correct, we need to have practice runs on a 'dummy site' -- that is part of learning & practice makes perfect...
... Jay mentions this occasionally in some of his trainings as well -- 'sandbox' he calls it, however, it's on a siterubix, i think and that is still 'live' isn't it? ..
... anyway, your training here is mind-boggling for me -- would you like to come over and install in it -- i work on Windows 10 and that drives me crazy! ..
... frankly, Windows XP was the best platform ever -- too bad they stopped supporting it ... so my wee rant for the day! ...
... thanks kindly for developing & sharing this training today,
... all the best, cheerio ... 😊