Maybe you already know about this free tool, but I just found out about it recently. After using XAMPP for so many years as my local WordPress testing platform for Windows, I have switched to InstantWP.
It’s the perfect way to test your theme design before going live, and it’s much easier to install than XAMPP. Watch the video below for more details.
Email and RSS subbies: If you cannot view the video, watch it on my blog.
Awesome video! its really helpful for me. thanks
Thanks Lisa. Awesome stuff. Been looking all over the place for this. Really nifty piece of software. Installed it and liking it very much. Now, I cant start hacking themes.
I normally use something called AppServ for developing but I have never tried to install WordPress on top.
That should be interesting but I don’t recommend it for non techie people since you have to do everything from scratch.
(Build database, create users, assign roles, etc, etc)
Sergio
Unlike instantWP, it’ll create separate, isolated, virtual servers. It’s also an easy solution for Mac users too.
And these kinds posts are what makes me think that wordpress is better. Great post, excellent content and information.
Thanks! I’ve been looking for just such a tool to test new theme designs for my site.
Thanks lisa for providing such a nice program to do wordpress testing before it goes live.
Just this week I also visited a blog with the same content with this. I just wonder who could be the real source of this article. I just appreciated this a lot. WordPress Rocks!
Thanks for this, Lisa. I tried and failed to use XAMPP; this looks much better.
Thanks Lisa,
I have been looking for a program to quickly do my wordpress theme testing before it goes live. This is exactly what I have been searching for, great blog post!
This is a good program, but I need to master so much. Thanks
Hello Lisa,
You might want to try DesktopServer if you work on more the one project or want to take Multisite for a spin with domain mapping and subdomains. Unlike instantWP, it’ll create separate, isolated, virtual servers. It’s also an easy solution for Mac users too. http://serverpress.com
Thanks for the suggestion. Never heard of this one. 🙂
Hello Lisa! I am using blogger platform for my blog. But I am planning to switch to wordpress soon. And these kinds posts are what makes me think that wordpress is better.
Thanks for this post Lisa
Great post, excellent content and information. Thank you for sharing, amazing what we can do these days…. :0)
No offense, but Windows and WordPress don’t work together, Why not go for linux. I mean if it works flawlessly in linux then why switch to something else?
Because many people don’t use Linux. I use Windows and WP Instant works flawless for me. 🙂 I have no desire to go to Linux.
Thanks for this tip. I’ll give it a try when I’ve to test a wp plugin/addon.
My first time hearing about “instantWp”. From this video, i believe it is a good try compared to xampp. I will certainly dump xampp and wamp for wordpress local testing
Thank you so much Lisa for sharing this.
it’s really nice article
Great video, thank you for sharing. I too have had a lot of trouble with XAMPP and have just been using a cloud based testing server. However, local copies are far easier to access and play with so I prefer to do it that way. I’ll give this new tool a shot!
Thank you so much Lisa for sharing this!!! Testing my WP websigns on a self hosted servers was very intimidating. Life has just gotten alot easier.
Hello Lisa! I am using blogger platform for my blog. But I am planning to switch to wordpress soon. And these kinds posts are what makes me think that wordpress is better.
Thanks for this post Lisa
Thanks! I’ve been looking for just such a tool to test new theme designs for my site. It seems so much easier than setting up a completely new site just for testing.
Great post, i always like to test my themes before i use them as it is annoying to have to set up everything again
I would love to try InstallWP. If i manage to love the features, then I would surely use this. Thank you for sharing…
windows driver update
HI Lisa,
So let me get this straight, I use WordPress, it is all I use, I also use Hostgator and fantastico, are you basically saying I can up load this to my computer and do not need a hosting anymore??
@ Stephen, you will still need to use your host so the world can browse to your site.
Xampp and instantwp enable you to run WP on your PC so you can make modifications to your theme, maybe try new plugins and test them on your PC as if it was live on the net. Once you were happy with the modifications then the changes can be uploaded via FTP to your live site, causing little disruption.
Geoff is correct. This is only for testing purposes. A great example is if you want to drastically change components of your design but don’t want the changes to go live while you test things out. This is when you would use WPInstant.
Oh I see, cheers Geoff and Lisa.
Lisa, I fought learning the WordPress platform for a long time, but I know would not use anything else. WordPress is versatile and it is a dynamic theme based site. Thanks
I use a Mac, but I will definitely forward this on to some of my windows using friends, this looks like a great piece of kit (as the Brits would say).
Putting the whole thing on a USB stick is a bonus!
Right!! I really wish they’d come out with a Mac version since I tend to use my Mac more.
Hi Lisa,
I’m with you (also a 10y + MAC user), in fact just lately I’ve had to get a PC since so many tools are PC only.
But my question is that do you know of a tool like ManageWP for MAC, I mean is there one at all?
Thanks!
Another tool for wordpress? Oh, good, a more choice. I don’t like XAMPP, some php function doesn’t support, thanks.
Hi Lisa,
Didn’t know you could actually install wp on your computer to set and test your site, so thank you for this insight will be coming back for more info.
Graham
There’s another tool ManageWP that works very good as well. It enables you to manage multiple sites of different domains at different hosting in one admin panel.
Amazing,
am tired from using XAMMP, always go tp programs files > wp-content > bla > bla with this application it’s just one click thank you so much Lisa
WoW…
That’s a really easy way to test your WP-Theme…
I was creating my wordpress theme and I’ve used a free web hosting service and installed WP on that to test my theme. Uhh!!! that was terrible. I wish I had InstantWP at that time.
Thanks Lisa for sharing.
Thanks for this, Lisa. I tried and failed to use XAMPP; this looks much better.
Great post! Thank you for making a video, so much easier on the eyes, especially during the first cup of coffee. I will follow you! (anywhere)
I so wish I had this before 🙂
I installed a local version using some auto installers from Windows 7. I managed to mess it up so I always get errors and can’t use my local version anymore.
I am going to remove all that now and install this now, if there is one thing I need, it is a local version of my blog I can test on and not mess up the live one.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
I currently use XAMPP, and have grown accustomed to installing and setting up WordPress with it. I am always open to new projects and applications so I’ll have a look at InstallWP.
Thanks, Lisa.
Lisa, I’m going to give InstallWP a try. It looks super simple. Previously I attempted to install Bitnami and during the process I made a mistake naming a folder and I got totally lost trying to fix it. This should make the whole process much easier and I’d love to see you go through the steps to install Thesis with this test site.
Btw – what’s up with the new music? That took me by surprise 🙂
Yeah, my next step is to get this working on Thesis. lol really? (re: the music) Most of my recent vids have had music. Just having fun with Apple loops on my Mac. 😀
wow great sharing,. This tool is great then setting up xampp, its really easy to install and configure now i can check live my wp blog on windows, and also i do not web hosting / domain name for this, thanks for sharing 🙂