how to create & test blogs on your own pc

8/14/2019 How To Create & Test Blogs On Your Own PC

1/40

KlikrNet Ungeek Series

How To Develop & Test

Blogs & Websites

On Your Own PC

By Hilmy Omar

With Step-by-Step Guide For

WordPress

Drupal

Membership Site Script

osCommerce

+++

www.Klikr.net all rights reserved
http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/


2/40

How To Develop & Test Blogs and Websites on Your Own PC By Hilmy Omar

Copyright Notice

Congratulation!Resell rights are granted with this report. You may resell or simply give

away for free As-Is.No alterations are allowed whatsoever.

Liability Disclaimer

By reading this document you assume all risks associated with using the advice givenbelow. Attempts have been made to verify the information given however we shall notbe held responsible for any loss, damages, contradictory information, or errors in this

report.

You implement the information given at your own risk.

All trademarks are owned by their respective brand owners and we are not affiliated to

any of them.

Copyright www.Klikr.net | All Rights Reserved

2
http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/


3/40


KEEP YOURSELF UPDATED!

If you obtained this report not directly from

me and you would like to get notified of

future updates via my newsletters, please click

the cover image on the left or follow this link

below:

>> Updates Notice >>

3
http://klikr.net/local-test/http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/local-test/


4/40


About The Author

I am Hilmy Omar, an online marketer.

I love businesses that can run on auto-pilot and

this was one big reason why I picked this

industry.

I am also a little crazy about webtools, scripts

and software as they enable me to run my online business almost

completely hands-off. Things just can't be better than that.

With that I hope that you too will benefit from all the tools

featured in this guide.

Please keep in touch as I plan to release more guides on other

tools in the future.

Enjoy.

To Your Success,

www.Klikr.net

P.S. You can contact me with questions or feedback at my

support system below:

>> Klikrnet Support Site >>

4
http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/support/http://klikr.net/http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/support/http://www.klikr.net/


5/40


Compatibility Statement

This guide has been prepared based on a test system built using the followingenvironment:

Windows XP Professional SP2 EasyPHP 2.0b1 WordPress 2.5 Ioncube loader win 5.2

Therefore correct functioning on other types of machines and configuration cannot

be guaranteed. As there are numerous variables that are involved, even similarconfiguration as the one above may not produce same results in some cases.

Please also take note that the system described in this guide is suitable only forwebsites where you have control over the scripts or codes in use. This is sometimesknown as self-hosted websites or blogs. As a result, sites and blogs built at someblog service providers such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com will not work.Though blogs based on scripts or codes from WordPress.org or similar will be fineas long as they are able to be installed on your PC.

The systems presented in this guide are meant for website development and testing

purposes only - NOT for production. You will need a different set of applications forproduction as it may have different requirements on operating system, stability andmost importantly, security etc.

In other words, this guide is not about how to run a live web server from your PC forpublic access. It is purely for closed internal usage and suitable for local testingpurposes only.

5
http://www.klikr.net/


6/40


Table of Contents

Copyright Notice................................................................................................................................2

Liability Disclaimer...........................................................................................................................2

KEEP YOURSELF UPDATED!.......................................................................................................3

About The Author..............................................................................................................................4

Compatibility Statement.....................................................................................................................51.Why Local Testing?........................................................................................................................7

2.Which System Is Best?....................................................................................................................93.EasyPHP Installation, Setup and Operation..................................................................................12

4.A Simple Test File........................................................................................................................16

Your Very First Test Website.....................................................................................................165.WordPress Installation, Setup & Installation................................................................................20

WordPress Database Setup..........................................................................................................23

Using MySQL phpMyAdmin To Create Database.....................................................................23Running WordPress on Local PC................................................................................................30

6.What's Next...................................................................................................................................35

7.You Can Do Offline Blog Posting Too.........................................................................................36

8.Resources......................................................................................................................................379.Closing..........................................................................................................................................38

How Would You Like To Leverage On Having Cash Pumping Niche Websites, That Updates

Itself, Streaming Videos You Do Not Create!!...........................................................................39FINAL DISCLAIMER.....................................................................................................................40

6


7/40


1. Why Local Testing?

Yeah, why take the trouble? you may ask.

Almost all web masters and website owners use hosting services to host theirwebsites. This is a very common practice since the hosting are the expert for this kindof job and cost effective too.

Having said that, sometimes it can be very beneficial to have a test system where youcan develop your site locally without having to actually upload your work to your webhost at that early stage.

We may not realize that web applications can actually be run and tested on a PC

instead of a web hosting.

If your site is simply a static site written in simple HTML then there is really no need touse anything more than just a web browser. Place your files in a folder on yourcomputer and preview them just like that using the browser.

But what if you want to be able to test new code and scripts?

You could create a new folder on your web host and use that for development, butthen you need to spend time uploading, testing, editing then uploading again. Thiscan be a hugely time consuming process, tedious and totally unproductive. It can be

costly too especially if your hosting charges go by the bandwidth amount.

A better approach is to test almost everything on a local computer first and thenupload the whole thing once you're satisfied to a web hosting for final checks andminor tweaks.

And that is a perfect job for a test server. A test server can either be a local serverinstalled on your PC, or a stand alone server on your LAN (local area network). It istypically referred as local server.

By the way if you're curious, here's what Wikipedia has for localhost:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Localhost

Another factor that is very important is to choose and configure your developmentserver to be very similar (preferably identical) to the server that is used by yourhosting company. I don't mean the hardware specification, but the software versionand configuration.

7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Localhosthttp://www.klikr.net/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Localhost


8/40


If you can keep your development server as closely configured to your productionserver then there is less chance of you having compatibility issues when you moveyour local content to the production server.

Is it worth the trouble?

Local test has been the playground for superusers that include programmers, webdevelopers, web designer and the like. Casual users have usually shied away fromthis as setting up such a system used to be rather intimidating. Not anymore since theadvent of easy to use packages started to appear in the community.

What was previously done in bits and pieces is now available in one nice installer. Asystem that integrates nuts and bolts of a local server system allows ordinary user toexperience a local test environment without much hassle.

Yes having to setup a local test system adds to your lists of tasks but here are someof the advantages of using this method:

Make upgrades and modifications without bringing down your website or worsescrewing it up altogether. Busy sites can never afford a downtime risk.

Save time from doing tests and experiments directly on your web site. Introduce new features to a website or blog without downtime risk which can

be costly. Test new codes and scripts safely. If you're a modder, you sure know that the job will take a lot of changes before

you get a final working version that you can upload to a production site.

Therefore you need to do all testing safely away from a live site. Not letting your visitors see what are still under developments, etc.

To some, there is no real alternative for not not doing testing locally.

Ok now, but how do you do it?

Alright, just keep on reading and I'll keep everything as simple as possible for you tounderstand and follow easily.

8


9/40


2. Which System Is Best?

I have been looking for a simple solution to local PC testing of websites for more thana year. There are many options out there but most will make you mess with myriadsof settings to be maintained. If you're nowhere near being a geek, trying this is notreally recommended. You could be pulling your hair day after day.

Unless tweaking Apache and PHP configs, maintain databases manually usingMySQL commands etc is your cup of tea, it may not be worth it. Also you may not bereading this ebook if you can handle those already. Just in case you wanted to see anexample of how local server is typically setup, here's a screenshot:

Perhaps you may need to do a couple of modifications like above for the system towork. If you're unlucky it may not work first time around and you'll have to

9


10/40


troubleshoot what went wrong and make corrections. For those who are technically-challenged, this can be quite intimidating.

Here's another example.

If that looks Greek to you than you need a better solution.

Now, worry not!

The system I am going to present here is many times simpler than the badexamples above.

As for myself, I quite enjoy messing with this kind of stuff but at the same time I wouldprefer to use the time for more profitable tasks such as promoting and marketing myonline business. Perhaps you do too, I believe.

At one point, I discovered one of the simplest system around but I still need to dig into

files like config.php, .htaccess, hosts.cfg and so on. After much struggle and half-lostat the end I managed to get things to work. By then I couldn't exactly remember whatwere the actual steps I did. Never mind it's working nevertheless.

However when my hard disk crashed and I installed the same system againafterwards, it failed to work even after lots of fiddling here and there. Clearly it wasbeyond my grab. It's not for me, it's for geek! My mission was to find a better one.

So my journey continued.

Long after that I came across another application that is true plug-and-play. It was like

- download, install, run - and my test website is ready to dance in no time, painless!

It's called EasyPHP.

And yes, it's easy and it's free.

10


11/40


Since then all my blog and website testing were done locally on my PC and whenthings worked as I expected, I uploaded all the files via FTP to my hosting server andmy website went live with little to no hiccups.

I was then a very happy man ever after!

Now, after using the application for sometimes, I said - hey! there could be othersouls out there who might be looking for the same test system that I have been using.

So I pickup the effort to put all the experiences that I went through into this guide. Ifyou're a geek, there is nothing new here for you but if you're not, you may benefitfrom this I guarantee.

With this, I really hope that this guide will help many people, you especially. My goalis to provide a guide that's easy to understand even if you're not a geek.

So are you ready? Let's get our hands dirty now.

11


12/40


3. EasyPHP Installation, Setup and Operation

EasyPHP is simply an application that manages several application into one easysuite. It comprises of Apache webserver, PHP script and MySQL database servers.

Without EasyPHP, you would have to tweak these three separate applications beforethey can work together in harmony. This could mean a lot of headache and frustrationespecially for non-techies (geek) and you're very lucky if you finally figured things out.

With EasyPHP, the adventure is just plain sweet. You'll see what I mean as you readon.

EasyPHP installation starts by downloading EasyPHP installation file from this site:http://www.easyphp.org/index.php

Once downloaded, run the setup file and you'll see this dialog:

Choose your preferred installation folder then click Next:

12
http://www.easyphp.org/index.phphttp://www.klikr.net/http://www.easyphp.org/index.php


13/40


Installation done! If you use File Explorer you'll see something like this:

13


14/40


Pay special attention to the www folder I circled in

red. This is where all your website files will have to

be stored otherwise EasyPHP wouldn't be able to locate

them.

Now, go to your PC Desktop Start menu and run EasyPHP:

Start-All Programs-EasyPHP(version)-EasyPHP.

EasyPHP is now running and your PC has now turned into a web server!

14


15/40


Please ensure that you see Started messages and green lights are on for

both Apache and MySQL buttons. If not, click either Apache or MySQLbutton and select restart. If that doesn't help, exit EasyPHP and run it again.

15


16/40


4. A Simple Test File

While EasyPHP is running in the background as described above, go to your favoriteInternet browser and enter localhost as the URL. You'll then see something likethis:

As we have not created any local website by now, there's no website title displayed

under the Name header.

Your Very First Test Website

Short of a better name, let's call this a website even though it's only a few lines ofPHP codes.

The purpose is to show that the setup you have now is actually a web server that iscapable of running PHP codes beside basic HTML.

Create a new folder named SamplePHP immediately under www folder. You maychoose a different name you fancy but remember to always keep it directly underwww folder or lower.

Let me stress this point again. All your website contents or work files or whateveryou call it have to reside in www folder for EasyPHP to recognize. It's that simple.

16


17/40


Next create a file with some PHP codes in it using your favorite web or text editor.Here I am using Notepad2, which I think a better text editor than the ubiquitousNotepad that is on every Windows PC out there. Enter texts as shown here:

Then save the file as index.php within SamplePHP folder we created earlier.

Now, if we go back to the Internet browser and enter localhost as the URL, we

will see SamplePHP folder is displayed.

17
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/zip/notepad2.ziphttp://www.klikr.net/http://www.flos-freeware.ch/zip/notepad2.zip


18/40


Remember, our index.php file was kept under this folder. Since it is named

index.php, the browser will automatically run this file if we click on SamplePHP

folder.

Ok, click the folder now.

You'll see something very similar to this screen shot. It's a lot longer but only a smallportion is shown here. It's telling us the PHP configuration that we have on ourcomputer or PC.

18


19/40


If you upload and run the same codes on your hosting server, you'll see theconfigurations shown are for that particular machine or server instead. So the resultmay be different from this one. Well, let's leave that topic for another time.

In the coming chapters I will show you how to test run WordPress blog that usesMySQL database. Fortunately, the principle remains the same for many othersystems such as Joomla and Drupal as long as PHP and MySQL are involved.

Don't worry, we are taking this a step at a time.

Let's summarize what we have gone through so far:

We downloaded, installed and run EasyPHP

Create web folder and files

Run localhost

Run a test PHP file

That's about it for EasyPHP installation and execution. Easy, isn't it?

However, if you still have any issue, please leave me a note as per contact detailsgiven towards the end of this guide.

19


20/40


5. WordPress Installation, Setup & Installation

In the last chapter we have successfully installed a web server system together withPHP and MySQL database servers too.

In this step, we are actually building on top of the earlier installation of EasyPHP. Theonly addition here is to install WordPress and setup a MySQL database.

If you have not done EasyPHP installation, you need to do it before going ahead byfollowing instructions in the previous chapter.

For your info, steps that are going to be described below will be very similar to theones that you would use to install WordPress on a remote server (hosting server or

'real' web server).

If EasyPHP is already installed and working, let's go download a copy of WordPressscripts from:

http://WordPress.org/download/

You may see a different current version of WordPress than the one I am using for thisexample which is version 2.5. However the steps described below most likely will notvary that much.

Unzip the installation file if necessary.

Copy WordPress folder to EasyPHP's www folder.

20
http://wordpress.org/download/http://www.klikr.net/http://wordpress.org/download/


21/40


You can rename the folder to any name that you prefer but for now let's just keep it aswordpress.

Now open wp-config-sample.php in a text editor such Notepad2 or any text

editor of your choice then enter these parameters:

database name username password

21


22/40


As an example, let's enter these 3 names:

wpblog for database name

user1 for MySQL username

pass for password (in real installation, stronger password is recommended)

In most cases, you may safely leave the rest of the parameters as they are.

Next save the file as wp-config.php. Make sure you remove

sample portion of the filename or your WordPress installation will not

run or show an error.

22


23/40


WordPress Database Setup

For WordPress to run, it needs a database to be setup with parameters as defined inwp-config.php above.

So let's create a database now.

Using MySQL phpMyAdmin To Create Database

On EasyPHP, first click the EasyPHP icon (see 1 indicator) and next click theAdministration menu selection button.

23


24/40


A browser window like this will open up:

Click on MySQL Manager. Another window will open in the browser and then click

on Databases.

24


25/40


Depending on the version that you have, this screen might look slightly differently.

25


26/40


Next you'll see another browser window:

Enter wpblog for a new database name to be created. Make sure you enter the

exact same name as defined in wp-config.php during WordPress installation.

Click create.

Next we need to assign user(s) to the database. Click on Privileges while making

sure you're at the correct database (wpblog in this case, by looking at databaseselection on the left side of the screen.

26


27/40


Click Add a new User

then you'll see this screen:

27


28/40


Over here, enter user1 for User name and pass for Password and re-type

Password to confirm. Again, make sure you entered user name and password as perthe ones you did in wp-config.php earlier.

28


29/40


Then select Grant all privileges... and click Check all forGlobal

privileges. Leave the rest as it is.

Click button Go to confirm all the settings made.

A user has been created and granted access to the database.

29


30/40


Running WordPress on Local PC

Having installed the WordPress codes and setup the database, it's now time to run it.

Make sure EasyPHP is running in the background then enter localhost into your

browser.

Then click on WordPress. You'll see WordPress welcome screen below:

30


31/40


So enter the Blog Title and your email address then click Install

WordPress.

You'll be served with this next:

31


32/40


Copy the password and then click the Log In button and you'll see this:

Enter admin for username and use the password you copied or memorized aboveand click Log In again.

Voila! Your WordPress is now live on your local server.

32


33/40


In most likelihood, you must already been familiar with WordPress and how itoperates on your remote hosting. This is no different. WordPress behaves exactly asit does online except that now everything runs locally.

Personally, I would immediately change my password to one that is easier toremember. Do this by clicking Users and then select Admin. Enter your newpassword and click save at the end.

Now you could do whatever you like similar to a hosted WordPress installation suchas customizing the themes, install and test new plugins etc. Those who are moreadventurous may want to start hacking the theme for example.

Now you have the liberty to introduce all changes that you want in the world knowingit would not mess up your live blog. Yes, nobody is comfortable playing around with alive site.

You'll also find this setup very handy when it's time to upgrade your WordPressinstallation to a new or different version. You could upgrade your local WordPress firstto see if everything works fine such as your themes would display correctly etc beforeupgrading your live site. This way you minimize the disruption to your live site which isa very wise thing to do.

If you're doing considerable amount of modifications, you'll notice dramatic increasein speed and response that contribute to a higher productivity. There's minimal timerequired for uploading and downloading and this will save your bandwidth tooespecially if your hosting goes by a quota.

Personally, I use local server a lot when I am customizing WordPress themes to suitmy liking.

Ok, I shall let you explore on your own from here then and hope you enjoy theexperience.

In case you faced any problems while doing the installation, please contact me here:

>> Klikrnet Support >>

33
http://klikr.net/support/http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/support/


34/40


WordPress Local Testing on Non-Windows OSes

Fortunately you're not left without help. If you intend to run WordPress on non-Windows local machines, go here for plenty of guides:

http://codex.WordPress.org/Installing_WordPress#Installing_WordPress_Locally

Scroll down towards the bottom and look for the Installing WordPress on your ownComputer header.

Be prepared though as stepping into the area to build your test system can be quitechallenging.

34
http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Installing_WordPress_Locallyhttp://www.klikr.net/http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Installing_WordPress_Locally


35/40


6. What's Next

Theoretically, you can use EasyPHP to test run most kind of PHP based scriptssuch as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Membership scripts, Forum scripts,eCommerce systems and hundreds if not thousand others.

However if your codes or scripts require more than just MySQL and PHP, you mayhave to install additional applications or codes that are needed by the program youwish to run. In this case, there is no guarantee that EasyPHP will work correctly asexpected.

As the requirements vary widely from one system to another, it's totally impossibleto list down all those here.

Fortunately every program out there most likely will come with their ownguidebook and/or community that eager to help each other. These supports canbe found on their websites, forums, help docs, blogs etc.

I have prepared separate guide books if you want to use this manual to runseveral other popular applications on a local PC. Follow the links below todownload your FREE copy of each.

But for now, sorry for keeping these links temporarily inactive while I am workingto complete them.

DrupalHow To Develop & Test Drupal Sites on Your Own PC

Membership Site ScriptHow To Develop & Test Membership Site Script on Your Own PC

osCommerceHow To Develop & Test osCommerce on Your Own PC

If you have signed up for updates, you'll be notified as soon as I have them readyfor publication. If you've not, please do it here:

>> Updates Notice >>

35
http://klikr.net/go/locserverhttp://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/go/locserver


36/40


7. You Can Do Offline Blog Posting Too

Once you increase productivity by doing offline blog testing, another potential area

for improvement is to move you routine blog posting offline too.

There are several tools that are help you do this and one favorite FREE tool ofmine is MS LIVE WRITER.

You are shown how to do just that at my blog. Just click the link below:

>> How To Write Blog Contents Offline >>

36
http://klikr.net/resources/write-your-blog-content-offline/http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/resources/write-your-blog-content-offline/


37/40


8. Resources

EasyPHP: www.easyphp.org/index.phpNotepad2: www.flos-freeware.ch/zip/notepad2.zip

WordPress http://wordpress.org

Offline Blog Writing How To Write Blog Contents Offline

37
http://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://www.easyphp.org/index.phphttp://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://flos-freeware.ch/zip/notepad2.ziphttp://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://www.wordpress.org/http://klikr.net/resources/write-your-blog-content-offline/http://www.klikr.net/http://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://www.easyphp.org/index.phphttp://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://viralmarketingvault.com/m/?e=KlikrNethttp://www.wordpress.org/http://klikr.net/resources/write-your-blog-content-offline/http://flos-freeware.ch/zip/notepad2.zip


38/40


9. Closing

Hey, that was it!

I hope it was simple plain sailing throughout but if there's any issue or feedback,please leave a note at KlikrNet's community forum at:

http://klikr.net/forum/

Just file it under EasyPHP Local Test Guide.

Again, I appreciate feedbacks so let me know if any.

To Your Success,

38
http://klikr.net/go/knetforumhttp://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/go/knetforum


39/40


How Would You Like To Leverage On HavingCash Pumping Niche Websites, That UpdatesItself, Streaming Videos You Do Not Create!!

YouTube Video Sites Generator In A Box Will

Let You:

Add niche specific video sections to any of

your existing websites! Just decide on the keywords and you have

a professional video streaming website,

boasting 100s' of entertaining videos in 15

minutes or less! Template based dynamic pages allows you

to quickly edit your video section to matchany of your present websites!

Plus so much more...

And the best part is you don't have to worry about

doing any programming yourself.

Installation is a few steps wizard-based simplicity.

Upload to your server then set-and-forget.

Building video sites has never been easier!

Click Here To Read More About - YouTube Video Sites In A Box

39
http://klikr.net/utube-inabox/http://klikr.net/utube-inabox/http://klikr.net/go/utube-boxhttp://klikr.net/utube-inabox/http://www.klikr.net/http://klikr.net/go/utube-box


40/40


FINAL DISCLAIMER

Every effort has been made to make this guide as complete and accurate as possible.

However, there may be mistakes in typography or content. Also, this guide contains

information only up to the publishing date.

Therefore, this document should be used as a guide only - not as a definitive source ofinformation.

The purpose of this document is to educate, and not to provide or imply such provision of

any legal, accounting, or any other form of business advice.

The author and publisher do not warrant that the information contained in this guide

is fully complete and shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions.

The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person

or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or

indirectly by this document.

- END OF DOCUMENT -

how to create & test blogs on your own pc

Documents