{"id":6523,"date":"2021-10-06T11:03:58","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T11:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/academy\/?p=6523"},"modified":"2023-02-21T09:41:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T09:41:10","slug":"wordpress-dev-environments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/academy\/wordpress-dev-environments\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose the Right WordPress Development Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Working on your WordPress site without worrying about bandwidth and resources is important. You don\u2019t want to waste your hosting server\u2019s resources<\/a> on developing your site (at least until the staging part of the process). A WordPress development environment is the answer, and it can be easy to set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this lesson, we will show you the different types of WordPress development environments, and help you choose the right one. First, let\u2019s go into what a development environment is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a WordPress Development Environment?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A WordPress development environment can also be called a \u2018dev tool\u2019, a \u2018local dev environment\u2019, and many other names. In short, this tool lets you \u2018spin up\u2019 a WordPress website on your computer without the need for a dedicated hosting server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Often, a tool will include most of the functionality you need to work on your site. For example, you\u2019ll find a database manager, emulated email server, and much more. You are also able to create a virtual server to your own specifications. This is helpful if you want to match your local environment to the \u2018specs\u2019 of the live server (which is a good idea).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s the ideal test bed for both learning about and developing for WordPress<\/a>, because there\u2019s no risk. If there is an issue with your installation that you can\u2019t fix, you can delete it and create a new one. What\u2019s more, you can have as many environments on your computer as necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Local development environments are an ideal test bed with no risks to your project or business.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If there is an issue with your installation that you can\u2019t fix, you can delete it and create a new one. What\u2019s more, you can have as many environments on your computer as necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, choosing a solution can take time. Next, we\u2019ll show you some of the available solutions across three categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Choose the Right WordPress Development Environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress development environments get split into three categories. Over the next few sections, we\u2019ll break them down and offer solutions for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Graphical User Interface (GUI) Apps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Much like other desktop apps, a GUI tool wraps a visual interface around the underlying functionality. This means you\u2019ll be able to use the app in a familiar way to others on your computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of positives we can note here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n