How To Tutorials

- Software Updates

Now that WordPress 3.3 is out, you may wish to update DesktopServer which originally comes with WordPress 3.2.1. You can easily update DesktopServer to create websites using WordPress 3.3 from the start. Likewise, you can have DesktopServer use a custom build (such as WordPress in a specific language) by simply updating DesktopServer’s blueprint folder. The blueprints folder will also allow you to have more then one version of WordPress to select from when you use DesktopServer’s “Create a new development website” option. This flexibility also allows you to include your most commonly used plugins and theme frameworks should you wish to do so. But keeping a lean and basic installation is a good idea for quickly creating sites for testing and development.  Read more »

- How To Tutorials

The latest version of DesktopServer version 3.2.8 for premium members includes the ability to import full backups from both iTheme’s BackupBuddy 2 and BackupBuddy Classic. BackupBuddy provides a convenient and clean method to easily backup your WordPress website and migrate it to another website or to your local desktop for development. Now DesktopServer makes local development even faster and easier with native support for BackupBuddy. In this article, I’ll show you how easy it is to use BackupBuddy to export your site and use DesktopServer to import and view a BackupBuddy archive. Read more »

- How To Tutorials

DesktopServer for premium members includes a new import feature that is compatible with the Duplicator plugin. You can find Duplicator in the WordPress.org plugin directory. If you have a live site that you wish to import into DesktopServer, you can use the Duplicator plugin to do this quickly. In this post, I’ll walk you through an example of how to import your site into your localhost DesktopServer. Read more »

- How To Tutorials

This article covers the original deployment method known as “Quick Deploy”. A new deployment method has been released called “DirectDeploy” that does not require an FTP client and can simplify most deployments. Click here for more information about the newest “DirectDeploy” feature.

Quick Deploy can make deploying your development website to a live server extremely easy. In this post, I’ll show you how to use Quick Deploy and the steps to get your site working on a compatible live server quickly.

Read more »

- How To Tutorials

New to the unlimited edition of DesktopServer version 3.2.5 is the Import / Export menu option. This option will enable you to import and export your entire WordPress website as a single ZIP file archive.

Import and Export can be used for a variety of purposes, but most notable are:

• Sharing with co-workers or collaborating on a project.
• Archiving complete solutions and configurations.
• Import an existing website for redesign.
• Transport between workstations.
• Deploying to a live server.

Read more »

- How To Tutorials

To enable mail services on Windows requires a few (but not obvious) extra steps. Since Windows isn’t Linux or a *nix based operating system, these settings are only needed for Windows users to mirror similar functionality like a typical hosting provider’s LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) setup.  Enabling mail services will allow you to test WordPress notifications and features like the ‘lost password’ request link.
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- How To Tutorials

Copying your WordPress development websites just got a whole lot easier. The newest version of DesktopServer 3.2.4 was released last night. This version brings a new, important ‘copy feature’ along with various bug fixes and speed improvements. While the blueprints feature is still nice for trying out beta versions of WordPress, the ‘copy feature’ demands immediate attention! Click on the thumbnails for a clear view.

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- How To Tutorials

Updated: DesktopServer version 3.5.0 now supports .zip files in the blueprints folder with fast database import abilities. Now it’s even easier to template complete WordPress solutions with your favorite settings from dynamic themes like Builder, Headway, Pagelines, Thesis and many others. Or you can pre-configure your favorite plugins and have them ready for your next project in a flash using DesktopServer Premium’s export-as-a-zip feature. Even share them with non-Premium users (freely available, DesktopServer Limited supports blueprints too). Blueprints are faster than any PHP based backup and restore solution since DesktopServer is compiled and optimized to native code for Macintosh and Windows. Import, export and blueprints are at least 2x faster in version 3.5.0.

Did you know that you can place plugins and theme frameworks that you frequently use inside DesktopServer’s xampp\blueprints folder? This can help you accelerate the common website configurations you usually create as well as try out different versions of WordPress. One of our goals is to help get users an opportunity to try out beta versions of WordPress to facilitate bug squashing and contribute to the Open Source software community. Starting with version 3.2.3 for both the free DesktopServer Limited and DesktopServer for premium members is the blueprints folder. You can have more then one version of WordPress to select from when you use DesktopServer’s “Create a new development website” option. Read more »

- How To Tutorials

Adding forum functionality to WordPress is now insanely easy thanks to the bbPress team and their latest creation: bbPress 2.0. In this post, I’ll list what you need to know to get started with bbPress. Skip below to check out my bbPress Twenty Eleven child theme and quick implementation details, but read on to learn why bbPress 2.0 is a great solution and why you need a forum in the first place. Read more »

- How To Tutorials

Have you ever thought about trying out WordPress Multisite? Are you curious as to what all the chatter is about, or perhaps you’d just like to see what plugins are multisite compatible? Starting with DesktopServer 3.2.2 for premium members, you can develop your WordPress Multisite domain solution without having to sign up with a hosting provider, pay extra for multi-domain or subdomain hosting during development, configure a DNS for wildcards or specific third level domains (aka subdomains), then wait for propagation, then… well, you get the idea. Instead, I’ll show you how you can get started on development right away with just a few clicks. Read more »