How to host a WordPress blog on your computer

When I’m designing themes for WordPress, I find that working remotely can be a little troublesome at times; particularly when using stylesheet preprocessors such as LESS or SASS. I’ve been developing a number of WordPress themes recently, and to ease the load on my remote server, speed up the theme-building process, and receive an all-round smoother WordPress experience, I’ve found that working from a local installation gives me the edge.

So here’s my quick and easy way on how you can set your WordPress site to run from your home computer, too.

In this guide, you’ll learn the following:

• How to set up your computer as a local server using MAMP;
• configure your server to get it WordPress-ready;
• install WordPress and host your blog from your local computer.

Using this technique, you can set up a local WordPress site for your home network — perhaps a family blog, or personal diary. It’s also a great way to build and customise your themes quickly and efficiently whilst retaining the advantages of speed and flexibility that developing locally can provide.

How do you develop WordPress sites? What tips would you add? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image/thumbnail, local image via Shutterstock.

Sam Piggott

Sam Piggott is a young digital designer and self-confessed jack-of-all-trades from London, UK. When he's not designing/coding/drinking copious amounts of coffee, Sam loves learning new software and air-drumming to whatever's on Spotify. Follow him on twitter @Sam_Piggott.