: Running site locally Okay, this must be easy. I have the copy of /public_html folder of a website on the local disc. How do I run this site locally? --- Edit 1 --- The site is not static,
Okay, this must be easy. I have the copy of /public_html folder of a website on the local disc. How do I run this site locally?
--- Edit 1 ---
The site is not static, there are lots of .php files in the folder. In fact, the whole directory is a mess, took me forever to get to the actual site contents. I do not have a web server installed, i've only copied the public_html folder to my the local drive; I was hoping to translate several web pages to a different language, and switch modified files with the current ones after the job is done. But since the whole thing is coded very poorly, I have trouble linking the content in the directory (sql databases mostly) with the actual content of the website. So, in order to run a copy of this website on localhost, do I have to retain the whole server environment? I am not a web programmer, thus I may lack some basic knowledge.
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Without seeing your site/code, it is still hard to comment, however, as a jumping-off point, you will need a web server installed with PHP and MySQL. If you have a Windows computer, you may be able to run IIS. But there are limitations that Microsoft puts on operating systems. There is a list here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Information_Services However, you can always use Apache. Apache runs well on Windows and Linux as well as other operating systems. The advantage of IIS is that it is GUI based management which makes life much easier. However, Apache is configured rather simply with simple text files and rather easy to understand once you get into it.
My personal preference is Apache. There will be no gotchas and help can be found everywhere. It is also free.
IIS Download: www.iis.net/downloads
Apache Download: httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
You will also need PHP and MySQL.
For this you may rather run WAMP which has Apache, PHP, and MySQL for Windows. It has everything you need.
WAMP Site and Download: www.wampserver.com/
WAMP might be the best option for you. But it will take a while to get into.
From there you can copy the site into the WAMP site directory and begin work. You may have a bit of an up-hill battle at first making the site work, but do not give up. You can always ask questions here or on the chat site chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/524/webmasters which allows for a less formal and less restricted dialog that should be able to help you get through this okay.
If your site consists of 'static' html documents you could try viewing the pages by simply throwing them into a browser window (drag'n'drop).
If the site is rendered dynamically e.g. through php and mysql that probably won't work. You would then first have to make that environment work on your local machine.
-- edit --
Yes, if you want to have your php files and your mysql database running locally, you'll probably have to set up a webserver locally.
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