How To Create A Local WordPress Installation On A Mac WordPress requires an enhanced environment to run correctly on your Mac. This environment uses a local PHP server and MySQL server that when working together provide the necessary code to run WordPress properly. For fully-fledged regular WordPress development I recommend using Netbeans for PHP. It has features like code completion, easy WordPress function reference, project management, database editing, file comparison, FTP, debugging facilities and much more. It can also be extended through plugins available on the Netbeans website.
Do you want to install WordPress locally on Mac? Installing WordPress on your computer allows you to try out WordPress before you start a blog. In this article, we will show you how to install WordPress locally on Mac using MAMP.
And yet, publishing a post to our CMS (WordPress) wasn’t easy. I had to put together a Ruby script on my Mac and play around with automation app Workflow on my iOS devices. Meant for Mac computers, MarsEdit is another blog editor for offline use. However, it isn't free but does have a free 30-day trial available, after which you have to pay to use MarsEdit. The price isn't going to break the bank, but do test MarsEdit as well as a free alternative before you commit to paying anything. Blogo is a great Mac blog editor for WordPress and Blogger. If you don’t want to write using your browser you should take a look at this app. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want to use a browser to compose your posts.
Tip: Not using Mac? We also have a tutorial on how to install WordPress locally on Windows.
How to Install MAMP on Mac
The first thing you need to do is visit the MAMP website and download MAMP. Once the download is finished, you will need to open the downloaded file and drag the image file inside it to your Applications folder. Next, simply follow the on-screen instructions.
After the installation, you can go ahead and launch MAMP from the Applications » MAMP on your computer.
Note: MAMP also installs MAMP Pro (paid version), so remember to click on the right one.
Text Editor For Mac
Before you get started, we recommend configuring a few settings to make your MAMP experience better. You can do this by launching the Preferences menu and then switch to the ports tab.
Enter port 80 for Apache and then click on the OK button.
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Setting Apache to use port 80 will allow you to access your local websites from http://localhost instead of http://localhost:8888. However this also means that each time you start MAMP servers, you will have to provide the admin password of your computer.
The next step is to set the document root folder. This will be the folder where you will create and store your websites. By default, MAMP uses /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/ folder, but you can change that to a more accessible location.
In the preferences dialog box, click on Web Server tab and then select the folder where you want to store your websites. Ideally, you should store each of your website in a new folder inside the Documents folder.
You can name this folder anything you want. For example, htdocs, mywebsites, wpdev, etc. For the sake of this article, we will call it allwebsites.
Click OK to save your changes.
Installing WordPress on Mac
Now that you have set up MAMP, let’s go ahead and install WordPress on your Mac computer.
First you need to visit the WordPress.org website to download a copy of WordPress. After downloading the file, you need to unzip it.
Next, copy the wordpress folder inside and paste it into your MAMP document root folder. You can rename this folder to anything you want (example: mysite, wpbeginner, etc).
WordPress needs a database to store all website data, so you will need to create a database before we install WordPress. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds.
Simply click on the Open Web Start Page button in MAMP application window. A new browser window will open where you need to click on Tools » phpMyAdmin from the top menu bar.
phpMyAdmin is a web-based application used to manage MySQL databases. In phpMyAdmin, you need to click on Databases and then create a new database.
You can name this database anything you want, but please write it down because you’ll need the database name in the next step. For this tutorial, we will call it test_db.
Now that you have created the database, it is time to install WordPress.
Go to http://localhost/mysite in a new browser tab. If you re-named the wordpress folder to something else, then use that name here.
You’ll now see the first step of WordPress installation wizard asking you to select a language.
Select the language that you want to install WordPress and then click on the continue button.
On the next screen, WordPress will tell you about the information you will need to complete the installation. Click on the ‘Let’s go’ button to move forward.
Next, you will be asked to enter your WordPress database information. You already know the database name from the step earlier. For username and password, you need to use root. For the database host, you need to use localhost.
Once you are done, click on the submit button to continue.
WordPress will now connect to your database and create a configuration file for you. After this, it will show you a success message. Click on ‘Run the installation’ button to proceed.
On the next screen, WordPress will ask you to provide your website information, choose a username and password, and enter an email address. Go ahead and fill in the form and then click on Install WordPress button.
WordPress will now run the installation, and you’ll see a success message once it’s done.
You can now go ahead and login to the WordPress site installed locally on your Mac computer.
Trying WordPress Locally on Mac
The purpose of a local install is to help you test out WordPress or develop a website on your computer. Here are a few things you would want to try.
- Finding perfect WordPress themes and giving them a try.
- Test essential WordPress plugins locally.
- Learn WordPress programming by creating your own plugins and themes.
Moving Your Local WordPress Install to Live Website
Once you have played with WordPress locally, you’ll want to move it to a live website. This is the only way others will be able to see your website.
To do that you’ll need a domain name and web hosting account. A domain name is your website’s address on the internet, and web hosting is where your website files are stored.
We recommend using Bluehost. They are one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting partner.
Luckily, they are offering WPBeginner users discount on hosting and a free domain name. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.
Once you have purchased hosting, see our article on how to make a website to install WordPress.
If you built a complete website already on your local host, then you can go ahead and follow our guide on how to move WordPress from local server to live site.
We hope this article helped you learn how to install WordPress locally on Mac using MAMP. You may also want to see types of websites you can create with WordPress.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
An offline blog editor is an amazing tool for bloggers because it lets you create blog posts without an internet connection. So, instead of waiting to wait for an online editor to load and then worry that a hiccup in your network connection could cancel out all your work, you can just work offline.
Offline editors let you create, edit, and format your content before you upload it to your website. Then, if you have an internet connection, you can publish the posts directly to your blog.
Following are the nine best offline blog editors for Windows and Mac. However, before you pick one, consider the many reasons you might want to use an offline blog editor and discover the features you should look for when selecting one.
Windows Live Writer (Windows)
Windows Live Writer is, as you might guess from its name, Windows-compatible, and owned by Microsoft. It's also completely free.
Windows Live Writer is rich in features and very easy to use, and you can even add enhanced functionality with free Windows Live Writer plug-ins.
Supports: Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, and others.
BlogDesk (Windows)
BlogDesk is also free and can be used on Windows as your offline blog editor.
Because BlogDesk is a WYSIWYG editor, you can clearly see what your post will look like when you're done editing it. You don't have to worry about editing the HTML content since images can be directly inserted.
If you need help using BlogDesk with your blogging platform, check out this tutorial on BlogDesk at wikiHow.
Supports: Wordpress, Movable Type, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, and Serendipity.
Qumana (Windows & Mac)
Qumana is for Windows and Mac computers, and it works with most common blogging applications.
What sets Qumana apart from most other offline blogging software is the integrated feature that makes it very easy to add advertising to your blog posts.
Supports: Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, MovableType, LiveJournal, and more.
MarsEdit (Mac)
Meant for Mac computers, MarsEdit is another blog editor for offline use. However, it isn't free but does have a free 30-day trial available, after which you have to pay to use MarsEdit.
The price isn't going to break the bank, but do test MarsEdit as well as a free alternative before you commit to paying anything.
Overall, MarsEdit is one of the most comprehensive offline blog editors for Mac users.
Supports: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, TypePad, Movable Type and others (any blog that has support for a MetaWeblog or AtomPub interface).
Ecto (Mac)
Ecto for Macs is easy to use and offers a lot of features, but the price deters some bloggers from using it, particularly when there are less expensive options available that offer similar functionality.
However, Ecto is a good and reliable tool that works with several popular and even some uncommon blogging platforms.
Supports: Blogger, Blojsom, Drupal, Movable Type, Nucleus, SquareSpace, WordPress, TypePad, and more.
BlogJet (Windows)
Another Windows blog editor with lots of features that you can use offline is BlogJet.
If you have a WordPress, Movable Type, or TypePad blog, BlogJet lets you create and edit pages for your blog right from your desktop.
The program is a WYSIWYG editor so you don't need to know HTML. It also has a spell checker, full Unicode support, Flickr and YouTube support, auto-draft capability, word counter and other stats, and lots of other blog-specific features that you can read about on the BlogJet homepage.
Supports: WordPress, TypePad, Movable Type, Blogger, MSN Live Spaces, Blogware, BlogHarbor, SquareSpace, Drupal, Community Server, and more (so long as they support MetaWeblog API, Blogger API, or Movable Type API).
Bits (Mac)
Bits doesn't support a wide variety of blogging platforms like the other programs from this list, but it does let you write offline blog posts right from your Mac.
See the Bits Help page for some instructions if you need help making it work with your blog.
Blogo (Mac)
Offline blog editing on your Mac can be done with Blogo as well. This is a particularly awesome offline blogging application because the interface makes it extremely easy to use.
You can use Blogo to schedule and organize your blog posts, pages, and drafts, and even reply to commenters.
If you're looking for an editor that lets you work free from distractions, this may be your favorite program. It also highlights syntax for you and lets you embed HTML code.
Microsoft Word (Windows & Mac)
Everyone knows that Microsoft Word can be used offline, so it's a given that it can be used to build blog posts. However, did you know that you can also use Word to publish your blog posts directly to your blog?
You can purchase Microsoft Office here, which includes Word and other MS Office programs like Excel and PowerPoint. If you already have MS Word on your computer, see Microsoft's help page on how to use it with your blog.
However, we don't recommend purchasing MS Word just to use it as an offline blogging editor. If you already have Word, then go ahead and try it out for yourself, but if not, go with one of the free/cheaper options above.
Supports: SharePoint, WordPress, Blogger, Telligent Community, TypePad, and more.