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Resolved Question

rebuild non-Wordpress site in Wordpress w/smooth transition?

Jan 25, 2013 4:59AM PST

Hi, I am new to this forum and fairly new to web design (I have basic Dreamweaver skills). My business currently has a website that was designed and is controlled by a local web design company. We would like full editing capabilities, so we are looking into redoing the site with Wordpress. I was wondering if it is possible to keep our current site live while working on a new site with Wordpress (we'd be using the same domain) until we are ready to make the new site live. And if that IS possible, how would we be able to preview the site we are working on without losing our current site and then how would we make the new one live with a smooth transition? Could we use our own server to host the Wordpress site temporarily? I'm not sure I am explaining this correctly with my limited knowledge, but I would appreciate any tips!

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Re: rebuild non-Wordpress site in Wordpress w/smooth transit
Jan 25, 2013 11:09AM PST

> I was wondering if it is possible to keep our current site live while working on a new site with Wordpress (we'd be using the same domain) until we are ready to make the new site live.

Yes, it is.

> And if that IS possible, how would we be able to preview the site we are working on without losing our current site and then how would we make the new one live with a smooth transition?

If your current host supports sub domains, you could setup a new sub domain like dev.yourdomain.com. Then you could install WordPress at that sub domain and get it all setup i.e. add themes, content, plugins, etc. Alternatively, if you currently have a static site, you could install WordPress in a sub directory like yourdomain.com/wordpress. The benefit of doing it this way is that anything you do is pretty much already live. There is no transition in terms of migrating the files and database from anywhere, as it already lives where it's going to ultimately be and you know it works.

You could setup a simply directory protection, also a feature that hosts usually offer via their user interface, so that only people with a password can visit the site while in development. You could also make the sub domain/sub directory something more obscure so that it wouldn't be easily guessed, then you don't even need a password.

There is more info on how the actual transition would then work from pointing yourdomain.com to the WordPress installation so that it looks as if it was installed at the root, but you may need a little help with that from someone who has done it before. Here are the steps for that: https://codex.wordpress.org/Giving_WordPress_Its_Own_Directory#Using_a_pre-existing_subdirectory_install

> Could we use our own server to host the Wordpress site temporarily?

Sure, you could do that as well. Just keep two things in mind with that:

1. You will eventually have to migrate the files and database, which isn't hard for someone who has done it, but can be a little intimidating without help.

2. Sometimes the server specifications different between where WordPress was first install to where it will ultimately go, so things may break. Most of the time it's just fine, because WordPress most everything it needs with the installation, but it is a possibility.

~Sovereign

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Thank you!
Jan 25, 2013 12:14PM PST

These are all very helpful solutions. It will take me a little time to digest all this and figure it out, but I am glad it can be done!

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Answer
Yes it is.
Jan 25, 2013 9:04AM PST

Yes it is possible.. You can download what is called Wampserver, which is a windows based program otherwise know as apache mysql and php server.. Download and install and the program to your computer and you will have a personal webserver to design you new wordpress website on. I would suggest finding someone who is experienced with the wordpress system to help design/transition the current site into wordpress.. Although word press is easy to use and fairly user friendly it will be complicated for someone unexperienced to design a good wordpress theme/template to match your current site, and if there will be any modifying to the wordpress system (coding), it will be difficult for you if you dont know the system nor any programming.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I am an experienced web designer/developer.

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Thank you!
Jan 26, 2013 6:47AM PST

This is great. We are planning on redesigning the site completely and are not trying to carry any CSS or anything over, so hopefully that will make things a bit easier. I'll look into Wampserver. Thanks!