Local WordPress environment for development

[builderpepc]

Goal

Configure a local WordPress instance that can be instantly launched by developers for the purpose of experimenting with WordPress and testing WordPress-related features locally instead of with the production server.

Implementation Strategy

• Use one of several official or unofficial WordPress tools to run a WordPress instance locally
  • wp-now - deprecated, but very easy to set up and launch, and stores instance state persistently
  • wordpress-playground - actively supported, but runs strictly in the browser using WASM
  • wp-env - runs in a Docker container with minimal configuration
  • LocalWP - free and convenient, but less developer-oriented
• Set up a blueprint that configures all necessary plugins (refer to the Faust.js tutorial) and also somehow clones the NEFAC WordPress instance content
  • Perhaps we could just clone the entire instance (plugins included) and have the blueprint reconfigure the plugins as needed
• Use a plugin or some other method to be able to export/import individual pages so we can create drafts and upload them to the production site individually as they are approved by the client

Depending on the chosen local WordPress tool, a Docker container may be required. wp-env seems like the best option, and would only require a Docker Desktop installation. It would run in its own isolated environment and would be persistent unless reset.

[builderpepc]

Planning to use wp-env and Duplicator plugin
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-can-i-use-wp-env-to-clone-L27BfkCVRpCEorsFdQ1.iw

[builderpepc]

Ended up not using Duplicator and instead exported the entire WordPress site directory using the cPanel file manager and exported the database from phpMyAdmin (both accessed via GoDaddy). Attempted to use wp-env to start the site.

Here is the truncated error output from wp-env start --debug:

\ Stopping WordPress. Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Stopping
- Stopping WordPress. Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Stopped
 Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Removing
\ Stopping WordPress. Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Removed
 Network 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_default  Removing
| Stopping WordPress. Network 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_default  Removed
- Removing the WordPress volumes: 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_wordpress 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_tests-wordpress tests-mysql Skipped - Image is already being pulled by mysql
 wordpress Skipped - No image to be pulled
 tests-wordpress Skipped - No image to be pulled
 cli Skipped - No image to be pulled
 tests-cli Skipped - No image to be pulled
 phpmyadmin Skipped - Image is already being pulled by tests-phpmyadmin
 mysql Pulling
- Removing the WordPress volumes: 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_wordpress 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_tests-wordpress mysql Pulled
\ Downloading sources. Network 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_default  Creating
| Downloading sources. Network 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5_default  Created
 Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Creating
/ Downloading sources. Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Created
 Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Starting
- Downloading sources. Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Started
× Cannot create a string longer than 0x1fffffe8 characters
Error: Cannot create a string longer than 0x1fffffe8 characters
    at Object.slice (node:buffer:663:37)
    at Buffer.toString (node:buffer:864:14)
    at FSReqCallback.readFileAfterClose [as oncomplete] (node:internal/fs/read/context:63:23) {
  code: 'ERR_STRING_TOO_LONG'
}

[builderpepc]

Above error was an issue with .wp-env.json. Now getting this error:

× Error while running docker compose command.
 Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-mysql-1  Running
 Container 5a54cc973216ceca434ab98a147fe9d5-wordpress-1  Running
mariadb-check: Got error: 2002: Can't connect to local server through socket '/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) when trying to connect

It takes about 18 minutes to reach this error each time I attempt to start wp-env. Attached is the full log output with --debug.

wp-env-error.txt

[builderpepc]

Working on a temporary solution: configure a wp-env environment from scratch with the essential required plugins/styling so devs can test custom block functionality and rendering in the WordPress editor and frontend, respectively.

Rendering these custom blocks in Faust.js will not yet be testable. I might be able to manually copy a small subset of the site content for testing with templates and certain overridden routes, but this is not a long-term solution.

[builderpepc]

https://github.com/Code-4-Community/nefac/wiki/Local-WordPress-Development