Last Updated on December 1, 2019 by Christopher G Mendla
I needed to set up WordPress for a client. The problem was that we needed to fully develop the wordpress site prior to migration from the old site and host. With Joomla, developing in parallel is no problem. However, WordPress ties the domain into the installation.
The answer is to modify the hosts file so that the IP for the new site is pointed to your domain.
In other words, you add a line like
123.123.123.123 yoursite.com
(where 123.123.123.123 is the Ip of your hosting. )
One of the tricks is to be able to edit the hosts file. This can take some patience as windows tries to protect it. What worked for me on a windows 7 machine was
- Make sure that your folder settings are such that you are seeing hidden and system files
- Right click on notepad and choose “Run as administrator”
- Navigate to c:windowssystem32driversetc
- Look for the hosts file and open it
- Add the line to the bottom of the file.
- Make sure that the “SAVE AS TYPE” is set to ALL DOCUMENTS
- Save the file.
I found the original idea at http://wpgarage.com/tips/install-wordpress-without-domain-name/
Note – this was for a hosting plan with a static IP. If you are on a shared IP, you will need to determine how to make that work. (It might not work as we have no means of testing that right now). If you are trying to develop on a shared IP, most hosts will upgrade you to a static IP for a few dollars a month