Skip to main content
S
steve_e11
Participant
May 17, 2012
Question

Setting up a testing server - xampp & Windows

  • May 17, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 1467 views

I've been following a tutorial to get a testing server set up, and have downloaded and installed XAMPP for Windows.

However, the tutorial seems to recommend putting all your websites inside C:/xampp/htdocs (with, presumable each site listed as a subfolder).

This seems very odd. I'm sure I can't be the only person who has their documents and other files stored on a server, which are then backed up regularly online and can be accessed by others who need access to them.

Is there a way of setting it up so you'd use your normal documents folder? I can't really face the idea of having to manually backup and maintain two sets of documents and it seems bizarre that this should be the standard way of setting up a test server. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Regards, Steve

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

B
Community Expert
Ben MCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 19, 2012

You are not the only person who stores files in a central location.  Subversion is very common for storing files in a central location to keep track of version control and prevent things like sharing violations or version issues.

Is there a way of setting it up so you'd use your normal documents folder?

Out of everything you said, this is what doesn't make sense to me.  Here's my question for you, is there a reason you would want the testing server to be your own local machine vs a testing server that everyone has access to?  I'm curious what you would want that setup.  If you are referring to a tutorial on Adobe.com I believe that is intended for new single users who have no shared environment, SVN or anything else in the mix.

If you do want to go that route, basically what will happen is when you want to test files, DW will pull them from the server to your localhost so that you can serve up the files.  Don't think of it as backing up 2 sites because your testing site should only be used to test the pages.  You should still push from the development server to the live server at the end of the day.

S
steve_e11Author
Participant
June 7, 2012

Sorry SnakEyez02, for some reason I didn't get notification of your reply, and lost track of the thread after a couple of days.

I think I'm quite possibly just misunderstanding the whole concept but anyway, this is the way I have it set up now (I have made some progress and now have the testing server able to show live views, but I'm some way from having it running properly).

My local files and folders are on a network drive where they are backed up regularly. I'd like to keep them here all in subfolders of a folder called Dreamweaver web sites.

My testing server is set up on my hard drive (no-one else does any web development work, so I don't need to share this with anyone).

So now, if I click 'live', on a file called say 'contact.php', Dreamweaver puts the file into the C:/xampp/mysite/ folder and then I can see it as it should look. Which is good, and presumably when I create a mysql database and interact with it this will also display. At the moment I have two questions:

1, Other related files aren't also being copied to the testing server folder (eg if I create a css file and link it to 'contact.php' the css file is not being copied over). So is there a way to make that happen or do I need to go to Windows Explorer every time I have related files and copy them over?

2, When you're happy with the files, how do you then 'push' them to the remote server? Is there a way to do this other than just manually uploading them?

Apologies if I'm still making no sense - it's obviously a bit of an alien concept for me as I've always previously just tested directly to the remote server.

Regards, Steve.

B
Community Expert
Ben MCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 8, 2012

1.  There is no "intelligent" way to do this in DW.  If you select "Testing Server" from the drop-down in the File Manager DW will connect to the testing server and then you can look at local view and put whatever files you want online.  It should be putting dependant files up though.  Open up the preferences, Edit->Preferences->Site and enable the Prompt on Put for Dependant files.  That should enable the prompt.  Just make sure it is set to upload before disabling that window.

2.  If you followed Step 1, disconnect and choose "Remote Server" from the File window to connect to the remote server.  Then look at local view and upload.  You can't push from the testing server in DW only from the local site. 

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices