From the course: Upgrading Legacy WordPress Projects: Modernize Workflows and Codebase

Why individual development environments matter - WordPress Tutorial

From the course: Upgrading Legacy WordPress Projects: Modernize Workflows and Codebase

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Why individual development environments matter

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- [Instructor] Developing a WordPress site directly on a live server can be risky. Small mistakes can lead to downtime, broken functionality, or security vulnerabilities. In this video, we'll cover what development environments are, why they matter, and how they help prevent issues in production. Let's get started. Many developers work directly on a live site, but this is dangerous. A small error can take your site offline, introduce security vulnerabilities, or break key functionality. To prevent this, a structured development workflow is essential. A proper workflow consists of three key environments. First, we have local where you build and test on your own computer or in another location where you can work independently from others, such as a GitHub code space. More on that in an upcoming video. Then you have your staging environment. This should be a replica of your live site used for testing updates before deployment. It's hosted on a server but not public. It's used for testing new features and updates. And finally, we have our production environment. This is the live site where only tested, stable code should be deployed. By using these three environments, you can develop and test safely without affecting your live site. Developers who skip development environments can face these issues. First, editing a live site directly can lead to a small change crashing an entire website. Skipping backups before updates provides no way to restore previous versions if something goes wrong. And testing plugins or themes in production can lead to incompatibility issues, which will break functionality. And finally, not using version control. This makes tracking changes and rolling back errors very difficult. By implementing environments and workflows, you can avoid these risks. Here's when to use each environment type. Local is best for initial development, debugging and testing new features. Staging, ideal for reviewing updates and testing before going live. And production should only have tested stable code that is ready for public use. Following this structure ensures a smooth development workflow and minimizes errors. To maintain an efficient development workflow, always use a local environment for development before testing on staging. Use version control, usually git, to track changes and collaborate efficiently. Regularly sync the staging environment with the production for accurate testing. And test site speed, compatibility, and security before launching. By following these practices, you'll ensure a structured and reliable development process. Today we covered why individual development environments matter and how they help prevent deployment issues. If you're currently developing directly on a live site, it's time to set up a proper workflow using local and staging environments.

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