Hello

I'm new to the forum, be gentle with me!!

 

I have a website that is currently live, when i go into the cpanel i cannot play around with it without making 'live' changes and seeing what i have done.

 

Is there something i can use to download the info onto my computer, work on it with any changes, then when i happy with it upload it back to the host?

 

I hope you understand what i mean, not sure what this would be called but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, i'm fed up of working on the website and i have a cock up and takes me ages to get it back to where it was!

 

I need something to back it up onto as well.

 

ta ta

 

Newk

You can download the website to a local folder using an FTP client (FileZilla for example). That'll work for a static site, but it's a bit more complex if the site is dynamic. You'd also have to install a webserver locally, export your database from the live site and import it into the local one, then edit any config files and database entries that use absolute paths.

You can download the website to a local folder using an FTP client (FileZilla for example). That'll work for a static site, but it's a bit more complex if the site is dynamic. You'd also have to install a webserver locally, export your database from the live site and import it into the local one, then edit any config files and database entries that use absolute paths.

 

Thank you for that, i'm not sure if the site i have is static or dynamic, how can i tell the difference? and where would i find the webserver to install?

You could install something like XAMPP - which will run a local version of a server (and can include things like PHP and MySQL) - you can then build your website and preview it by visiting http://localhost/mysite/index.php or whatever.

 

There are also examples of development software - eg. Coda - which has great in-built features to preview your site locally, upload to a live server etc.

You could install something like XAMPP - which will run a local version of a server (and can include things like PHP and MySQL) - you can then build your website and preview it by visiting http://localhost/mysite/index.php or whatever.

 

There are also examples of development software - eg. Coda - which has great in-built features to preview your site locally, upload to a live server etc.

 

This looks interesting as it has filezilla as well, may give that a go! - thank you for that

Thank you for that, i'm not sure if the site i have is static or dynamic, how can i tell the difference? and where would i find the webserver to install?

 

When you add or change content, do you have to manually code it all in html? If so, that's a static site.

When you add or change content, do you have to manually code it all in html? If so, that's a static site.

 

Ah, i see, my control panel on the server has an option of manually changing the code in html, but i can also use an html editor, which is like a control panel where i can insert images etc, i think its called wysiwyg.

Ah, i see, my control panel on the server has an option of manually changing the code in html, but i can also use an html editor, which is like a control panel where i can insert images etc, i think its called wysiwyg.

 

It's probably still static - but you are using a program (like Dreamweaver) to create the page. I would recommend against a WYSIWIG and code by hand. It's worth it - don't mistake it for elitism or anything like that as some do. There's a thread on this forum about it.

 

A dynamic website is something that uses a backend (probably coded in PHP and using a MySQL database) to add and edit content (so you don't have to physically alter every single html page). An example of a pre-built (but fully customisable) solution of this nature is Wordpress.