I am trying to find a workflow to deploy and work on new wordpress sites directly on the server with no use of Xamp, Wamp etc.
I am currently a 5 site reseller Plesk 12 user, meaning I can setup up to 5 domains. On the default domain I can preview anything I install (in my case trying wordpress) cause it is put on the httpdocs folder and the address is resolved from plesk.
When I create new domains, e.g. MyNewSite domain name, it creates a new folder with tha same name in the root folder and the preview cannot resolve it correctly, having as a result showing me the start page with no css or scripts loading. The new domains do not yet resolve to the server meaning I do not meddle with the dns before final production.
What is the most robust and effortless way to work in this situation, right on the server and hopefully visible on an external url that I can share to my clients to see the site’s progress?
2
Answers
I believe the problem is that the new domain do not yet resolve to the server as you mention, so the css and scripts cannot be correctly resolved
An easy workaround to preview your site is this:
if you are a windows user go to C:WindowsSystem32driversetc (/etc/hosts in linux) and add a new line in the end of your hosts file
replace 111.111.111.111 with your server ip and http://www.yourdomain.com with your domain.
You can preview your site correctly in your pc only so you can do your tests. You can remove this line when you finally decide to go live and set up the dns to resolve to the server.
I hope that helps
There are two points about WordPress preview in Plesk:
1. Plesk’s type of Website Preview , you can determine it by preview URL:
It’s Limited type:
https://192.168.38.64:8443/sitepreview/http/example.tld/?randomHash=53d88e6e1a982b9ac8971b966a7f53fb
It’s Quick type:
http://example.tld.192-168-38-64.example.tld/
There is “Website Preview Settings” where preview mode can be changed.
Unfortunately this settings are available for admin only and can’t be changed by reseller.
You can ask your hosting provider to create special common domain and enable Quick Preview on his special domain.
2. Second point it’s WordPress settings:
“WordPress address” and “site address” should points to preview domain:
If you have Quick preview and WordPress settings are changed correspondingly you should have fixed CSS stylesheets and javascript files on preview site.
When site goes to public WordPress settings should be changed to public domain name.