{"id":36255,"date":"2022-12-20T04:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designbombs.com\/?p=36255"},"modified":"2023-01-13T23:49:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T23:49:01","slug":"devkinsta-review-a-free-local-development-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.designbombs.com\/devkinsta-review-a-free-local-development-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"DevKinsta Review: A Free Local Development Platform for WordPress Themes and Plugins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re a WordPress developer or a freelancer or an agency working with client WordPress sites<\/a>, you could benefit from setting up a local development environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running a WordPress site locally means you can test out changes without the risk of overwriting data on the live site or accidentally allowing public access to a site that\u2019s in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this DevKinsta review, I\u2019ll break down how DevKinsta makes it quick and easy to set up a local development platform on your Mac and PC, the features it offers, and some alternatives to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is DevKinsta?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"DevKinsta\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta<\/a> is a free local WordPress development platform for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu, developed by the team behind Kinsta hosting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta speeds up and simplifies the process of installing and developing local WordPress sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use the platform to develop WordPress themes or plugins or test any kind of WordPress site development or update before you make it live. If you\u2019re a Kinsta customer, you can then publish your site directly to Kinsta and make it live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta Features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta includes many features that make it a preferable alternative to installing a web server and setting up your local WordPress environment manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One-click WordPress site creation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember what a pain it was to install WordPress manually before web hosts started offering one-click installation? (Am I showing my age?!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta replicates this feature locally, enabling you to launch as many WordPress sites as you need (including multisite installations).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support for PHP 7.2 \u2013 8.0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta supports the latest versions of PHP and lets you switch between PHP versions for testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local email management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform includes a local SMTP server so you can test sending emails from your site and debug contact forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Database management tool<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta comes with a built-in database management tool, Adminer. You can use this tool to inspect WordPress database tables and edit them directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integration with MyKinsta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone can use DevKinsta for local development, but if you have hosting with Kinsta, it is even more useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can directly download your live site from MyKinsta, use DevKinsta as a staging environment, and push your local site back to the live version on Kinsta when you\u2019re finished testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optimized local development stack<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta uses Docker to create a fast and secure local WordPress environment that\u2019s automatically optimized for performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi-platform and multi-language<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Windows, MacOS, and Ubuntu users can all install DevKinsta, and it supports 10 languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local HTTPS support<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta works with HTTPS locally so you can build and test your site securely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress error logging<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform includes built-in WP-DEBUG logs so you can log errors and debug your site easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automatic updates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DevKinsta updates itself automatically so you\u2019ll always be working with the latest features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downloading and Installing DevKinsta<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s take a look at the process of installing DevKinsta. Is it really is as easy as they claim?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To download DevKinsta, just go to devkinsta.com and click the download link in the main navigation. You\u2019ll need to enter your name and email to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Download<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After filling out the form, the download should start automatically. The file is a .dmg if you\u2019re on a mac or an .exe if you\u2019re on a pc. I\u2019m on a Mac and the .dmg file is about 96MB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the file has downloaded, run it to install DevKinsta. If you\u2019re on a Mac, you\u2019ll also need to drag the app into your applications folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"installing<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After you\u2019ve installed DevKinsta, you can run it for the first time. This will take a few minutes as the application downloads and installs Docker. You may also have to grant a few permissions and enter your password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you get an error message (like I did) while the software is trying to download Docker, check that your machine meets the minimum platform requirements. If so, you can manually install Docker<\/a> and then go back to try installing DevKinsta again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DevKinsta<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once Docker is installed, DevKinsta will start it (you can skip the tutorial) and update its images. This takes a while, so have patience! You might want to go and make a coffee while DevKinsta is doing its thing but you\u2019ll only have to do this once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Docker has finished setting up, you should be taken the DevKinsta dashboard where you can create a new site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creat<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creating a WordPress Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you choose the option to create a new WordPress site, you\u2019ll be taken through a wizard. This should seem quite familiar if you\u2019ve ever used a one-click WordPress installer on your hosting environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just fill out your site name and an admin username and password and DevKinsta will go ahead and set up a new WordPress site. This will take a few minutes, depending on the speed of your machine. If you use the auto-generated password, make sure to take note of it, as you won\u2019t be able to access it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once WordPress is installed, DevKinsta will take you to the main admin panel. Here you can see a preview of your new site along with some basic info about the webserver setup, database, and WordPress version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Site<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can also see the site path, which you can paste into your web browser to view the live site. You can also click on the site preview thumbnail and it will open it in the browser directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From here, if you want to test out a WordPress theme or plugin or make any other changes to your site via WordPress, you can continue just as you would with a hosted WordPress site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Local<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Managing your Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the DevKinsta admin panel there are direct links to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n