Create wordpress sites locally or live

i;d argue that it’s better to develop the site in a sub-folder on the remote server than try to do so locally and then get to grips with Moving_WordPress. The only exceptions are if you are developing a new theme or plugin – in which case a local install is probably your best bet initially.

Would you still say this to be your preference when building on a separate domain (like a development domain) and then moving it over to the actual domain?

I would always try to build the actual site on its final domain. In a sub-folder, if necessary. It makes it far easier to to launch the new site using Giving WordPress Its Own Directory. instead of Moving_WordPress.

Yea, I hear you. That is my preference as well. But I have encountered some instances where there is a pre-existing website and they don’t want to point the dns to the new host (at their request) until they have approved the wordpress site. So I am stuck building on a developmental domain until it is all done and once pointed I have to move it from the dev domain to the actual domain. Any tips for this type of circumstance?

I have encountered some instances where there is a pre-existing website and they don’t want to point the dns to the new host (at their request) until they have approved the wordpress site.

I’ve usually found that a sub-folder install works well here. I’ve even done that when the site running in root was an older copy of WordPress. If the clients was to use a new domain & hosting package, I’ve set up a theme & plugins with dummy content on one of my own domains for them to assess but built the actual site on the new hosts (again in a sub-folder if necessary) once the design etc was approved.

Thanks so much for your help!