Wordpress : Two installations, one database

[garethEds]

Evening,

 

I have our school website running the latest Wordpress. It's going well, running on @EduTech servers. But I'm always looking for a better template. So I'm wondering if I can have two installations of Wordpress, but using the content from the main database (if that makes sense) - so the dev website uses the main template data?

 

Is it just a case of referencing the mysql server and the database name?

 

Cheers all,

 

Gareth

[plexer]

To be honest I'd make a copy of the db and use that to dev on because if a template does make sql changes you run the risk of screwing your original site.

 

Ben

[sparkeh]

Got to agree with Ben here, I wouldn't take the risk. Copy the db to work on via a test site.

[Muz]

You could also use a different table prefix when you set up another instance of Wordpress.

 

However it's recommended to just make a backup and test it in a local environment; set up XAMPP on a machine and that'll get you going.

[pcstru]

Is it just a case of referencing the mysql server and the database name?

I think there are some dependencies between the template and the database (the current template selection is stored in the db) and there are also dependencies between the location and the database. So no, you will need a separate set of tables to support a development copy and if you start from a straight copy you will need to make changes to the db to get it to work properly.

[VlStarsh]

When installing select different tables of one database and also make sure that the set in different directories. And of course, make a backup of the site.