Introducing ThemeServer for WordPress (a small desktop WP server)

Although real-time feedback of most WordPress CSS rules can be achieved via Dreamweaver’s Design View mode when using ThemeDreamer, often times it is necessary to validate on a real web browser. This is especially true if you want to target multiple clients (i.e. browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.). Typical testing for compatibility involves uploading theme files to a web server either on a live hosting provider, a ‘testing’ server on another machine, or a local LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) compatible service running in parallel on your computer. Working on multiple themes would make the feasibility of accomplishing this task further cumbersome as one would need to login and out of their web services and/or WordPress to update files and activate and deactivate themes. Thankfully, much of this complexity has been reduced by using the 100% open source ThemeServer extension for Dreamweaver.

ThemeServer is a combination of multiple open source projects which includes the latest WordPress version 2.9.1 pre-configured with an open source web server, PHP interpreter and MySQL database. The entire service is wrapped up into a single, cross platform extension for Adobe Dreamweaver. Whether you are running on Mac or Windows, simply download and install the extension and voila! -You get a fast, open source, Java powered PHP interpreter, web server and MySQL engine with the latest version of WordPress. All services (web server, database, and PHP interpreter) automatically start and stop when Dreamweaver is opened or closed on the user’s desktop. Optionally, the user can shutdown ThemeServer services without un-installation via a convenient ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item from Dreamweaver’s Commands pull down menu.

ThemeServer is the perfect optional compliment to ThemeDreamer. With both ThemeDreamer and ThemeServer installed, designers can work faster on multiple theme projects without having to switch and reactivate themes or shuffle server configurations. Developers can instantly test posts, pages, widgets, and content scenarios on multiple themes easily. The ‘dynamic theme switching/activation’ feature is only available when using ThemeServer with ThemeDreamer together.

Requirements and installation instructions

Windows users should have a current Java run-time (built in on Mac) available at http://www.java.com.
Download and unpack T h e m e Server W P -1 0 0 .z i p archive. Locate the ThemeServerWP-100.mxp and either double click it, or use Adobe Extension Manager to install it.
Launch Dreamweaver and select the pull down menu ‘Commands->Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’.

Visit http://localhost:8080 to view your web server or use the ‘Preview’ icon on the document toolbar. ThemeServer will automatically start and stop when you open and close Dreamweaver when the ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item is left checked. Please note that ThemeServer will take a moment to unpack and configure on initial use. ThemeServer is an excellent alternative to more complicated Apache, MySQL, PHP installations such as MAMP, WAMP or LAMP stacks. ThemeServer’s web service and database runs on ports 8080 and 8083 and should not interfere with any service running on alternate ports. ThemeServer does not currently support the GD library (pending) which is needed for image resizing on posts. Not all WordPress plug-ins may be compatible. As such, ThemeServer is only intended for quick and easy local WordPress template development and not as a public, high volume web server. ThemeServer uses a high performance, open source web server by Caucho Technologies, Inc. (ThemeDreamer, ThemeServer and Virtuosoft is neither affiliated nor endorsed by Caucho Technologies, Inc.). ThemeServer is released under the GPL open source license.

Although real-time feedback of most CSS rules can be achieved via Dreamweaver’s Design View mode, often times it is necessary to validate on a real web browser. This is especially true if you want target multiple clients (i.e. browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.). Typical testing for compatibility involves uploading theme files to a web server either on a live hosting provider, a ‘testing’ server on another machine, or a local LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) compatible service running in parallel on your computer. Working on multiple themes would make the feasibility of accomplishing this task further cumbersome as one would need to login and out of their web services and/or WordPress to update files and activate and deactivate themes. Thankfully, much of this complexity has been reduced by using the 100% open source ThemeServer product.

ThemeServer is a combination of multiple open source projects which includes the latest WordPress version 2.9.1 pre-configured with an open source web server, PHP interpreter and MySQL database. The database is preloaded with WordPress tables and the administrator user ‘admin’ with the password ‘password’. The entire service is wrapped up into a Dreamweaver Extension. All services (web server, database, and PHP interpreter) automatically start and stop when Dreamweaver is opened or closed on the user’s desktop. Optionally, the user can shutdown ThemeServer services without un-installation via a convenient ‘Enable ThemeServer for WordPress’ menu item from Dreamweaver’s Commands pull down menu.