Do you use built in editor?

[Paul]

This may have been asked before, but I'm curious as to what some of y'all find best. Do you use the built in editor when editing CSS or functions (or any other file on a WP install), or do you edit it on your own machine and then upload the new version?

And WHY do you do it that way?

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Grace and Peace,
Paul

[Len]

I never use the built in editor. In fact, one of the first things I do when building a new site is disable it. I always make changes offline then upload the file via FTP. I do this for several reasons:

1. By downloading the file then re-upping the edited version I always have a local backup in case I make a mistake. Stuff happens.
2. Speaking of boo-boos, if you make one while using the built in editor you'll crash the site and will have to fix it via FTP anyway.
3. I see the built in editor as nothing but another potential attack vector and prefer to simply negate that possibility.

[Victor Font]

I only use the built-in editor on rare occasions, usually when I don't have access to FTP.

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Regards,

Victor
https://victorfont.com/
Call us toll free: 844-VIC-FONT (842-3668)
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[Ben @ Inbound Creative]

Making changes through the in built editor is a big no-no. If you screw up something, your site will go down and like Len said, you'll need to go in via FTP to fix it anyway.

However, even using FTP is a bad idea. You should never directly edit the live site's files.

I use version control. Chris Coyer has a great video on why you should and how to set it up. (His monologue on why you shouldn't be an FTP Cowboy is worth watching even if you don't plan on following his advice).

My work process is:

• Set up a local server using MAMP (I use a Mac – you'd use WAMP or similar on Windows).
• Install WordPress, Genesis and which ever theme I'm using (usually one of our own in-house themes).
• Make changes to the theme file, upload example content and test on the local server.
• When I'm happy with the site, I upload it to Beanstalk (private GitHub) via Tower which then deploys to the live server behind a login for client approval.

Beanstalk and Tower allow you to version control – make notes of why you did something and revert to earlier edits without needing to find out what broke the site. You simply click to deploy and you're back to a previous working version.

Version control becomes even more important when you have more than one person editing files – imagine spending hours making changes, only to have someone upload an older version of the site. It's an issue if you use the FTP approach.

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Award winning web design in Liverpool | UK based Genesis Framework web designer and developer

[essaysnark]

I use the built-in editor all the time.

Yeah, livin' on the edge.

[Author]

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