Update a Site Without Taking it Down or Showing a Maintenance Page

[Tree78]

Okay,

I actually have a large site of my own that I want to move to Genesis and do some update work on. The site is already a WordPress site and always has been. I searched around online for some answers to this but answers varied so much I wasn't sure which one to go with or where to start.

I want to update and fix the current site beyondhonolulu.com but keep the site up and running as is until the new layout is ready to roll. Actually, Studio Press just did it, which most of you noticed already I am sure... behind the scenes and then launched the new layout and look seamlessly.

What is the best way, or what do I need to do to accomplish this? All my pasts and pages need to stay in tact with exact URLs and what not, which isn't an issue but just wondering how I can get this done and then what to do to launch the new layout when it is ready.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[Andykev]

Most developers use a "local" host to build a webstte, using Xaamp or other program. What this does is allows you to "run" or host your website locally, that is just on your computer (not on the internet).
Everything works, downloads, plugins, formatting..as if you were a "live" website.

When you are finished with the site, you use FTP (Filezilla or similar) to upload the new theme and files to your server. Of course you need to verify all the links to the site so your media and files
point correctly.

The advantage of doing this is well documented.

The other thing I have done, is to simply copy all the HTML for each page of my website, and keep them in a file. Easy to modify just one page and copy to the site.
Great backup too in case you goof up some formattting.

You do have a whole lot of content, links, and images on your current site. So the local host development will be the preferred option. Installing a new theme
will cause lots of unanticipated changes in layout.

[Tree78]

@andykev. Thank you bro. I appreciate that response. I went through dozens of wordpress.org threads about this topic and there were just too many answers, most of which were no correct or only partially correct. I appreciate the response.

So , just so I am clear on everything before I start the process. To use the local host style I would use one of those programs to create the environment. Then copy the current files down into the local host and work like that? Then once that is complete replace the current site files with the new site via FTP using Transmit or Filezilla or similar? My permalinks have been in place for years and I don't plan on changing them, nor the url so neither of those things should be an issue. If I need some stuff redirected I can do that but do I have the overall idea correct of your explanation?

I had updated the site a couple years ago while leaving it up... and while it technically didn't hurt anything it was a huge mess to deal with live. So I wanted to try this.

[lucylucy]

Build out the new site in a sub-directory of the current site. No localhost. Then, use UpdraftPlus plugin's migration feature when you're ready to go live. It automatically updates the development URLs to the desired domain.

We've used this approach for both new sites at brand-new domains and replacing existing live WordPress sites with a brand-new WordPress site. Worked like a charm.

Lots of details on how exactly to do it at the UpdraftPlus site.

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