Local has released its first newsletter of 2023 and with it came a lot of changes. LocalWP is a local development tool built to help developers build and test WordPress sites on their local machines. It has been my favorite, and I currently use it for my WordPress projects. WP Engine, the company behind Local, stressed that it doesn’t matter if you are a long-term developer or someone just getting started.
Site Grouping
One exciting new change is the Site Grouping feature. This new feature allows you to organize your Local sites in your own way/order by creating groups to place them in. You can create groups for personal projects, client work, or whatever works for your workflow. This will help you stay organized and eliminate the clutter in your sidebar. You’ll be able to access your sites more quickly and easily. Plus, if you previously starred any sites, they’ll be automatically moved to their own group after you update Local. As someone who needs organized tools to help me make sense of things, this was a welcome change.
Integration with WP Migrate
Next up is integration with WP Migrate. If you’ve ever needed to migrate a site from one hosting provider to another, you know how difficult and time-consuming it can be. With Local and WP Migrate, simply install your site’s free WP Migrate plugin, create a full-site export, and drag and drop the .zip onto Local. Local will match the production environment as closely as possible by suggesting appropriate PHP, web server, and database versions during the import. This integration is a game changer for site migrations, so be sure to check it out.
BigCommerce Blueprint and Scaffolding Blueprint
Two new headless Blueprints have also been added to Local: BigCommerce Blueprint for eCommerce and Scaffolding Blueprint for a generic configuration. With the new BigCommerce Blueprint, you can configure a headless BigCommerce site with a storefront including product, navigation, and cart pages in under 10 minutes. The Scaffolding Blueprint replaces the Basic Blueprint with more detailed headless WordPress configurations and demo content to give you a stronger starting point for any kind of site project.
DE{CODE} 2023
Last but certainly not least, they invited developers to their annual virtual developer conference, DE{CODE} 2023. I wrote recently about the importance of attending this year’s event and wrote a recap last year after attending my very first one. This year’s theme is, “Go Beyond,” and will feature the latest thinking on how to leverage WordPress to meet evolving consumer needs and technology trends. You will be able to hear from WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO, Matt Mullenweg. They’ll be breakout sessions from the Local and WP Migrate teams as well. It’s completely free and virtual and takes place on March 21st and 23rd, 2023. You can sign up here.
I absolutely love Local and many of WP Engine’s products! I am interested in taking advantage of these new changes as soon as possible because I know the company is solid and has a solid team behind them. Check out the newest version of Local here .
