What the heck is wp-env?

[bph]

Discussed in #33

^{Originally posted by mburridge December 9, 2022}
I propose an article on local WordPress environments for developers with an emphasis on wp-env, explaining what it is, what the benefits of using it are, and how to use it. The post should include plenty of screenshots of wp-env in action.

Outline

Local WordPress environments
Local WP environment - what and why
A brief survey of:

• MAMP/WAMP/XAMPP
• Local (Flywheel)
• Valet (Laravel)
• DevKinsta (Kinsta)

What is wp-env?
Allows you to spin up a transitory WordPress environment from the command line.
Primarily for development.
Requires Docker.
Requires Node/NPM.

Why use wp-env?
Quick and easy way to spin up a temporary WordPress environment for testing and development.
Doesn't require a monolithic installation.
Zero config.
Provides a testing environment on port 8889

Installation
Via NPM, either globally with -g switch, or in an existing project with a package.json file as a dev dependency
Test with wp-env --version

Usage
wp-env start from project folder, or npm rum wp-env start if installed as a dev dependency
If Docker is not running you'll get an error
Can run in browser with localhost:8888 - login credentials, etc...
Stop the environment with wp-env stop
Can run WP-CLI commands with wp-env run cli [command]
Can customise environment with a .wp-env.json file

Troubleshooting
Detail various troubleshooting steps

References

• https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-env/
• https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-env/#wp-env-json

[juanmaguitar]

Another reference:

• https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/contributors/code/getting-started-with-code-contribution/#using-docker-and-wp-env

[mburridge]

A first draft of the article is ready for review.

[justintadlock]

It reads pretty well from a technical standpoint. Everything seems easy to follow, and this should help folks easily spin up a dev install without much work. Review notes left in the doc.

[mburridge]

The public preview of the wp-env post is now available for review

[mburridge]

Pre-publish checklist:

• Post Title in Sentence case
• Are Category or Categories selected?
• All images with alt-text?
• Are Tags identifies?
• Is there an Excerpt?
• Props added?

[juanmaguitar]

Why does this preview have a different layout than the published articles?

[bph]

Ah right. We changed the template from "default"to "center column'
At the moment it needs to be manually assigned in the post settings..

[mburridge]

Fixed it.

[juanmaguitar]

@bph @justintadlock what's the purpose of the "Updates" category?
I'm not sure this type of content belongs there
I also think the "Concepts" category is for more theoretical content.

[mburridge]

Not sure how 'Updates' got in there. I've removed it.
I added the 'Concepts' category as setting up a local environment is a concept that developers need to get to grips with. Happy to remove if it's deemed not appropriate.

[mburridge]

I'm guessing the 'Updates' category is for the "What's new for developers" monthly posts.

[bph]

"Updates" is also the default category, a way to avoid the dorky "uncategorized" category, if someone misses to assign any category.

The description for Updates reads:
"Find notes about updates to documentation pages, what’s new in Gutenberg plugin, coming in the next WordPress release and more"

Concepts - The three posts that are in the category now, seem to fit the bill @juanmaguitar and I hope these answers your questions :-)

[juanmaguitar]

@juanmaguitar and I hope these answers your questions :-)

Yes! Thanks a lot for the clarification @bph

[mburridge]

Following a suggestion from @bph I've changed the title of the article to "Quick and easy local WordPress development with wp-env"

[mburridge]

The article is almost ready to publish. I'm just in the process of fact-checking and verifying one technical point (here and here) to ensure that I don't publish inaccurate or misleading content.

[marybaum]

Would you like me to do a drive-by later today? I’m afk until 17:00 but can do it then

[marybaum]

That’s what I call my copy reviews, because they tend to happen fast and raise the energy level of the piece

[marybaum]

I've had my way with this in the drive-by. See what you think! Do check out some text I added about MAMP, which I used to use, and of course remove it if I have lied.

[marybaum]

I also really amped up the drama in the intro. If you think I went overboard, perfectly okay to nuke some of the violins 😜

[mburridge]

Thanks for that @marybaum . You've definitely raised the energy level of the article. I have taken the liberty of toning things down a bit in places, or re-wording things so that my "voice" comes through again. Hope you don't mind.

[mburridge]

@bph I've done a final run through and kept most of Mary's changes which definitely made the article more dynamic and energetic. I think it's ready to publish now.
Public preview: https://developer.wordpress.org/news/?p=1120&preview=1

[marybaum]

I don't mind at all! I wear my heart on my sleeve, and having used MAMP, DTS and Local I kinda knew where the pain points were so I could really twist the knife. So I figured you might want to dial back!

Actually, I did install wp-env and decided having to have hidden files showing to use it (unless I was mistaken?) didn't fit my desktop aesthetic (You can make an art director into a coder, but you'll never get the art director out of the coder ... ;-D )

[mburridge]

Published