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I am a DIY web developer, trying to hack my way around by reading and watching tutorials on the Internet. Recently I started my attempt to create a local copy of my WordPress website on my computer. I tried various methods, used FileZilla, Duplicator plugin and DesktopServer. After a while I got confused and was almost ready to give up. Then I realized that I had somehow managed to create a local copy of the site. However, I cannot figure out how to login to my LOCAL WordPress dashboard to start working on my local site.

Here is why I think I have somehow managed to create the local copy of my site: In order to see the local copy, I launch DesktopServer, start Apache and MySQL services, start web and database services and click on the ‘Sites’ button. The ‘Development Websites’ page comes up and I see that my local website is listed (www.websitename.dev). I click on the ‘database’ button under the resources column and I am transferred to phpMyAdmin area (where I feel like a fish out of water). At that point I would like to access the WordPress login page for my local copy of my website but I do know how to do that. Can somebody help, please? (I feel like a man who has built a house but cannot find the door to get in… :)

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  • Does localhost/wp-admin or localhost/wp-login.php not take you to a log-in page?
    – CK MacLeod
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 1:46
  • Thank you @CKM for your response. 'localhost/wp-admin' nor 'localhost/wp-login.php' do not work. My 'wp-admin' folder is on an external drive (E). When I type ‘file:///E:/IOMM%20-%20old/’ in my browser address bar I get the following information:
    – Sumru
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 6:47
  • ..... continuing my comment to @CKM; .... Index of E:\IOMM - old\ Name Size Date Modified [parent directory] wp-admin/ 3/26/17, 1:47:33 AM wp-content/ 3/23/17, 2:45:47 PM ...... etc.
    – Sumru
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 6:57

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I'm not confident at all that I understand your set-up, and I also haven't used Desktop Server. I'm also not sure why you'd install WP on an external drive, but I guess you had a reason.

Anyway, it seems you may have located your WordPress files. If the installation is somewhere other than the local web root (likely the same as the root for you phpMyAdmin), then either the site isn't actually installed or for some reason it's installed and addressable via a subfolder: Locate the index.php file and look for the lines like the following: 

 /** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
require( dirname( __FILE__ ) . '/wp-blog-header.php' );

If they look like that, then the same folder where the file is stored should also be the WP address relative to the file location. It could be a subfolder... like '/subfolder/wp-blog-header.php' or, going beyond my personal direct experience, it could conceivably be something very peculiar, I suppose.

...all suggested with, as I noted at the outset, total uncertainty about your set-up.

I honestly think you might want to consider uninstalling and deleting everything, and proceeding step-by-step with something that you understand - at least in view of the end objective - at every step. I've installed Xampp numerous times, and still get tripped up occasionally, but you can find pretty good start to finish tutorials for using it in conjunction with Duplicator. There may be points of uncertainty along the way, but, you can note them, and, if you guess wrong, do it the right way the next time.

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  • Thank you @CKM. I really appreciate your input, and I agree with you about uninstalling and deleting everything and starting fresh. That seems like the most logical approach. May be, at age 72, I shouldn't be torturing myself with creating and administering a website.. :)
    – Sumru
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 19:23
  • It's a fine anguish to undergo, at any age, Sumru - just no need to make it even harder than it is already, esp when setting up something that's supposed to make things easier. Whether for a hobby or for a profession, if you're doing development and design, having a local development site is one of those "how did I do without it?" type things after you've gotten it set up.
    – CK MacLeod
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 1:16

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