Introducing Instant WordPress: A Free Portable Development Environment

Instant WordPress is a complete standalone, portable WordPress development environment. It turns any Windows machine into a WordPress development server and can even run from a USB key. Yes, it’s that portable!

Seamus Brady wrote to us and shared why he created this new tool for WordPress users. He developed it when he was a contract IT Trainer teaching WordPress. It became rather tedious for him to install and configure a local copy of Apache, MySQL, PHP and WordPress on 20-30 machines each time he needed it in a new classroom. He designed IWP so that the students would have to do very little to get up and running with WordPress.

If you’re a Windows user, you may be wondering how Instant WordPress measures up to XAMPP. It’s quite comparable and may even posses a few more features than what you’re used to with XAMPP.

Comparison of IWP vs XAMPP:

• Installs much quicker with three clicks and zero configuration – WordPress is included unlike XAMPP
• Starting and stopping is simple – just open and close the IWP control panel
• IWP provides links to the themes and plugins folders – simple for beginners who may not know where they are
• PHPMyAdmin bundled by default for advanced users
• It leaves nothing on the machine. The IWP install folder can be deleted, copied and renamed.
• It is entirely self contained. It means you can literally copy and paste a WordPress website onto somebody else’s computer so they can see it. Great when there is no internet access in the classroom
• It runs very happily on a USB key

The author’s original idea was to have a kind of ‘throw-away’ WordPress development scratch pad. His students used it to test new plugins and themes without fussing over configurations and web hosting. For example, if you see a plugin mentioned on the web, you can have it installed and working in IWP 1 minute later! It can also be used as a way to demo work and do presentations.

I have spent many a Friday night working with XAMPP. It is great for a permanent, advanced WordPress development environment. However, IWP can be used for that too, but it really shines when you are testing or learning WordPress, given how quick it is to get running. You can use it as your primary WordPress development environment or simply to test new WordPress upgrades against your themes or plugins.

The best thing about this new tool is that it is completely free! Download it from the Instant WordPress homepage and let us know what you think!