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Excellent mini tutorial!
Thanks Raegan

I've never written a tutorial before so I'd hoped that the steps would be clear enough for non-techieslike myself to understand. I'm glad I was able to help at least one person - makes the whole process worthwhile

raegan001 wrote:
Q1: How do I copy my site that I have already created on the internet to my laptop so that I can edit, test, etc.? (I didn't set up the site, I added all the content to the site after it was already installed our our Intranet server at my company)
All the documentation I find talks about what you need to do to set up a local copy of joomla, but doesn't really get into newbie step-by-step details on how to copy your already existing site.
Step 1Using your favourite ftp suite (I use wsftp) copy all files/folders from your intranet server to your laptop. [ie. C:\wamp\www\intranet_joomla].
Step 2If you have access to phpmyAdmin for your company's intranet then you need to export the database for the intranet version.
database export steps using phpmyadmin- First fire up phpmyadmin
- Select the database that you want to export
- In the horizontal menu in the main frame selct "Export"
- Click on Select All
- Make sure that "structure" is ticked
- Tick all of: add DROP TABLE, add IF NOT EXISTS, add AUTO_INCREMENT value, Enclose table and field names with backquotes
- Leave all other settings as default
- Click on "Go"
- Right click and "select all" on the resulting sql txt
- Open your favourite text editor and paste from the clipboard, then save this files as intranet_joomla.sql
Step 3Importing the database to your wamp install
database import steps using phpmyadmin within wamp- Fire up wamp and make sure that all services have started
- click the little wamp icon in the system tray
- go to phpmyadmin
- in the text box for "create new database" enter "intranet_joomla" - without the quotes obviously

- then click on "SQL" in the main frame
- now you have two options, you can either right click and paste the sql straight from the clipboard into the text area, or you can select the location of the intranet_joomla.sql file we created earlier. Either way leave all other settings as default and click on the appropriate "Go" button
- You can now close down this browser
Step 4Configuring the intranet_joomla folder in wamp with the intranet_joomla db in wamp
- fire up your favourite text editor and open the following file: C:\wamp\www\intranet_joomla\configuration.php
- change the following values:
- "$mosConfig_absolute_path" to "C:/wamp/www/intranet_joomla"
- "$mosConfig_cachepath" to "C:/wamp/www/intranet_joomla/cache"
- "$mosConfig_live_site" to "http://localhost/intranet_joomla"
- "$mosConfig_db" to "intranet_joomla"
- "$mosConfig_password" to blank (remove everything between the quotes ['] and [']
- "$mosConfig_user" to "root"
Now with wamp fired up in your browser go to
http://localhost/intranet_joomla and you should see you company's intranet joomla backed up on your hard drive.
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Q1: Assuming I have figured out Q1 (hopefully with your help), how (step-by-step) do I then copy my site back up to the server?
Note: I understand the process of ftp'ing. That's not where I'm hung up. I'm hung up on the actual steps that I need to take in order to get my now edited site back up to the server. Things like, when viewing your server side site in an ftp manager, where do I navigate and what folders and files to I transfer.
It's pretty much a case of the reverse of what we did in the above example but I'll go through it step by step just to help
Step 1ftp the files/folders (EXCEPT the configuration.php file) from your wamp copy to your intranet server, just overwrite the existing files - at this point I'll make a timely reminder
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP IN CASE ANYTHING GOES WRONG!! DO YOUR SELF A FAVOUR AND STOP TAKE A BREATHER CHECK THAT YOU HAVE A COPY OF THE FILES/FOLDERS AND THE .SQL FILE CONTAINING THE DATABASE TABLES - Sorry to shout but I can't stress this strongly enough I messed things up as a noobie once and had a hell off a mess on my hands
Step 2Upload the database from your laptop to your intranet server
- Open phpmyadmin in your wamp and select the databse intranet_joomla
- click on "export" and use the same settings as above to export your databse (again use the same process as above to save this sql text)
- Open phpmyadmin in your intranet server and select the databse intranet_joomla
- This time click on "SQL" and use the same process as above to import the new databse
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I'm so paranoid that I'm going to goof something up and then re-upload my site and mess everything up! I have to feel 100% confident that I understand this process before I do it. The site that I am referring to is my company's Intranet. I'll be looking for a new job if I accidently corrupted or deleted our Intranet. I have researched this for 5 days and I'm simply out of time and have to get this figured out. :'(

:::begging::: for help before I throw myself off a cliff in desparation,
Raegan :-)

Once this is done your intranet joomla has been updated by your local version. - Remember you can always test this process by ftp'ing the files/folders from your local version to a test folder on your intranet server, making sure that you change the configuration.php file properly. It'll help in building up your confidence before overwriting anything on the company's intranet - End result? You get to add a new tool to the box and see how easy joomla is to transfer from server to server. An extra plus is that the boss KNOWS that you KNOW what you're doing, and you get to shine your fingernails
