Hi everyone, I want to make a development copy of my joomla site.

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JuanReyes
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Hello Community, I need to start working on getting a translation extension fixed Joomfish or install and configure a new one possibly falang.

In any event I want to make a development copy of my site so to work calmly off the live site.

I was thinking my options are.
1. Joomla 2.5 Akeeba backup. and then using quickstart to recreate my site in a subdomain via FTP. (im foggy on what to do with the mysql databases this method)

2. A cpanel backup .. I have no idea if this can be done without removing my live site.

3. Install my transfered site in the same exact way I first transferred my site over .. uncompressing a tar.gz and connecting a new mysql database to it.

What would you all say is the best method?

and any tips or pointers regarding such an undertaking .

Much obliged,

Juan
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Arn
Hello Juan, Thanks for the questions! You're pretty much on the right track. You're basically making a duplicate of your live site, but you would need to use either a subdomain or other URL for the domain name of your test site. Your first option is probably easiest, especially if you're familiar with Akeeba. You can use the Akeeba backup (check out our articles on making a backup with Akeeba) or you can use the cpanel to make a database backup. Actually, you can also use the cPanel to make a backup of all your website files as well. A complete backup is something you should do in any case, just to have some insurance in case something goes wrong. You would then restore your database using a different name, so you don't conflict with the existing database. And then you would need to copy all of your Joomla site files into the subdirectory (or other folder if its a different domain name) and alter your settings.php file to account for the new location, the new database name, user name and password. If you are using SEF-friendly URLs, you will also need to remove them, and then re-enable them after you have completed the transfer. This will allow them to reset based on the new location. If you're not worried about SEF (Search Engine Friendly) links during your development phase, then SEF links should not be active. Unfortunately, we don't have a tutorial on setting up the SEF links, but you can use this tutorial from Joomla docs on enabling SEF URLs. I hope this helps to clear up the issue for you! If you require any further assistance, please let us know. Regards, Arnel C.