Pre Upload Website Viewer

[Clive]

Hi Everyone,
I'm just building my first website and am wondering if anyone knows of or could recommend software that allows you to check that your site functions before you upload it? I know that it's possible to check individual pages, but is it possible to check that the whole site works e.g. links, etc?
I already have a site running which was built for me by my son, but it's outdated now and he's too busy, since becoming a dad, to build a new one for me. So the site I'm building is to replace the existing one. Any advice on what to do in case my site doesn't work after I've uploaded it and I need to fall back to his one?

Thanks,
Clive

[mouser]

I highly recommend that everyone do the extra work required to set up a test site so you can try things out first before making them live.

A good approach is to upload the entire site to a test directory on your server where you can test everything.
however if you have absolute links on your pages like "http://www.mysite.com/index.html" that that won't work.

An alternative would be to have a secondary web account somewhere, perhaps a free web hosting account, where you can upload and test stuff and try it.

Now, another alternative would be to set up a webserver on your local pc for testing, which is becoming easier and easier.  There are different approaches depending on what technologies you use on your site (php, mysql, etc.)

Assuming you are using windows, you might start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_WAMPs

And a reasonable choice would be XAMPP (for windows or linux or mac):
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

Note that this may very well be overkill for what you need - there are also link checkers that may be more than enough for you if you don't use any scripting, databases, forums, etc.  Hopefully people will post some more site checking type of link checkers soon - i look forward to seeing them.  Some html editors include such tools (for example Dreamweaver).

[jgpaiva]

I can only support mouser's opinion, it's a good idea to test before, and XAMPP is a good alternative. I've been using it, and there's nothing easier to set up.

[app103]

If they are simple .html or .htm files, it is not necessary to install anything or upload them anywhere for testing...just open them in a browser on your pc.

[Clive]

Thank you Mouser et al. I shall have a look at the Wikipedia link and proceed from there.

Clive