Running nopCommerce on my local dev machine

nopCommerce works great on my webserver (hosted by goldpuma.com).

I am trying to get it to work on my local dev machine, but I am unsure what to do about the database connectivity.

The ideal would be to develop it locally but connect to the same database as the "online" version does.

Barring that, I would then try to setup and connect to a copy of the database on my local dev machine.


I actually don't care as much about the database connectivity or interaction right now as I am interested in changing the App_Theme version to something more suited to our website look and feel.  That is my ultimate goal -- to modify the App Theme.  The database connectivity is just an obstacle I'm trying to get past.

Install the database locally and use the local copy for your development environment. You will be experiencing a waiting period in post backs if you connect to the database remotely.

to connect to your hosted database from your local machine:

download nopcommerce ( from this site: here  ) onto your local machine ( make sure you download the same version as you have running on your hosted server )

if you are developing locally, i presume you have VS2010  or VWD Express installed - get it from microsoft website.



from your hosted website, open   ConnectionStrings.config

paste the contents of this file in the ConnectionStrings.config of your local instance of nopcommerce


run nopcommerce  -  NOTE: you will probably find that it responds slowly accessing the database from your local machine

++++++

other option -
download and startup nopcommerce on your local machine - install it locally and let the store create a sample database on your local sql server - and let it fill the database with sample data

develop the style for your new website locally and then just copy the stylesheet to your hosted site

EDIT
sorry ddecks, you posted while i was still writing!!

Don't use the same db.

Just start a admin..backup on the production server admin...restore it on your development server.

ajhvdb wrote:

I agree.  You do not want to be messing with your production database in development.  That is a recipe for disaster.