Editing your hosts file on Windows to preview your site
From time to time, we might ask you to set up virtual hosts on your machine, so you can see a development site before the world can.
We 'trick' your browser into seeing the new site, while the rest of the world is still looking at the old one! It takes just a few minutes to do.
You'll need this app:
http://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman
1. Ensure you run this program as an Administrator (Right Click > Run as Administrator) in order to correctly edit your hosts file.
2. We recommend you create a backup using the built-in backup tool.
3. Click the green "plus" and add a new entry:- The hostname will be your domain name (you can add it with or without www -- I recommend adding both to make things easy!
- The IP address you've been given will be formatted with four sets of numbers, like 11.11.11.11
4. Click "Add" and you're ready to roll.
5. Visit your domain -- the new development site should appear!
6. To reverse the effect, use the app to delete the new line(s) from your hosts file.
If you need to restore from backup, please follow these instructions: http://forum.abelhadigital.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=222
Related Articles
Using Virtual Hosts on OSX to preview your site
From time to time, we might ask you to set up virtual hosts on your machine, so you can see the site before the world can. We 'trick' your browser into seeing the new site, while the rest of the world is still looking at the old one! It takes just a ...My site doesn't look right!
If your site isn't looking quite right, we'd love to get it back to normal for you. The first step is to check that the problem is visible to other visitors to the site, since some display issues are caused by problems with an internet connection or ...How to Update ads.txt file for Mediavine Users
The Mediavine ad network uses an ads.txt file to enhance security and authenticate publishers' sites. Occasionally it sends out emails to clients notifying them that their ads.txt file needs updating, and the tone can make it a bit scary if you ...What cookies is my site dropping?
A cookie is a small file that holds a small amount of data about a specific user, and is stored on that user's computer. For example, if you're making a purchase and enter your contact details, that information will be stored in a cookie while you're ...How much storage space do I get for my site?
We have storage limits in place for our WordPress hosted clients. Our standard package is based on less than 20GB of storage. Most sites we see use less than 5GB, so this is plenty! Those are: Foundation: 10GB Standard: 20GB Plus: 30GB Enterprise: ...