Pinegrow 7.93 + MAMP / Localhost Compatibility

iMac running Ventura 13.6.3
Before I paid for an upgrade, I tried 7.93 on trial.
It took me 10 minutes to figure out that it caused my MAMP/Apache to crash.
Pinegrow has taught me much over the years, but I can’t use it now.
I wish you well, but we need tools that work for professionals, not more layers of WordPress functionality.
I guess this is the final straw - requests have been made for several years to make Pinegrow work with localhost. Both Visual Studio Code and Nova do. Example of dynamic test below…

@mxs Without any criticism of your decision, knowing that this version 7.93 includes a modification you had requested, it would be unfortunate if you did not provide us with more information about the issue between Pinegrow and MAMP. :frowning:

Even just the exact crash conditions, its reproducibility, and all the details that could help us assist you better.

This thread or the support inbox are open to all your feedback.

I don’t recall asking for the particular modification you mentioned. Seems like a pretty sensible idea to me.
My single most requested feature was to allow the browser to work with the localhost on my Mac.
Since Apple decided to remove PHP/Apache from OXS, I have been using MAMP.
Currently, I use Pinegrow to lay out a new website, and I might even use one of the many templates available.
That gives me a static framework on which to apply functionality using PHP/MySQL. I suggest this is the most common scripting and database combination. However, this is where my use of Pinegrow stops because the built-in browser/server will not parse PHP, and I can find no setting to point the browser to my localhost.
I then have to use a code editor to make the website work with preview using localhost:8888/mywebsite/
This works with Visual Studio and Panic’s Nova.
I have requested this feature a few times in various posts on this forum, but I’m now beginning to believe many of my fellow website creators don’t use Pinegrow for this very reason.
WordPress has allowed many people to create over-bloated websites without the knowledge of HTML or CSS and satisfy their customers with an aesthetically pleasing design. Old school designers like myself have always written clean minimised code and graphics to ensure fast download times. This is more important than ever now that so many websites are downloaded on busy 3G/4G networks.
If Pinegrow were to become a serious tool, there is a very big market waiting, and in my mind, the features it needs to compete would make it one the best editors available.
Can I suggest you read Is PHP Still Relevant? It’s Complicated. Here’s Why

@mxs The Pinegrow internal webserver is designed for a specific purpose and should not be seen as a replacement for servers like MAMP or Apache. Its main function is to serve documents with unique pg ids that facilitate visual editing. Therefore, alternative servers cannot be used in place of the built-in server.

However, it is possible to configure other server solutions, such as MAMP or WAMP, to host project files that are standard HTML and CSS documents. These files can be served on a different port than the one used by Pinegrow. This solution has been successfully tested and approved by numerous developers who use Pinegrow.

It’s important to note that issues with overloaded WordPress sites are separate from the original topic. When converting templates that can be created in Pinegrow similar to static sites, web designers need to define their objectives. It is feasible to create a lightweight WordPress theme using basic HTML without a framework and still leverage the benefits of a CMS.

Furthermore, it’s evident that WordPress is not the sole tool in web development, and Pinegrow’s future projects will reflect this diversity. Users are encouraged to utilize their preferred tools to transform static templates from Pinegrow into dynamic websites, including technologies like PHP. Recent WordPress-related developments do not diminish Pinegrow’s existing capabilities for static site generation or the upcoming enhancements.

3 Likes

With regards to the ability to open localhost in other editors like VS code etc, it can be done in Pinegrow via File > Open url.

But, the feature under discussion is in fact the visual editing capability of a valid HTML document. Your ask seems to be more around support for working with PHP files (which has to be served via a server) in Pinegrow.

PHP files are not valid HTML document, and that’s the real challenge. In fact, this is the very reason for the existence of our wordpress builder that lets us build wp theme with HTML, and not directly in PHP.

For eg, here is a PHP partial file that doesn’t close some tags, and can be used in another page like this:

<?php require('src/partials/head.php') ?>
<?php require('src/partials/nav.php') ?>
<?php require('src/partials/banner.php') ?>

<main>
  <div class="mx-auto max-w-7xl py-6 sm:px-6 lg:px-8">
    <?php require('src/partials/about-template.php') ?>
  </div>
</main>

<?php require('src/partials/footer.php') ?>

Btw, I’m not a PHP guy, so I probably got something wrong above, correct me if so.

Just a quick FYI, Pinegrow doesn’t effect MAMP on my system. (Sonoma on Mac Studio)

2 Likes