How to customize wp theme offline or "not live"?

[satrap]

Thanks for taking time to read this. is there anyway to edit and customize a wordpress theme without having to do it live? i mean like a software or something that you can upload your theme and work on it without people being able to see it? i am farley new in this filed, so i don't want to do it live and risk messing up what i already have setup. i heard something about doing it on local server or something like that, now is that the only way? if yes how would you go bout it, and if no, what are some other options?

thank you so much in advance.

 

[nobaloney]

You're probably asking in the wrong place; these forums are used by server administrators using DirectAdmin software to manage webhosting servers. For information on managing a specific package on your website you'd be better off finding a forum dedicated to support on that package.

Jeff

 

[Nexxterra.com]

install in a subdomain...

set up wordpress in another domain or a subdomain http://test.mysite.com this way you can edit and test your template until you have what you like, then just copy the template and upload it to your live wordpress site, then switch to the new template that you built.