How to login to WordPress Admin BEFORE Domain points to server?

[jcncnc]

I have a client who wants to get their WordPress site setup before they point the domain to my server.

We can view the site by going to http://255.255.25.25/~username/ and they got WordPress setup. But now they can't login to WordPress by going to http://255.255.25.25/~username/wp-admin.

It gives a 500 error. If memory serves me correctly, we were never able to actually login to WordPress until after the domain pointed to the server. Does anyone know if that's true? And if so, anyone know if there's a work-around?

 

[GOT]

Best bet is for them to use a local hosts file modification. As in

Modify your hosts file

Modifying your hosts file enables you to override the domain name system(DNS) for a domain on a specific machine. DNS managementis useful when you want to test your site without the test link prior to going live with SSL,verify that an alias site works prior to DNS changes, and for other...

support.rackspace.com

 

[jcncnc]

Yes, we tried that and just like the IP-address method, it allows us to view the site but we get the same error when trying to go to the WP admin/login page.

I have a feeling it might just can't be done without the domain name. Or I wonder if there's something we could change in the database, maybe replacing the domain name with the IP address?

 

[GOT]

The problem probably is that you installed it using the username url. I would wipe the site and start from scratch using the hosts file modification. WP ties itself to the url it was used to install.

 

[cPanelLauren]

If your local hosts file is correctly configured this should work - you might also want to make sure that WordPress isn't installed in a subfolder like domain.tld/wordpress in which case you'd need to use that URL to login.

 

[jcncnc]

No, WP isn't installed in a subfolder.

The problem probably is that you installed it using the username url.

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by that. You're saying I might have installed the website on the server using the username as the url? Not sure exactly what all that means. The username is not the domain name, if that's what you mean by "url". The username is a shortened version of the domain name.

I would wipe the site and start from scratch using the hosts file modification.

I don't understand how this would work. You're saying delete the site from the server, then change the hosts file on my computer and then setup the site again? I don't understand what difference that would make? My hosts file has no idea when the site was setup nor do I think it cares! And the site being re-set up would still have the exact same information as far as domain name and IP address that would go into the hosts file on my local computer.