Leveraging WordPress and Elementor as a Static Website Builder

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 If you're familiar with WordPress and Elementor, you might already be employing these technologies for your personal or business website. For those unfamiliar, WordPress serves as a potent CMS (Content Management System), simplifying the creation of dynamic blogs, websites, and even web applications with the aid of third-party plugins. On the other hand, Elementor stands out as a robust WordPress plugin, facilitating the creation of visually stunning websites.

Websites utilizing WordPress and Elementor require both components to function optimally. Essentially, to harness the capabilities of Elementor and the aesthetic appeal of WordPress themes, you must have WordPress installed on your hosting or web server, with the Elementor plugin activated. Furthermore, WordPress installation necessitates a compatible PHP version and, in most cases, a database (typically MySQL) on your server or hosting platform.

While meeting these requirements is usually straightforward, what if you find yourself in situations like these:

1. You require a straightforward static website devoid of PHP or MySQL.
2. You wish to avoid cluttering space and databases by installing WordPress and Elementor for a site you won't frequently update.
3. Speed is a priority for your static websites.
4. Various other reasons prompt you to seek an alternative approach.

This article aims to guide you through the process of installing WordPress and Elementor on a local machine (your personal computer). After building your website using these tools, the objective is to export it into HTML.

Several methods exist for installing WordPress and Elementor on a local machine:

1. Utilizing Bitnami packages, which bundle WordPress and XAMPP Server (an Apache distribution containing MariaDB, PHP, and Perl) for easy installation. Post WordPress installation, Elementor can be added seamlessly.

2. Manually installing an Apache server, followed by WordPress and Elementor.

3. Leveraging virtual machines, among other options.

Upon selecting your preferred installation method and constructing your website locally, the next step involves exporting the website. This can be achieved using website mirroring software such as Wget or HTTrack (with numerous other options available).

In my case, I opted to install WordPress using the Bitnami WordPress installer, selecting the Linux installer as I operate on a Linux distro. Post installation and website construction, I mirrored it using the Linux command line tool Wget. Alternative software like HTTrack can be used for this purpose.

Note: In my usage, I employed Wget with the following options:
```
wget --mirror --convert-links --adjust-extension --page-requisites --no-parent IP:PORT/Directory
```
Where:
- IP represents the IP of your local machine hosting the website (usually 127.0.0.1 if using the same machine where WordPress is installed).
- PORT denotes the port number used by XAMPP.
- Directory specifies the directory where WordPress is installed.

In conclusion, I wish you the best of luck with your website endeavors. Enjoy the process!