gca-Intranet — WordPress Intranet (Themes + Docker Dev Environment)

Local WordPress stack (Docker Compose) with wp-cli auto-install and GCA Intranet themes.

This repo also includes an AWS-friendly WordPress container build for deployment to EC2 / ECS-style environments.

---

What’s in this repo

WordPress

• WordPress runs from the official WordPress Docker image
• WordPress core is not committed to Git

Themes & Plugins (committed to Git)

Custom themes and plugins live under:

• wp-content/themes/gca-intranet-foundation (parent theme)
• wp-content/themes/gca-intranet (child theme)
• wp-content/plugins/gca-custom

Note: The entire local ./wp-content folder is bind-mounted to the container locally. If you install a new plugin via the WordPress Admin GUI, it will sync to your local machine so it can be committed to Git.

Database

• MySQL 8.0 for local development (via Docker Compose)

One-time bootstrap via wp-cli

A wp-cli container handles the one-time WordPress setup:

• Creates wp-config.php
• Installs WordPress
• Activates the GCA theme
• Sets permalinks

AWS container build

A Dockerfile is included for AWS container platforms. In AWS you would typically use RDS MySQL. DB credentials should be provided via environment variables or secrets.

---

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine) installed and running
• Git
• No local PHP, Node.js, or npm required (Docker handles all dependencies).

---

Run (Local or EC2)

1) Create environment file

Copy the example file and adjust values if needed:

cp .env.example .env

Common values you may want to change:

• WP_URL
• WP_PORT
• Admin username / password
• Important: Ensure WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL explicitly match your URL and port (e.g., http://localhost:8090) to prevent WordPress redirect loops.

2) Start containers

If you're on local you need to pass in the compose file to use: docker-compose.local.yml.

LOCAL build:

docker compose -f docker-compose.local.yml up -d --build

SERVER build:

docker compose --env-file .env up -d --build

(Optional) Confirm services are running:

docker compose ps

Note: the first run can take a short while while MySQL initialises.

3) One-time initialise WordPress

Run the wp-cli bootstrap container. This is safe to re-run — it will skip steps if WordPress is already installed.

docker compose --env-file .env run --rm wpcli

This will:

• Ensure WordPress core exists
• Create wp-config.php (if missing)
• Install WordPress
• Activate the GCA theme
• Set permalink structure

---

Access

• Site: http://localhost:8080 (or whatever WP_PORT is set to)
• Admin: http://localhost:8080/wp-admin

Admin credentials are defined in .env:

• WP_ADMIN_USER
• WP_ADMIN_PASSWORD

---

Reset (wipe database + WordPress volumes)

If things get into a bad state, do a full reset:

docker compose down -v
docker compose --env-file .env up -d --build
docker compose --env-file .env run --rm wpcli

This removes all local data and re-initialises WordPress.

---

Theme development notes

• Themes live directly in this repo under wp-content/themes/
• No symlinks are used
• Changes to themes should be committed to Git
• WordPress core is provided entirely by Docker

---

Front-end build (theme assets)

If your theme uses an npm build step for CSS/JS, use the built-in Docker container to compile assets (no local Node installation required).

To install dependencies and build once:

docker compose -f docker-compose.local.yml run --rm theme-builder

To watch for file changes during development:

docker compose -f docker-compose.local.yml run --rm theme-builder npm run watch

Whether compiled assets should be committed depends on repo convention. Follow existing patterns in this repo.

---

Header/Footer QA checklist (responsive)

Use these checks when validating header/footer changes.

Expected layout

• Desktop (≥992px)

  • Logo sits in the left gutter (outside the boxed container alignment)
  • Boxed area: row 1 = utility links + search, row 2 = primary nav
  • Dropdown chevrons appear to the right of nav items (outlined “V”)

• Mobile (<992px)

  • Row 1: logo left, utility links top-right (stacked)
  • Row 2: search left, menu toggle right

Interaction checks

• Keyboard: Tab through skip link → utility → search → nav; focus visible throughout
• Mobile menu toggle updates aria-expanded
• Dropdowns open via click and keyboard (Enter/Space)

---

EC2 / AWS notes

• Set WP_URL to the EC2 public IP or DNS name
  e.g. http://<public-ip> or https://intranet.example.gov.uk
• Set WP_PORT=80 if exposing WordPress directly

In production:

• Use RDS MySQL
• Do not use the local MySQL container
• .env is local only — never commit .env
• Use .env.example as the template

---

Troubleshooting

Docker not running

Start Docker Desktop and retry.

Port already in use

• Change WP_PORT in .env
• Restart containers

Redirecting to Port 80 or blank localhost

WordPress relies on absolute URLs. Ensure WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL in your .env file explicitly include your custom port (e.g., http://localhost:8090). Restart the container and test in an Incognito Window to clear cached browser redirects.

Stuck on WordPress install screen

Run the wp-cli bootstrap again:

docker compose --env-file .env run --rm wpcli

If still broken, do a full reset (see above).

Database connection errors

Confirm MySQL container is running:

docker compose ps

Check DB logs:

docker compose logs db

---