Thread

We launched our Expression Engine site late last year and so far so good. But now its time to roll out some new functionality and I would like to find out how to set up a testing copy of my website so I can ensure I don’t break the live website.

I’d prefer to set it up on the web (as opposed to locally) so I can share the progress with other admins. I’d also like to see if I could get it set up so that I’m making changes to the test area, but it does not affect the ability of others to update the live website.

I’ve searched for a while and come across this thread: http://ellislab.com/forums/viewthread/113636/

It alludes to several pieces of the puzzle, but at this point, I’d like to see if there’s a definitive list. I don’t want to risk breaking anything during the setup process.

Thanks,
Chuck

As long as you’re keeping the files on a separate subdomain such as http://dev.yourdomain.com and you’re using a completely separate database you won’t run into any issues in terms of damaging the live site.

Just a note it’s probably worth installing SL Developer Info - it will make your life much easier.

ok so…

(1) create a new test directory on my web host
(2) update global template preferences base path to point to the new testing directory
(3) create a subdomain and point it to the new testing directory
(4) clone the database in phpmyadmin and create a new instance of it with a unique name
(5) ...

how do i point the “test” domain to the “test” database?

and if i’m doing all of this in the website’s configuration, if any admins go to make updates, they will be made to the test site, not the production site.

i’m an EngineHosting.com customer - should i be contacting them for this support?

thanks,
chuck

Alright, I’ll try tackle this, although I’m not sure how EngineHosting works.

1) Create New Directory — Copy all your files from your existing site here, make sure to copy not move.
2) Sub Domain — Create a subdomain and point it to the new testing directory.
3) Create New Database — Here you want to take a copy of your existing database and update it with a new name. Again copy.
4) Edit Config — Edit your config.php on the test site to use the new database details, not the current live one.
5) Log In — Log in to the test directory, do a quick test post and make sure it doesn’t update the live site.
6) Update Paths — Now you want to make sure the paths are right everywhere which is where Deeploy Helper comes in.
7) Develop — Get your code on.

As long as your admins log in on the sub directory, yes they will only update the test site and if you have questions on how to go about it on your server it might be worth contact EngineHosting.

thanks Ben - this is an excellent help. i will try it out tomorrow.

chuck

may also want to look at Deeploy module too on the test site.

may also want to look at Deeploy module too on the test site.

Ah good call Steven, I was actually thinking of Deeploy Helper not SL Developer Info, although that is helpful as well. You can find Deeploy here. It allows you to update all the important settings/paths in one place.

ok - so i’ve finally been able to get back to this and your steps are very accurate and helpful.

i hit a speedbump with some of the path configs, but i got it after some trial and error.

another thing that tripped me up was that i used links with href={homepage} in my templates and it took me out of the “test.example.com” subdomain. so i just changed it to link to “/” and its working just fine.

thanks again for your help, this was a huge time saver.

chuck