Site testing

[kevin36]

When I put new items, additions or amendments onto my site, they need to be checked by people in the UK and USA before they can be released to the general public - How can i ensure that only certain people see the new information without overwriting the old files?

Is there any type of test mode that will accept my amendments but not affect the live site?

[NormanRouxel]

One possible way.

In Advanced / Network Settings, you can Export your current configuration to a text file.

Now you can make new settings that store the modified site on a different server that the public don't know about (possibly a .htaccess protected one). You could also use a different directory on your current server but make sure you use a different cgi id number so as to not overwrite any existing scripts. Export these settings to a different textfile for future use.

Now you can upload your site to that additional space for checking.

When all is OK Import your real network settings from the first textfile and you can update the live site.

Actinic may want you to do a complete Refresh of the site after such big changes so you may have to allow for this if you have a slow connection.

Norman

[kevin36]

CGI still a problem

Thanks for the advice. I've tried to set up a testing site on the same server but a different directory, however i get an error message that states 'actinic cannot run scripts because it cannot find the CGI-bin (or words to that effect) Is there a way of finding out what CGI ID number i should change it to?

Any help appreciated.

[NormanRouxel]

If you're using the same server but installing the test site to a different directory then you use the same cgi-bin as your live site but you need to set the CGI-ID number in the test sites Network Settings to be different from the live site (usually 2 for a second site but any different number will do).

Now you can use the same cgi-bin for both sets of scripts as all the script files will now have unique names. Your originals will all end in 1 e.g. ca000001.pl and your test ones 2 e.g. ca000002.pl

Norman

[kevin36]

Site testing

Thanks very much for the help, am now able to test my site without affecting the live site.