Development best practice

[fitz]

I'm looking for some advice on how best to go about developing my website. Although I am relatively new to Actinic I have been developing IT systems for many years, so am used to developing in one environment, say a staging one - and then moving into production once all the testing has been done.

So how do people suggest devlopment is done in actinic? Do I get hold of another URL and hosting facility which is Actinic-compatible - this isn't cheap. Or do I develop in a sub-directory which will hopefully be difficult to find ? This strikes me as being a little difficult to do with all the network settings that would need to be altered, but may be the only way.

This is a minor problem when developing a completely newsite which will get few visitors pre-launch, but when redeveloping an existing site it might be difficult to prevent visitors accidentally happening on the new version under development.

I'd welcome any suggestions and hear how you all develop your web sites.

Thanks in advance

David

[Jan]

You can set up a local server on your pc and publish your test web site to that, instructions are in the advanced user guide.

Regards

[fitz]

I guess you're referring to the section about setting up a standalone copy, I've had a look at this. But I have a win2k machine which I think (I'm not in front of it at the moment) has Personal Web Server running on it. Do I need to replace this with Apache and if so how would I get the asp pages to display ?

Thanks for your help so far.

David

[pinbrook]

page 77 of the advanced user guide - tells you how to set up Apache etc

[cdicken]

We only support seeting up a standalone server with Apache and War-FTP I'm afraid. We would not be able to help you try and set up Personal Web Server.

[NeilMartin]

David,

I was interested to see your post. Sounds like our circumstances might be similar...

I'm basically against the 'set up a local server' approach for (at least) four reasons:

1. I wouldn't want to setup a web server running on my local machine without first being sure that the whole thing was locked down tight. OK, so I'm running a firewall, but I'm not in a hurry to introduce new vulnerabilities. (I guess I could always isolate the machine during testing - but see 2, 3 and 4).
2. I'm not the best person to test my site. I need a variety of people to do this. People who will see things I'll miss.
3. I want to test the site on an environment that is 'as close to' the live environment as possible. Therefore I at least want to test it on the same server. Not on a different machine, running a different OS, with a different number of users, ... you get the point!
4. I want to test the whole process: from placing an order to fulfillment. If I start testing the site myself, there is a danger I may get bogged down with user/interface problems. I need to 'manage' the testing process, rather than being involved in it.


We are at pre-launch stage. Here is what I'm planning. I'd be grateful for any feedback from the Developers out there - especially if there is an obvious show-stopper.

1. Set up a password protected 'test' sub-directory on the server. Done - let me know if you need instructions.
2. Set up a 'test' cgi-bin directory. (I have a bad feeling about this bit!).
3. Configure Actinic to publish to the 'test' sub-directory and the 'test' cgi-bin.
4. Provide the URL of the 'test' sub-directory and username-password details to my testers.
5. Receive orders at my 'test' e-mail account.
6. Process them locally, doing everything except putting things in a box and licking a stamp!

When all the testing is done and dusted, I'll simply change the Web Site details in Actinic and publish to the 'live' site! QED! Like you, I'd be interested to know how all the other Actinic sites/developers cope with this issue.


I have a number of outstanding questions myself, including:

1. Can I actually define a distinct 'test' cgi-bin directory - in other words, will the hosting service cope with 2?
2. Do I actually need two cgi-bin directories? (I'm assuming that I will since the generated scripts will be different).
3. What other site settings might be affected?


I'll be working on this over the next couple of days (I hope :p), so I'll post updates as I find/fix problems.

In the meantime, my ears are open!

Regards
Neil

[cdicken]

1. Can I actually define a distinct 'test' cgi-bin directory - in other words, will the hosting service cope with 2?

This is not necessary. Two stores can share the same cgi-bin folder as long as you use a different Script ID number (set in 'Advanced | Network Setup') for each store. This number is appended onto the end of the filename of the cgi-scripts.

2. Do I actually need two cgi-bin directories? (I'm assuming that I will since the generated scripts will be different).

See above answer.

3. What other site settings might be affected?

None.

[TheBoyLard]

Hi Neil,

read your comments with interest, I'd definitely like to hear more about the test site setup.
The site has only been up a few weeks but I know I have to update a number of things.
The layout and overall design of the site are my prime concerns but I'd also like to add some of Norman's tweaks (very impressed Norman!) and testing them on the server is very important to me, as well as offering my test panel the chance to critique the site before publishing.
If you want to converse off board then please drop me a mail.

Thanks again,

Andy.

[pinbrook]

I have used this method of creating a test folder within live web space.

It works quite simply...... create a folder called test, create 2 sub folders called acatalog and cgi-bin

adjust network settings to include test in the pathnames ie http://www.domain.co.uk/test/acatalog/ etc

change the cgi script number to 2 (or something unique)

test the settings, and upload

Easy!!

I must admit I know tend to favour using a local server , uploads take about a tenth of the time (and I use ADSL)

You may want to create a network settings import file so you can swap from one set of settings to the other

[TheBoyLard]

Hi Jo,

thanks for the comments.
I'll look at my host control panel about making the test folder secure, as I don't want any old Tom, Dick or Harriet looking at what I'm doing unless I invite them:p
Can I not just set up a second site in the actinic folder (Site2 seems logical?) so that when I up/download it only does it for the settings for that site?
Am I making sense or do I think that Actinic is capable of more than it actually is?
If I set up a local server (which will be on a seperate server, actually my file server, but i can add roles to it) is there any particular quirks I should watch out for?
And won't I have to mess with settings again each time I want to do something on the local as opposed to the live site?
Lots of questions, sorry!

Cheers

Andy.

[pinbrook]

Hi, just a few considerations for you....

Are you able to use 2 pcs?

if so you can leave the live site on one machine.

Take a snapshot and load a copy onto a 2nd machine, change the network settings so you don't inadvertantly upload your test to live space. Use this as your test machine.

allocate a test area on your remote server to upload the test version. as I described before, or set up a local server

this is one way to get around only having one license key.

once you have a 2nd copy on a test machine you can play to your hearts content, and learn alot about catalog without having to worry to much about the consequences. (don't forget backups)

[TheBoyLard]

Hi Jo,

thanks for coming back.
Got loads of spare machines here - it's what we do!!! If we haven't, then we build one - still haven't built one for the kids yet though, sorry boys!
Ok so install on 2nd sys, just ensure n/w settings don't conflict with live site and upload to test area on live server space to test real world site performance?
From Chris's comments earlier in the thread, I can just change the script ID (just checked and I see where he means), but wouldn't actinic automatically create the necessary folders as long as I specify the correct paths? as in domain.com/test/whatever?

I hope I'm not being stupid but websites are the one area where I know nothing - Chris can vouch for that - as it never bothered me before, but I do pick things up very quickly.

Cheers

Andy.

[pinbrook]

you need to manually create /test/
and /test/cgi-bin/

catalog will create the acatalog folder

Good Luck!!

[TheBoyLard]

Morning Jo,

thanks for clarifying that.
It shall be done today!
Accounts first though :(

Andy.

[NormanRouxel]

The Standalone server does not have to be on the same system as Actinic, so you don't need to compromise your W2000 system.

If you've a local area network and a spare old system running anything from windows 95b onwards (altough W98 might be the best minimum) then you can install the Apache / Perl / WarFTP on that machine and in Actinic's Advanced / Network Setup simply refer to that system as the ftp and site server.

Or you, really want some fun you could again use a spare system and load Linux, which would come with everything you need already there.

Norman

[NeilMartin]

Hi,

Firstly, thanks to Chris for a really prompt response! I've been hard at work since, getting things going, so I missed out on all the good stuff from Jo and Andy in the meantime. Tsk tsk!

I only have access to one PC and one server, so I've gone for the simple approach:

1. I have a subdirectory protected using HTTP BASIC authentication (instructions at: www.euronet.nl/~arnow/htpasswd/documentation.html) which contains the test shop. Note that I say protected, rather than secured, since HTTP BASIC can be brute-forced. I am prepared to accept the risk of this happening.

2. I have a single cgi-bin (see Chris' comment above) and have modified my network settings accordingly. I've exported these settings (see Jo's comment) so that I can reference them later.

3. I have uploaded my test site and I'm happy that this works OK.


To Do List...
1. Get the site ready for testing by my guniea pigs, then issue username-passwords.

2. Create network settings for the live site.

3. Test a live upload.

4. Document change/test/release procedures in the form of a "flight checklist", paying particular attention to the need to select the correct network settings, so that I confuse myself!

Thanks to the Community for the help so far!

Cheers
Neil