Can we have a sandbox after unveiling, please.

beardedgit

Having access to a sandbox after unveiling would be a useful feature for those who have found an acceptable working "look", but who want to try something distinctly different.

For instance, I've gone with a New SM look that's fairly close to what I had in Legacy, based on the SmugMug theme and with a similar colour-scheme. During all the tinkering my efforts were hidden to all except me, the rest of the world could only see my Legacy site until I unveiled.

Now I've a mind to go for something radical. Trouble is, whatever changes I make and publish are visible to all. I'd prefer to build the thing in private while the public still see my original New SM site, and only publish my radical change when it's finished and tested.

Penny for your thoughts.

paulbrock

does "publish later" not cover this?

beardedgit

paulbrock wrote: »

does "publish later" not cover this?

Not sure.

If I keep changes in "Publish Later" they get saved and not shown, but what if I then want to make changes to the live site?

Having a sandbox would save confusion, we'd know that we'd not be cross-tinkering between versions.

a_mumford

Publish Later kindoff implies that everything you just added is fully tested and you are committed to it and it all works perfectly.

I don't know about other people but that's kind of optimistic to me - especially for existing customers.

I'd love to be able to sandbox one or more site design's and even duplicate the current published site to tinker with until I'm ready.

beardedgit wrote: »

Not sure.

If I keep changes in "Publish Later" they get saved and not shown, but what if I then want to make changes to the live site?

Having a sandbox would save confusion, we'd know that we'd not be cross-tinkering between versions.

frzndaqiri

As I understand it works: You would create a second theme name - "My Theme Sandbox" - and keep your live site on its current theme.

beardedgit

frzndaqiri wrote: »

As I understand it works: You would create a second theme name - "My Theme Sandbox" - and keep your live site on its current theme.

I know that I can create and develop subsequent themes while showing the current theme to the public, but how would I be able to "road test" those subsequent themes without making them live?

Furthermore, a subsequent theme might be better with a different folder/gallery arrangement - can I change that for a theme in development but keep it unchanged in the current live theme?