Test account facility
Ferguson
Registered Users Posts: 1,345 Major grins
Posting this here partly to see if anyone else feels this need.
Has Smugmug considered providing (for a small additional fee would be fine) a "test" account, separate from but connected as follows to ones primary account.
The purpose would be for testing a new design. I realize that customizations can go into a preview mode that is not public, but that is quite limited: (a) you can't modify your site further for live use while working on a new design, (b) the preview mode doesn't cover file and folder structure, URL's or other such related aspects, i.e. if I move folders while in preview mode they are really, actually moved.
So here's what I suggest;
- A separate, and generally fully functional account
- You can with a button push (but perhaps a lot of time) have it suck in your entire current account contents, structure and design, wiping out what's there.
- It would have a different URL and nickname of course, and you could have your own test private DNS if you wanted (though perhaps pointless).
- Once sucked in, you could make any changes you wanted, and they do not affect your main account. You can test them for real, including allowing non-logged-in users to see them just to be sure it all works.
Then, either:
1) Hit a button and it swaps (or maybe you do the swap by hand). The content of your test account becomes live in your primary account.
- or -
2) Hit a different button and all the code oriented changes are migrated from test to primary, but not photos (in case you have added new photos or galleries to the primary account). Obviously this cannot be used readily if what you were doing is rearranging folders and galleries, but is a good way for long term style changes to be migrated while you keep fresh content in the primary.
---
Now there is a catch - things like parent node ID's and similar ID's need to stay the same in the test and parent (unless you make a new page of course). I'm not sure if that presents some issue internally.
At times I am rearranging stuff, and then making menu and HTML changes to accommodate it (e.g. branding different areas based on node ID's). It's really nerve racking to try to do that, while people may be trying to access your gallery. I very often end up with multiple headings exposed on a page, or disconnect a whole tree somehow from the menu in live while I'm trying to get the menus fixed in the preview.
It would be worth it (and work a small fee) to be able to really test it for real.
And yes, I could do a trial account (and it's even free, if not perhaps fair), but copying over the existing content and design is the key to making this work.
---
Anyone else feel this need?
Has Smugmug considered providing (for a small additional fee would be fine) a "test" account, separate from but connected as follows to ones primary account.
The purpose would be for testing a new design. I realize that customizations can go into a preview mode that is not public, but that is quite limited: (a) you can't modify your site further for live use while working on a new design, (b) the preview mode doesn't cover file and folder structure, URL's or other such related aspects, i.e. if I move folders while in preview mode they are really, actually moved.
So here's what I suggest;
- A separate, and generally fully functional account
- You can with a button push (but perhaps a lot of time) have it suck in your entire current account contents, structure and design, wiping out what's there.
- It would have a different URL and nickname of course, and you could have your own test private DNS if you wanted (though perhaps pointless).
- Once sucked in, you could make any changes you wanted, and they do not affect your main account. You can test them for real, including allowing non-logged-in users to see them just to be sure it all works.
Then, either:
1) Hit a button and it swaps (or maybe you do the swap by hand). The content of your test account becomes live in your primary account.
- or -
2) Hit a different button and all the code oriented changes are migrated from test to primary, but not photos (in case you have added new photos or galleries to the primary account). Obviously this cannot be used readily if what you were doing is rearranging folders and galleries, but is a good way for long term style changes to be migrated while you keep fresh content in the primary.
---
Now there is a catch - things like parent node ID's and similar ID's need to stay the same in the test and parent (unless you make a new page of course). I'm not sure if that presents some issue internally.
At times I am rearranging stuff, and then making menu and HTML changes to accommodate it (e.g. branding different areas based on node ID's). It's really nerve racking to try to do that, while people may be trying to access your gallery. I very often end up with multiple headings exposed on a page, or disconnect a whole tree somehow from the menu in live while I'm trying to get the menus fixed in the preview.
It would be worth it (and work a small fee) to be able to really test it for real.
And yes, I could do a trial account (and it's even free, if not perhaps fair), but copying over the existing content and design is the key to making this work.
---
Anyone else feel this need?
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