Importance of a testing site

  1. You never want to put your code out on an active website if it hasn’t been tested first.
    1. Most importantly – Can break any or all aspects of what is already out
    2. May not show up
    3. Content may not be ready to go live, but you still want to see what it’s going to look like or stage it for release
  2. A couple different ways
    1. Use a subdomain as your testing site ideal for hand-coded websites as well as wordpress sites (hand-coded sites is easier to transfer via ftp vs redoing the work for wordpress sites)
      1. Schaffencreative.com would have a subdomain of testing.schaffencreative.com
      2. Do everything on the testing site while using a “coming soon” page or plugin on the real domain
    2. Use GitHub to manage hand-coded work (useful links below)
      1. Using GIT to Manage a Live Website
      2. What is GITHub And Why Should Your Digital Team Use It.
    3. Use a WordPress Plugin
      1. I’ve never explored this option
    4. Use your local machine (computer) to create and test your site
      1. Should be for more experienced developers only
      2. Labor intensive to set up and get running
      3. Resources;
        1. Set up a local server
        2. How to create a local WordPress site using XAMPP

Other excellent resource: How to Create a WordPress Staging Site for All Your WordPress Testing Needs
To sum up: ALWAYS TEST YOUR CODE FIRST

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Website:
https://www.schaffencreative.com