Sub Domain for Development

I am just curious as to what other people do when developing an update for their website.

I create a subdomain wwwd for that domain and begin working on the update. When it is time to launch the update I take down the main site and copy over the update to the main domain.

Does anyone have an easier way to do it? How could you just flip a switch and have it now use the new site?

Thanks for the ideas.

Adam
 
For just a update, I use a Work Folder inside the Domain on the server and PC, for all my updates our add ons.

I use subdomains, if I am redesigning a site then transfer the files in the subdoman to override the old website.

I also use sub domains for forums,blogs etc. etc scripts, it keeps things orginized and you don't get confused with all the files inside the actual domain.

Sub Domains is cool stuff, can be a great tool to keep a large site orginized.
 
Now... add a database into the mix and things get real fun.

As of late I have been doing the following when I have a custom database driven site using PHP.

I try to have a full test environment locally. I can also override my dns to make it think all of the domains and database servers I use are locally on my network. That way everything looks like it is live. When I need to make it live I can clear my dns and make it use the real locations and upload all the changes. That is just one way.

My other way is to use a test subdomain and a test database. Then within PHP there is a conditional test against a flag that determines whether or not to use the demo database or use the live one.

It gets a lot more complicated when dealing with DNN or other Content Management Systems.

I still would like to hear what others do in this case.
 
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