Test Bed

[wslade]

I'd like to make a test version of my site. That way I can break something without killing the real site.

Can I do a complete reinstall of my current site in a sub-domain?
Should I use the same database or for added safety, would it be better to have a separate database?

I'd want to deny all robots. Any other things I should consider? I have other domains I can use. Would it be better to use a separate domain versus a sub-domain?

[Bruceper]

You can use any address you want, domain or subdomain it really doesn't matter.

If you really want to lock people out then password protect the directory with .htaccess.

It would be better to have a seperate database.

[wslade]

Thanks, it works.

[wslade]

After some time to work with the test site, it seems the two sites are interacting. I used a different domain and separate database for the test site.

As an example of the interaction, I made some changes on the live site (banner ads) and the changes also appeared on the test site.

Could I have done something wrong?

[Bruceper]

Yes you did somewhere.

Are you using an include for the ads? If so the include URL is probably the same for both sites.

[wslade]

I'm not sure what you mean about "using an include". The ads are Google Adsense and are pasted into the page.

I used a clean 5.4.1 install. Then I copied the existing template from the live site.

[Bruceper]

A Google ad does change, every time you refresh the page. Ads for a domain (and keywords) stay within a set of ads, but they do change on their own.

[FSGDAG]

I used a clean 5.4.1 install. Then I copied the existing template from the live site.

If you added the Google Ads to the live site first, then copied the template files from the live site to your test bed, that is why your also seeing the Google Ads on your test bed site.

The HTML code for Adsense is in the templates files, not the DB