Hello, just wondering what the proper way of doing things are in the industry.

 

Lets say i have created a clients website and they are happy with it and its hosted. However they want a few changes made and i want to create some media queries for it.

 

At the moment, i use my local copy of the website and run it on MAMP whilst making the changes as i dont want to work on a live website.

 

Is the way its done? or is there another way of messing around with a live site before pushing it to the proper one?

 

Just trying to learn the ways so i dont get any shocks when moving to a proper place.

 

EDIT: The title suggests a client area etc, this is not what i mean. I mean basicly just how do mess around with with sites etc whilst they are live.

 

Edited March 25, 201313 yr by Lovelock

Good question - I was thinking a similar thing. I do the same and work on MAMP. Depending on the client, I usually show them via my laptop rather than have something live. For more remote situations, I use a subdomain on one of my domains to test live. Not the most effective way but it works when I need it to. Would probably be best to set up a password, but mine is there to peruse at will. Eventually I'll setup a client area to login but that's too much work at the moment and don't have projects that drag too long

I often work with a stable live version available on a private sub-domain for the client to use. Just my personal preference, though.

 

Obviously in the case of simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript work, I don't do this (copy + paste = bad business)

I use a password protected area of my site as a "proofing bin" to show clients additions etc.

 

4li4s be aware that search engine bots will index these test sites unless you prevent access.

GalaxyTramp - how are you implementing a password in a nutshell? Through your host, php, etc...? Other than robots.txt, I don't usually pay that much attention to the indexes as I take the site down pretty quick. However, a password system sounds like a better idea (can leave the test stuff to fester a little )

I just use .htaccess with .htpasswd for my sub-domain. I would like to build myself a client area, but alas, I have no time.

Didn't even occur to me to use .htpasswd... back in a minute

On the topic of 'client area's' its one of those things ive been meaning to get around to, too.

 

Just reminded me to start working on it. Can see it being rather usefull in the long run!

GalaxyTramp - how are you implementing a password in a nutshell? Through your host, php, etc...? Other than robots.txt, I don't usually pay that much attention to the indexes as I take the site down pretty quick. However, a password system sounds like a better idea (can leave the test stuff to fester a little )

I just password protect the directory using .htaccess and disallow in robots.txt.

Whats the deal with hosting from my own computer?

 

Lets say:

- Website is ready on localhost, i send the customer their client area login details.

- On this page shows website brief, layout designs and stuff like that.

- Theres a link to view the site live before i send it to their host / make it live for them.

 

I would say to client like you can view your website at (arranged time and date) and the link would send them to their site but i would just host it on my computer for a couple of hours.

 

Is this possible with mamp? I have tried it before with my IP as the address but didnt work.

You'd have to open necessary ports on your router for incoming connections, and probably Windows firewall...assuming you're on Windows.

I usually just stick it up on a free hosting site that allows PHP. I do this to test the sites forms as well.

I usually just stick it up on a free hosting site that allows PHP. I do this to test the sites forms as well.

 

Tried that once with 5gbfree. Even though it was a testing site, it was bombarded with ads, slow loading and I ended up getting more than a fair deal of spam. Which sites do you use out of interest?

http://www..com/

 

Looks quite limited though if you use more server side than PHP.

http://www..com/

 

Looks quite limited though if you use more server side than PHP.

 

Interesting. I've bookmarked this one for future reference.

 

Ta!

Good question - I was thinking a similar thing. I do the same and work on MAMP. Depending on the client, I usually show them via my laptop rather than have something live. For more remote situations, I use a subdomain on one of my domains to test live. Not the most effective way but it works when I need it to. Would probably be best to set up a password, but mine is there to peruse at will. Eventually I'll setup a client area to login but that's too much work at the moment and don't have projects that drag too long

 

Always remote for me. I use a sub-domain and htaccess / robots.txt to keep the domain clean while developing. Unfortunately projects dragging on is the bane of my life