Expert recommendations about deployment?

[swguy]

Very much prefer (3) *if* multiple people need access to the test installation. If it's only you, just do it on your own local machine. And note that (3) doesn't actually require a different domain name, just another hosting account - two separate accounts will (hopefully) reduce the risk of fat-fingering the install and putting stuff meant for test into production.

[schoolboy]

Agree, local is nice for speed and initial eval but still need a test. Am I to understand you do all your development, module evals, etc on your hosting site?? If so, what is your process to move from /dev to a live site??

I have a DEV area (part of my WHM server) that is locked to the public.

MOVING a zc site is extremely easy and quick - either up or down the directory tree, or from server to server or even from one domain to another.

It's just a case of COPYING the database, COPYING the files, moving BOTH to the new location (if a different server / domain), and making a couple of small edits to the two configure.php files.

If moving within an existing domain on the same server (up or down a directory tree), then it's almost always just a case of removing the subfolder references from all the PATHS in configure.php.

It should not take longer than 3 minutes to MOVE a site from a sub-folder up to the root. I have managed to do it in under 90 seconds.

[CaptCuervo]

I do all the dev on localhost and most of the test but need a final /test for verification and remote owner to approve changes
Confused. I have another DN I can use but still needed to install under live DN to check things like SSL, USPS, etc.
I can use the other DN for testing now that I know the DN specific stuff works but how would that simplify the last
step, moving from test to the live site. So far I've been able to move files and DB export/import to move the site en-masse but when
it goes public this weekend I won't be able to do that anymore, right??

[CaptCuervo]

How do you copy over top of a live DB without losing customer and order info?

[gjh42]

The recommended practice is to put the live site down for maintenance, export its db into the test db, make all the setting & SQL changes required (you kept notes, right?:), then re-export it to the live site with the updated files and take it off maintenance.

[schoolboy]

used COWOA not Numinix's Fast & Easy Checkout (from numinix.com). Is Numinix's better ??

FAR BETTER !!! It has a COWOA element as well, but the one-page checkout is a real sales-booster,

Will have to try Google Analytics on localhost, what's it for?

Google Analytics is Google's user tracking service. Used to be quite simple, but now is extremely powerful and insightful. The module helps to embed the various tracking codes and other configurations.

Is PayPAL Express the same as Standard? I mean do I install the Express module but sign up for PayPal Standard? PayPal's website says nothing about express.

PayPal Express module is in the payment modules in your admin console. There are TWO SIDES to its configuration:

1. At PAYPAL where you need to get your PP account API credentials. (There is a WIKI on how to configure PayPal for ZC)
2. On your site, where the module needs to be activated and configured, using the API usernames and passwords provided by PP.