How to Duplicate/Mirror a Store on the Same Server/Account

[zcnb]

Brenda, thanks for your comments. If you noticed, I actually cautioned in my HowTo's footnotes about it being not the entire methodology for store update with minimal disruption to the live store. This is just the skeleton of part of that methodology.

kuroi is right about setting three fundamentally incompatible objectives. In Zen Cart's current state, there is no way to update a store and test it before being available to the customer while always being available to the customer.

What I can suggest to you is the following 3 Phase approach (using this HowTo to implement parts of Phase 1 and 3):

1. Duplicate store while "frozen"
2. Apply changes to duplicate store - and test them thoroughly!
3. Re-Apply changes to original store

The last step requires that you document precisely each step in phase 2, so that the changes can be re-applied with minimal chance for errors. Also, it requires that during that time, site visitors don't see Zen Cart's "Down for Maintenance" page but rather your own index.html (or index.php) that is independent of the Zen Cart system.

HTH,
Daniel

[kuroi]

kuroi is right about setting three fundamentally incompatible objectives. In Zen Cart's current state, there is no way to update a store and test it before being available to the customer while always being available to the customer.

Though I don't see this as a Zen Cart restriction, more a fundamental feature of the current space time continuum paradigm that we currently inhabit. When we learn to bend, fold, rewind or otherwise adapt time more conveniently to our needs, this restriction will disappear, and not just in Zen Cart.

[Website Rob]

Not sure if this was addressed so I will make mention of it.

Any 'test' dir. should always be Password protected. This will provent SE bots from indexing it and unauthorized access of any kind. Using Apache Authentication or a stand-alone password script would suffice.

[zcnb]

Though I don't see this as a Zen Cart restriction, more a fundamental feature of the current space time continuum paradigm that we currently inhabit. When we learn to bend, fold, rewind or otherwise adapt time more conveniently to our needs, this restriction will disappear, and not just in Zen Cart.

kuroi, I totally agree with you.

However, there may be partial solutions to the "update" problem. The reason I put "update" in double quotes is because we don't necessarily have to look at "update" as an "all or nothing" proposition. Some updates are simpler than others, requiring basic and very short testing, perhaps without any down time at all.

For example, adding a new downloadable product to an online store that carries only downloadable products:

The process of adding a downloadable product is simple. But it is manual and thus error prone. If I don't want disappointed customers who expect a new product to be available for download immediately after payment, I must positively verify that the newly added download works 100%. That is, test it before being seen by a prospective customer.

Currently Zen Cart supports only complete site shutdown, so making certain products visible only to the store admin is not possible. It would be nice if Zen Cart supported such "partial down for maintenance". That's what I meant by "Zen Cart's current state".

Unless this feature is already available in Zen Cart and I am not aware of it?

Regards,
Daniel

[Website Rob]

Currently Zen Cart supports only complete site shutdown, so making certain products visible only to the store admin is not possible. It would be nice if Zen Cart supported such "partial down for maintenance". That's what I meant by "Zen Cart's current state".

Are you not familiar with how to 'hide' a Category or Product?

On the applicable page within 'Categories/Products' you see this on the right-hand side:

Quantity - Status - Sort << under Status is usually a Green icon

Click on the Green icon which turns it to Red because the Category or Product is now disabled/hidden. This allows you to work on it without it being seen by others.

[zcnb]

Any 'test' dir. should always be Password protected. This will provent SE bots from indexing it and unauthorized access of any kind. Using Apache Authentication or a stand-alone password script would suffice.

Indeed, I overlooked this point and thank you for pointing this out.

I don't know whether the fact that www.<yourdomain>.com always redirects (301) to www.<yourdomain>.com/store will do the trick, i.e. hiding www.<yourdomain>.com/teststore from the SE bots.

Can you elaborate on your ideas of Apache Authentication or a stand-alone password script?

[Website Rob]

Many free Password scripts are available and can found using your favourite SE.

My preference though is to use Apache Authentication as most Hosting Control Panels provide this feature; called Web Protect in cPanel and similar wording in other panels.

[zcnb]

Are you not familiar with how to 'hide' a Category or Product?

Yes, I am familiar with this feature and indeed it allows me (as site/store admin) to work on it without it being seen by others.

However, it doesn't allow me to go through an actual simulation of a live purchase as a test customer.

The only way currently known to me to simulate a live purchase as a test customer, without others seeing it, is by "Down for Maintenance" for all except for my own IP address.

[Website Rob]

Not sure what the hang-up is with the 'live' purchase testing?

For testing a new downloadable product you need only to use 'Check/Money Order' to complete the sale and test the download. If it works that way it should work with any other payment method as well.

[zcnb]

For testing a new downloadable product you need only to use 'Check/Money Order' to complete the sale and test the download. If it works that way it should work with any other payment method as well.

Yes, that's the method I have been using so far - but can I do it while that particular product is not visible to others?

Thanks,
Daniel