OK now i'm really starting and i'm going to do a step by step so others that are just the average joe trying to run his store front like may easily follow and not have to bug anyone i always do. if anyone sees i'm doing something wrong or could be doing it a better way please post. As i'm still in the dark after reading the whole install and upgrade documents as it applies to my situation.
situation: I have a heavily modded live shop that can't afford to go offline till the new site is completely upgraded, but the full upgrade may take a while as it will consist of;
- rebuilding the template system (new look)
2.new mods will be added and tested
3.all product images will be changed and done professionally
4.new banners have to be created,
once everything is done, i have to figure out how to 301 redirect all old pages that are indexed by Google and backlinked pages, to the new SEO freindly pages at that time i will go live with the new site.
all i really want to keep intact is the following
customers, products, reviews, customer credits, orders