How to set up test site?

I still want to try some of the mods, but after blowing up my store, I do NOT want to risk it again. Since I have plenty of storage space and bandwidth on my host bluehost.com, would it be possible to set up a test site there?

1. My real store is in /Zencart/ -- if I set up a /Zencarttest/ directory and copied everything from /Zencart/ into it, would the store run or would I need to edit some of the test files to know where to look? Which ones?

2. So I don't risk my real database, can I point the test store to a copy of the database? How would I do that?

Any other ideas on this would be welcome. My heart is still racing from today's disaster.

Sorry to hear about your disaster..
Best/quickest way is to set up zencart
on your home computer...saves loading
via ftp etc to main webhost...Details of
how can be found at
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61069

I can't tell if bluehost uses CPanel or not, but if your control panel includes phpmyadmin, you can easily export your database, then create a new one and import the old data into the new db, to use with your test Zencart installation.

It's always a good idea to have a test installation to check out mods. Some of them don't always work the way they're supposed to, especially in conjunction with other mods, although Kuroi's work seems to be pretty stable. I'd be interested to know what exactly brought your site down, if you find out.

misty:

Sorry to hear about your disaster..
Best/quickest way is to set up zencart
on your home computer...saves loading
via ftp etc to main webhost...Details of
how can be found at
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61069

I agree with Misty on this one - with one limitation - how "skilled" is the user in setting up a server (eg: XAMPP) on their home computer, etc...?

If you are not that skilled, then a remote host is a better option, and as you say you have lots of space on your bluehost.com account, then setting up a second shop in a sub-directory is probably easier.

The process is quite straight forward. Log into your bluehost account and in the control panel:

1. Create a brand new database. (The MySql Database wizard is the easiest way to do this. Add a user to that database, with full privileges, then write down the database name, the associated username and password.

2. Create a subfolder on your website - call it testshop, or some similar name.

3. Using your FTP program, upload a full copy of zencart 1.3.8 to that sub-directory (so it resides in https://www.YOURSITE.com/testshop/)

Run the zc install, pointing the install to the new database you created.

You then have a SEPARATE shop (testshop) with a SEPARATE database.

schoolboy is correct re utilising free space on your bluehost account.
HOWEVER, when creating test site, on same server where your live site
exists, there is always going to be danger where mysql databases are concerned,
that they get crossed over between live/test installs...maybe not
initially, on set up, but further down the road, several weeks/months
on..
I know from experience.. i.e been there, done it..
if you think XAMPP is going to be too difficult for you,
then I use
http://www.wampserver.com/en/
Takes 10 minutes to install and get zencart test site up and running.

any suggestion how to test those modul that require you to be online? for example Paypal IPN?
thanks.

Also, employ the same security precautions on your test site as you would on your live site.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Besides not knowing how to set up a server on my home computer, I'm also nearly out of room (and it's a laptop, I can't just add another drive). So setting up another one on bluehost.com still sounds like the best idea to me.

Frankly, I was really hoping to avoid having to install from scratch. I will if I have to, but it was a hassle the first time and I don't remember what I did so I'll have to follow the directions bit-by-bit again. I was also hoping to not have to enter tons of products manually again. Is there any way to safely copy my existing, working store and database?

Stevesh, I have used PHPAdmin to export my database, but I don't know what settings to use to be able to easily import it to the new test database.

I'll probably never know what crashed the store. I was trying to install the stock_by_attributes mod, but many people have used that successfully. But it was a major nightnare.