Next: Miscellaneous
Up: SciCon Installation Document
Previous: Configuring SciCon
  Contents
Subsections
It is difficult to host a conference web site without editting the
web pages from time to time. For static html pages you can usually
fiddle with the real web pages without dire consequences. However
when using PHP and especially when editting global include files it
is easy to introduce parse errors. Your website will appear odd, unpleasant
and unprofessional to anyone who is viewing pages at the time that
you accidentally introduce these errors. Thus it is infinitely better
to have a test web site where you may fiddle to your heart is content
without detriment to your audience. Of course, you also need a test
database for your test site. The very last thing you want in the world
is to accidentally alter your data, or worse...
Setting up a test site is not difficult. You have 2 choices:
- Set up a test site and test database on the same host. You use a different
port for the test web server. Of course you must be carefulto distinguish the test site from the real site when you are editting
files! I don't recommend this solution unless you are an apache pro.
- Set up the test site on another machine in your local network. This
is safer, but less convenient for merging your changes between the
test site and the real site. Happily the test site does not have to
be very powerful. And it can be invaluable for testing patches. If
the latest security patch for xyz comes out, and you wish to
apply and test the patch first in a safe environment, then a remote
test site is exactly what you need for this situation. Moreover, a
test server can be used temporarily as the conference web server in
case your web server has a hardware failure.
(to be completed)
Before you open your web site for production you must implement a
backup plan. There are a few kinds of 'backups' to consider:
- Backing up the data to archival media
- Mirroring the data locally where possible
- Planning for an alternate service in case your server dies
(to be completed)
Next: Miscellaneous
Up: SciCon Installation Document
Previous: Configuring SciCon
  Contents
Denice DEATRICH
2003-10-12