General Website Info

Servers - Staging, Test, and Production

Recorded Workshop

Learn more about the different CMS servers and what content should be created and published where in the "Staging, Test, and Production" and "Servers and Text Page Basics" workshops.

Overview

In our CMS, editable pages, test pages, and live webpages are in three separate locations (servers).

To change servers, click on the arrow next to the current server (Staging, Test, or Production) and choose your desired server from the dropdown menu.

Screenshot of the Servers menu in the CMS

Staging = Creating

Everything you create, edit, and upload in and to the CMS (pages, website sections, folders, images, documents, and widgets) is done on the Staging server. None of the changes you make will appear on the Production server (the live website) until you publish them.

The Staging server is the default view in the CMS.

Screenshot of the Staging server in the CMS

Test = Review

Once content has been created in the Staging server, you can view it as it would look on the live website in Test. The Test server is useful when making changes to a page, deciding you don't like them, and either not publishing or reverting the page to a previous version; and when writing a draft of content on a page and sending it to another user to look over before publishing.

Webpages can be published to Test, which will generate a shareable test site link. It will display the content exactly as it would appear published live. This link can be shared to stakeholders to weigh in on the content before publishing to the Production server.

When/what files should be published to the Test server?

  • Pages = All content has been completed and needs approval, or to see a "live" preview.
  • Documents, Images, Widgets = Immediately after creation or upload.
  • Folders, Website Sections = N/A (files within are published)
Screenshot of the Test server in the CMS

Production = Live

Once your content is ready for the world to see, meaning it will be searchable and available online, you can publish to the Production server (live website). This will generate a final link (URL) that can be distributed for viewing.

When/what files should be published to the Test server?

  • Pages = All content has been completed and/or approved.
  • Documents, Images, Widgets = Immediately after creation or upload.
  • Folders, Website Sections = N/A (files within are published)
Screenshot of the Production server in the CMS

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