Best way to edit shop once it's online?

[Lachlan]

Hi all,

 

I hope this is the right area for this question. If this question has already been answered please direct me there (I looked around and couldn't see anything).

 

I want to know what are some methods (perhaps there is 1 definite best) for editing your shop once it is online. For example I am sure after a month or 2 there might be some things I decide I want to change (layout or functionality). Obviously I wouldn't want to just try and change these online so that if anyone happens to be browsing the store at the time, things start changing and (likely) not functioning correctly since often you don't get it right on your first try.

 

I therefore want to have an offline version of my store where I can freely make changes and then only upload these changes online when I'm happy with them. Is this something you would use 'local host' for? I don't know much about it, though I'm a bit confused since the shop obviously draws from a MYSQL database on my server; do you just copy the database file onto the localhost somehow as well?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Carolina Custom Designs]

For day to day operations you can use your back office. This does not interrupt the flow of your front office.

 

If you need to make large scale changes you should place the shop in maintenance mode (preferably at a slow time).

 

For design changes etc. I suggest having a copy of your store on localhost so you can test changes before uploading them to a live store.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Marty Shue