installing on temp url

2 posts by 2 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: July 28, 2017   (RSS)

By willydoit - July 26, 2017

Hi all,

just a quick one hopefully, we have just taken on a managed server and I want to use it to create a couple of client sites prior to their dns settings being changed to this server when it is ready to go live. What is the best way to configure the cmsb install to minimise any required changes once the site goes live using the clients domain name.

At present I can access the temp site using an address such as " http://clientname.www68-54-241-20.hostingcompany.com/" but the site will eventually be accessed as clientname.com what would be the best settings to use in the admin general settings page under such circumstances.

Thanks in advance for any advice provided.

By Dave - July 28, 2017 - edited: July 28, 2017

Hi willydoit, 

We designed CMSB to support that situation by default.  We often create development copies of sites and run them locally under a different domain, and essentially no changes are required.  Just avoid hard coded the domain name anywhere.

The one thing you might find helpful is creating multiple /data/settings files for each site.  There's a file that tells you how to do that in /data/how_to_use_settings_files.txt.  Her ares the contents: 

HOW TO USE MULTIPLE SETTINGS FILES
-------------------------------------

If you run the software on both a development and a live server, you can create a
copy of settings.dat.php for your development environment by naming it after
the hostname of your development server (typically localhost).

For example, if you create a copy called settings.localhost.php, the software
will use that file when it's running on localhost, but default to
settings.dat.php when it runs anywhere else.

This functionality is especially useful for supplying separate MySQL details.
Once you have this set up, you won't have to worry about overwriting the "wrong
version" of a settings file; you can safely upload and download both files with
FTP and the correct one will be used on each server.

Note: Only ever use custom settings files for development servers, always use
the default file for your "live" or production server. That way if you live
domain name changes things won't break.

Hope that helps!

Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com