SJU: Web Publishing - What's the difference between the www.sju.edu and www-test.sju.edu?

What's the difference between the www.sju.edu and test-www.sju.edu?

What is the difference between www.sju.edu and test-www.sju.edu?

In short, www.sju.edu is known as the "Production Server" and test-www.sju.edu is known as the "Testing Server." Saint Joseph's University's website is available to the world at http://www.sju.edu, but http://test-www.sju.edu is not. It has been created for us here at SJU for use as a private, testing server--a way to make sure things are working before making pages public.

While www.sju.edu and test-www.sju.edu are two separate servers (and likewise have two separate addresses, http://www.sju.edu/ and http://test-www.sju.edu/), they are setup in a nearly identical fashion, allowing you to preview your website just like what it will look when it is made public on the production server.

So why Two Webservers?

In the old days, when the web was an informal collection of webpages, the expectations of a website were far from what they are today. In recent times, the web has come to be seen as a part of institutional identity and as a marketing tool. Prospective students' first exposure to a university is often through its website. Sadly, even small errors in page design or spelling mistakes can turn visitors away.

To minimize such errors from happening, a testing server has been established. The testing server allows all web publishers at SJU to preview their pages before making them visible to the world.

Since www.sju.edu and test-www.sju.edu are two separate servers, any changes to webpages can first be made to the test-www.sju.edu website. When satisfied that things look and work as desired, www.sju.edu can then be updated.

Why Not Just Use One's Own Computer For Testing?

Also in the old days, it was common to preview website changes on one's own computer, where the pages were--and still are--being worked on. This has some disadvantages, however.

Today's webpages are often complex, incorporating text, graphics, databases, session tracking, logins, and web applications. How the webpage may work on one's own machine may be very different from how it actually works when it is on the production server.

For this reason, SJU has set up a "testing server." A testing server allows for previewing one's pages in as close to the production environment as possible--all before making the changes public.

How to Setup the Testing Server?

Macromedia Dreamweaver has the ability to associate a Testing Server with a "Site." (In most cases, SJU users will have named this, "SJU Web"). While most users will use the Testing Server within Dreamweaver, there is no requirement to do so. In fact, no special software is needed to use the testing server.

To setup the Testing Server for use in Dreamweaver, please follow our guide on How-To Setup the Testing Server using Dreamweaver.

How to Use the Testing Server?

For detailed instructions on how to preview your pages on the Testing Server, please follow these directions.

Why Use the Testing Server?

Not everybody will use the testing server for the same reason. Here are some more reasons why you might want to use the testing server:

Changes made to both www.sju.edu and test-www.sju.edu are permanent. The webservers do not have any "undo" option. To update a webpage, you send the webserver a entirely new copy of the file, which then gets written over the old file. This is a permanent change. That is, the webserver keeps no memory of the file as it was before updating. Therefore, it makes sense to test your changes using test-www.sju.edu before sending anything to www.sju.edu.
Easy way to collaborate. With test-www.sju.edu, you can make proposed modifications to your website available to others in your workgroup. You (or somebody else) can then look the pages over, proofread, and approve the webpage before making it public on www.sju.edu.
www.sju.edu is publicly accessible; test-www.sju.edu is restricted to University members. As test-www.sju.edu is not publicly accessible, you can test without worry of non-University affiliated people viewing your pages before you are ready to make them public. Note that from computers within the University, test-www.sju.edu is accessible. So while they are not publicly viewable on test-www.sju.edu, they are visible to those inside the university. Time-sensitive and private information should never be stored on either server.