Okay, I think I’ve figured out this subdomain thing that everyone was suggesting, which was surprisingly easy to setup. However, I want to make sure I’m fully grasping the concept before I start moving files around. This is my understanding of a subdomain and how it works with website development.
When I setup a subdomain, the files attached to that subdomain exists in a directory I assign within the parent domain. This can be one or more levels below the parent domain.
When a user accesses the subdomain address everything appears to be at a top level of that subdomain.
Because is at a top level, it’s easier to move some websites, especially CMS enabled sites, from my development server to the client’s server when they’re ready to go live. In other words, less broken links.
In a fully-configurable subdomain system, the files don’t have to be inside the web root for the main domain. That’s actually a feature of some hosting setups, where you can create a subdomain without any configuration just by asking for it like this:
http://subdomain.yourdomain.com/
when there exists a folder like this:
/public_html
/subdomain
In that particular case, the subdomain folder is ALSO available at
http://yourdomain.com/subdomain/
But that’s just an implementation detail. It is equally possible to have a folder setup like this:
/public_html
/subdomain
and have subdomain.yourdomain.com linked into the subdomain folder, which is outside of the main domain site root, and thus not accessible through the subfolder syntax.
Walter
On Jul 2, 2012, at 2:38 PM, RavenManiac wrote:
When I setup a subdomain, the files attached to that subdomain exists in a directory I assign within the parent domain. This can be one or more levels below the parent domain.
Okay, so I have my new, CMS compliant workflow partially figured out. Next question.
How does Mamp Pro factor into all of this? The developers of Perch are highly recommending that I use Mamp Pro for development purposes. However, I will need my clients to be able to see the work in progress.
The only way I can see to make this work is to setup Freeway Pro so that it FTPs all my changes to the Mamp Pro server. Then, I would need to use Transmit, or some other FTP app, to duplicate the files on my Mamp Pro server to the subdomain.
If you want to use MAMP to develop and preview your sites on your Mac, you could set the file transfer method to File Copy, and select the site folder you’ve defined in MAMP as the target. Then when you want to upload to your server, all you would need to do is change that transfer method back to FTP (I think the settings might stick) and upload to your dev server.
Walter
On Jul 2, 2012, at 3:47 PM, RavenManiac wrote:
Thanks Walter.
Okay, so I have my new, CMS compliant workflow partially figured out. Next question.
How does Mamp Pro factor into all of this? The developers of Perch are highly recommending that I use Mamp Pro for development purposes. However, I will need my clients to be able to see the work in progress.
The only way I can see to make this work is to setup Freeway Pro so that it FTPs all my changes to the Mamp Pro server. Then, I would need to use Transmit, or some other FTP app, to duplicate the files on my Mamp Pro server to the subdomain.
The developers of Perch are highly recommending that I use Mamp Pro for development purposes.
They’re pushing MAMP because they don’t want people developing in a sub-directory (different from a sub-domain) on the remote server because of the inevitable mess involved with changing paths etc. Plus MAMP is simple to use for most people who don’t want or need to setup elaborate staging and development servers.
I could see an excuse to use it: You post something to your dev server, and tell the client about it. While you’re waiting to hear back, you start hacking on another change, and possibly break things in the process of working on it. The last thing you want is for your client to come along while it’s broken, so keep those mistakes to yourself by running them in your MAMP server locally. When you have the next patch figured out, upload that to your dev server, and there’s very little chance that you’ll embarrass yourself.
Walter
On Jul 2, 2012, at 3:59 PM, RavenManiac wrote:
So, is MAMP Pro unnecessary with a subdomain workflow?
So, is MAMP Pro unnecessary with a subdomain workflow?
It depends on how you want to work. If you like the idea of having a self-contained site and db locally to work on before publishing your work to the server then yes, MAMP is one way to go. It’s a way to have a buffer between a local work-in-progress and a client-ready version (remote server).
I could see an excuse to use it: You post something to your dev server, and tell the client about it. While you’re waiting to hear back, you start hacking on another change, and possibly break things in the process of working on it. The last thing you want is for your client to come along while it’s broken, so keep those mistakes to yourself by running them in your MAMP server locally. When you have the next patch figured out, upload that to your dev server, and there’s very little chance that you’ll embarrass yourself.
Walter
On Jul 2, 2012, at 3:59 PM, RavenManiac wrote:
So, is MAMP Pro unnecessary with a subdomain workflow?
You may want to grab a copy of Sequel Pro so you can administer your db both locally and remotely. Coda 2 has a built-in stripped down version of Sequel Pro but the full app is better.
Thanks Todd. I’m assuming Sequel Pro is for moving the SQL Database from one server to another. So it’s not as easy as dragging and dropping then?
On 2 Jul 2012, 8:21 pm, Todd wrote:
You may want to grab a copy of Sequel Pro so you can administer your db both locally and remotely. Coda 2 has a built-in stripped down version of Sequel Pro but the full app is better.
Thanks Todd. I’m assuming Sequel Pro is for moving the SQL Database from one server to another. So it’s not as easy as dragging and dropping then?
It’s a MySQL GUI. It performs essentially the same function as phpMyAdmin in your server control panel, the difference being that with Sequel Pro you don’t need to be signed in to your control panel to access a db.
Drag-n-drop? Oh no! But it’s extremely easy to export ( or ‘dump’) the contents of a db and import it into another. But it’s not just for moving a db, it gives you full access to the db structure and content. Use with caution.
It performs essentially the same function as phpMyAdmin in your server control panel, the difference being that with Sequel Pro you don’t need to be signed in to your control panel to access a db.
Keep in mind that your web host must offer ‘Remote MySQL’ if you want to access a db remotely, ie, from outside of your server control panel/phpMyAdmin. Because it can be a security risk you will need to setup a user/password and whitelist your IP address. All very easy to do.
So, does it do anything that I can’t through godaddy’s administrator? Also, why would I want direct access to the MySQL database?
Like I said, with Sequel Pro you don’t need to be signed into the control panel so it’s more convenient. There are all sorts of reasons why you may need to access the db directly: troubleshooting, adjusting a path … all kinds of stuff. And if you need to work on a local db then you will need a tool to access it. Your control panel only works for your remote db. Enter Sequel Pro.