Staging & Releases
Builderius has staging built in. Everything you build lives on a dev branch that only logged-in administrators can see. Visitors keep seeing the production branch, the live site, until you decide to publish.
That means you can rebuild a header, restyle a template or try an idea on the live site itself, and nobody sees it before it is ready.
The Two Branches
| Branch | Who sees it | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| dev | Logged-in administrators | Your current work: everything you saved in the builder |
| production | Everyone | The published version of the site |
In the interface the two are also called the Development site version and the Live site version.
The Workflow
Build → Save → Publish
- Build in the builder. Nothing leaves your browser until you save
- Save to Development - your work is stored on the dev branch. You can preview it on the real site, and visitors still see production
- Publish - production is replaced with your work, and visitors see it
Along the way Builderius keeps track for you:
- History lets you undo and redo while you work. See Saving and History
- Commits are saved points on dev that you can return to. See Commits
- Releases are versions of the whole site that you can publish, keep as milestones and move to other sites. See Creating and Publishing a Release
Two Ways to Publish
From the builder. Open the Save menu and choose Publish to Live. This is the quick way: what is on dev goes to production.
From the Releases page. Create a release with a version number and a description, then publish it. This is the careful way: each release stays in the list, so you can go back to it later.
Both end in the same place: production shows the published work.
Why Work This Way
- No broken pages while you work on a live site
- You decide when changes go live, and all of them go live together
- You can go back, to an earlier point in your work or to an earlier release
- Clients and visitors only ever see finished work
Next steps: