Development environment and best practices
We discussed some considerations regarding your server environment and required resource levels. Closely related to that topic is the matter of determining the development environment and code management practices.
In almost every situation, you will want to create a development environment where you can safely implement and test your CiviCRM implementation without impacting your production site. Even if you are not planning to customize CiviCRM in any way, it is still worth creating that development environment where features can be tested, data imports can be reviewed, and you can safely explore different configuration options without risking disruptions to your production site.
Larger organizations, especially those that have planned a phased rollout of their CiviCRM implementation, will likely want three environments:
- Development: This is where all active code development takes place and where new features are first implemented and tested
- Testing...