how do I set up a test environment

[aamanager]

We purchased Shopsite through our hosting company, Bluehost. we've been testing and all looks fine. However, we want to keep the existing environment as a testing platform and create a new, production environment. How do I go about doing that??

[ShopSite Nicole]

It is possible to have SimpleScripts install either a free ShopSite Starter or free Pro demo store to your Bluehost account (you will want it in a separate directory than your existing installation). If you have installed two Pro demo stores, then you can simply decide which installation you wish to upgrade to a live package by logging in to that store and then going to Utilities > Upgrade.

[aamanager]

Will the test store be a full copy of the production store, ie all of the products, etc? When I installed via Bluehost, it created an environment witch only allowed 20 products......

[ShopSite Nicole]

The initial installation of the test store will be new, empty store. If you are using the Pro demo stores, then it is possible to download your page and product databases from the current Pro demo and upload it into the new one. If you are using the Starter, it does not have the database upload/download option, so you would need to recreate the store or upgrade it first, and then move the information over to a Pro demo store.

It all depends on if you were intending to use the Starter for your live and test stores, or if you were planning to upgrade to Manager or Pro.