Test your website before going live
There are two options to test your website before going live with iSmartFrame. The Playground environment is suggested for quick tests, while the live testing approach is the one preferred for a full unbiased check of all website's functionalities.
Do you require the exclude optimization, caching, or both for a specific page or section of your website? Refer to the next step in this guide for further details.
Playground testing
By default, iSmartFrame offers a demo version for your website accessible via the "Playground" dashboard button. This is useful to check if everything is working and the website itself is showing correctly to the end user. It can be accessed through an automatically generated URL, with the following format:
<uuid>.isf-demo.com - where <uuid> is the unique identifier of your website instance.
While using the Playground environment it is important to remember that some functionalities may not work due to technical constraints of the http protocol or limitations imposed by tools used on the original website. Some examples are:
Functionalities blocked by CORS policies.
Tools requiring the official trusted domain to work. Some tools and plugins check the domain they receive requests from. If the domain is not trusted or registered, these tools and plugins will refuse the connection. In some cases, the Playground environment should be added to the exception list by creating a specific entry for the demo domain.
Cookies defined on the official domain. If the website uses statically defined cookies based on the official domain, they will not work properly in the Playground environment since the URL will be different.
Functionalities that use static defined URLs pointing to the official domain may not work in the Playground environment.
Live testing
Due to CORS and other domain-related security policies, some of the core website's functionalities may be blocked or not properly working. In this case, to be 100% sure that the website will work as expected once live, the suggested approach is to navigate it by changing the "hosts" file on your computer.
Remember to be cautious when modifying system files like the hosts file, as incorrect changes can cause issues with network connectivity. Remember also to close the browser during the operations and flush your DNS cache or reboot your computer after the modifications are complete.
Windows
Here's how you can modify the hosts file in Windows to point the web address "www.yourdomain.com" to iSmartFrame:
Open Notepad as administrator. You can do this by right-clicking on the Notepad icon in the Start menu or taskbar and selecting "Run as administrator".
Open the hosts file. In Notepad, click on "File" in the menu bar and select "Open". Navigate to the following path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Select "All Files" in the "Open" dialog box to view all files.
Edit the hosts file. In the "Open" dialog box, locate and select the file named "hosts". Click the "Open" button to open the file in Notepad.
Add the IP address and hostname. Go to the end of the hosts file and enter the IP address "75.2.81.85", followed by a space or tab. Then, enter the hostname "www.yourdomain.com" after the IP address. Do the same without "www".
The entry should have a format similar to this:
Save the hosts file. Click on "File" and select "Save" in Notepad to save the changes made to the hosts file.
Flush the DNS cache:
Open the Command Prompt as administrator. You can do this by searching for "Command Prompt" in the Start menu, right-clicking on it, and selecting "Run as administrator".
In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:
Wait for the command to execute. It will flush the DNS resolver cache on your Windows system.
Once the process is complete, you should see a message indicating that the DNS cache has been successfully flushed.
Once you've completed these steps, the website will be directed to iSmartFrame when accessed through your computer. To revert the changes, simply delete the entries from the hosts file and flus h the DNS cache.
macOS
Here's how you can modify the hosts file in macOS to point the web address "www.yourdomain.com" to iSmartFrame:
Open the Terminal application. You can find it in the "Utilities" folder within the "Applications" folder, or you can use Spotlight search to locate it.
In the Terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:
This command will open the hosts file using the nano text editor with administrator privileges.
Enter your administrator password when prompted and press Enter. Note that your password will not be visible as you type.
Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate to the end of the file.
Add a new line at the end of the file and enter the IP address "75.2.81.85", followed by a space or tab. Then, enter the hostname "www.yourdomain.com". Do the same without "www".
The entry should have a format similar to this:
Press Ctrl + O to save the changes to the hosts file.
Press Ctrl + X to exit the nano editor.
Flush the DNS cache:
Open the Terminal application.
In the Terminal window, type the following command and press Enter:
Once you've made the changes, you can test it by opening a web browser and navigating to "www.yourdomain.com". It should now be directed to iSF. To revert these changes, simply delete the entries from the hosts file and flush the DNS cache.
Last updated