Before you begin
A project running on your computer still needs a series of small decisions before visitors can use it. This guide relates hosting choices to your actual needs and considers the first release alongside the changes that follow.
Instead of a single hosting recommendation for every project, the guide starts with how your project works. A collection of static files and an application that stores data can have different needs. The chapters follow one example to explore how those differences affect release preparation, team responsibilities and the changes made after launch.
Inside the guide
Connect the ideas across three chapters, rather than learning isolated terms.
Find a home for your project
Compare hosting choices around content, application and data needs.
Publish a release
Environment settings, domain connections and checks before launch.
The day after launch
Logs, backups and a way back when a change does not work out.
A small look inside
You have a new release ready. An example release note records more than “it works”: it lists what changed, what was checked and how to return to the previous version. The guide builds that small record step by step.
Follow the handoffs between preparing, reviewing and publishing a release. The short release note keeps track of who checked the change, which settings were touched and where the team would look if something seemed wrong. The aim is an understandable record you can reuse for the next update, rather than a large operations document.
Who is this written for?
Developers publishing their first project and small teams looking for a more repeatable release process.
Even a small project may later need an update, a handover or a move to another environment. This guide is for readers who want to think about those possibilities from the beginning. Newcomers meet the ideas in context; more experienced readers can compare the examples with the release habits their team already uses.
Read at your own pace
Start with the big picture, then return to the chapter that answers your current question. You can read the guide in small sessions.
Adapt the example scenarios to your own project. Keep the checklists nearby as a place to return when putting an idea into practice.
Read the idea
Explore the example
Build your checklist
Your next step
Keep this guide on your list to plan the first release and what comes after it. Decision tables, example release notes and a launch checklist form the planned material.