When your site is initially created, it is hosted in the development environment. The development environment adds an extra layer of security for those who want to ensure their site is not visible to the outside world while it’s being built. Your site will not be available to anyone who is physically off-campus (unless they are using VPN). To distinguish the development environment from the live (production) environment, the beginning of the site URL has dev. appended to it.
Be sure links to pages within your site do not include the full URL, rather use the Internal Link tool to ensure the proper link configuration. Read Add links for the correct instructions on how to add internal links.
Basic changes to text and content should be made in the production environment. However, complex configuration or site redesigns should be made in the development environment.
Important Note: Any changes that are made to content in production WILL NOT be merged with changes made in development. We recommend a content freeze to ensure nothing is lost when the dev site is moved to production.