Within a few seconds of logging in after this morning’s maintenance, I noticed the problem documented at https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33150598-from-today-all-discussions-is-showing-tags-selected-as-hiding/7
I’ve now checked on the preview site and, sure enough, this problem exists here too. But it’s a test ground and we’re not using it for our normal day to day postings. So, even major problems don’t always “stand out like a sore thumb” in the same way as it will do when the software is used on the main site and members start using it on the live message base exactly the same as they normally do.
The preview site is very useful for specific testing of new features, without polluting the public forum content, but it can’t be used for our normal day to day posts, which means it is not so useful for detecting unexpected changes.
I’m wondering whether it’s possible to add an “release candidate” stage. Then,after initial testing to ensure the new features all work as intended, the intended release could made available via a semi-secret URL a few days before a release is due, but directly using the live message base. That would allow testers to use the new release for their normal day to day postings for a few days, and therefore make it less likely that important problems be missed.
