Testing your site before publishing it
The preview for the look, and the local test to try out forms, shop, bookings and the dashboard.
The preview
The Preview screen shows your site as your visitors will see it, with your real data. Choose the device to check how it looks on a computer, tablet or phone, and open it in your browser if needed with Open in browser.
The preview is enough to check the look. But features that run on a server (forms, orders, bookings, protected pages, dashboard) cannot be tried out for real there.
The local test
Test the site locally, on the Publish screen, runs your site as if it were online, but on your computer, without publishing anything.
- Open Publish and find the Test the site locally section.
- The first time, TOWeb needs PHP. If it is not on your computer, click Install PHP: it is downloaded from lauyan.com, verified and stored in TOWeb’s folder, without installing anything on your system.
- Click Test the site locally. TOWeb builds the site, copies it into a test folder and opens it in your browser.
- Send a form, place an order, book a slot.
- Click Stop when you have finished.
Emails stay with you
No email is sent during the test. The messages your site would send (order confirmation, form message, booking) are displayed in TOWeb, under Emails sent by the site.
The test dashboard
Open the test dashboard opens the dashboard of this copy. Its first-login code is shown in TOWeb; it only works for the test, not for your live site.
No card payments
During the test, no connection is made to payment providers, so nothing is charged. Place your test orders by bank transfer, cheque or in-store pickup.
On Windows
If PHP does not start, TOWeb may ask you to install Microsoft’s “Visual C++ Redistributable”, with a download link. Install it, then click Try again.