UBCMS Environments

UBCMS uses multiple environments (servers) to separate your working site from your public site and provide safe spaces for testing.

On This Page

Overview

The Environments

AUTHOR - Your working environment where you edit content
QA - Testing environment
QA2 - NextGen preview
LIVE - Your public-facing website

Accessing the Different Environments

Logging in: Use your same UBIT login credentials for all environments.
Permissions: You'll have the same permissions across all environments.
Off-campus access: QA and QA2 require VPN connection when accessing from off-campus.

How the Environments Interact

Every weekend, AUTHOR syncs to QA and QA2, then a script converts sites to the NextGen platform on QA2.
When you publish your AUTHOR pages, they push the latest version LIVE.

Author Environment

Your primary working environment where you create, edit, and publish content on a daily basis.

Zoom image: AUTHOR is identified by the URL.

Zoom image: AUTHOR is identified by the URL.

Screenshot of AUTHOR Server, showing the URL that helps identify AUTHOR.

AUTHOR is identified by the URL.

What it's for:

Daily content editing
Creating new pages
Publishing to LIVE

Identified by:

URL includes: ubcms-author.buffalo.edu

Important: AUTHOR syncs to QA and QA2 every weekend.

QA Environment

A testing environment that's a weekly snapshot of the AUTHOR environment. Use QA to preview changes and test functionality in a safe environment.

Zoom image: QA is identified by the URL and a thin red banner at the top of every page.

Zoom image: QA is identified by the URL and a thin red banner at the top of every page.

Screenshot of QA Server, showing the thin red banner and URL that helps identify QA.

QA is identified by the URL and a thin red banner at the top of every page.

What it's for:

Preview changes before publishing
Test functionality in a safe environment
Experiment without affecting AUTHOR or LIVE

Identified by:

URL includes: ubcms-qa.buffalo.edu
Thin red banner at the top of each page

Important: Changes made in QA are overwritten during the weekend sync from AUTHOR. Use for testing and preview only.

QA2 Environment

A testing environment created for NextGen conversion. Like QA, it's a weekly snapshot of AUTHOR, but converted to NextGen templates.

Zoom image: QA2 is identified by the URL and a thin yellow banner at the top of every page.

Zoom image: QA2 is identified by the URL and a thin yellow banner at the top of every page.

Screenshot of QA2 Server, showing the thin yellow banner and URL that helps identify QA2.

QA2 is identified by the URL and a thin yellow banner at the top of every page.

What it's for:

Preview what your site will look like in NextGen
Test custom code compatibility with NextGen

Identified by:

URL includes: ubcms-qa2.buffalo.edu
Thin yellow banner at the top of each page

Important: QA2 updates every weekend from AUTHOR. QA2 may be discontinued after NextGen conversion is complete.

Live Environment

Your public-facing website. LIVE is updated when you publish pages from AUTHOR.

Common Questions

AUTHOR. Make all changes in AUTHOR, then publish to LIVE when ready.

You can, but changes are overwritten during the weekend sync from AUTHOR. Use QA and QA2 for testing and preview only.

This ensures testing environments always reflect your latest AUTHOR content.

Look for the colored banner (red = QA, yellow = QA2) or check the URL.

QA2 was created specifically for NextGen conversion and may be discontinued afterward. QA will remain available.

Questions or feedback?

Have a question about the conversion process or the resources on this site? Want to share feedback on how we can improve?

Use this form and we'll get back to you.