Site Re-design - What's the best way to build a staging site and rollover without interruption?

Site URL: http://productlab.com.au

Sorry this may be a simple question, but Im looking to completely redesign this website, with all new copy and content. it currently has some basic forms only. What is the most seamless way to do this, without interruption to the existing site? Start a new sign and repoint the domain? or is there a simpler way ie. apply a new template to a staged cluster of content?

10 hours ago, Maddesign said:

This may be a simple question, but I'm looking to completely redesign this website. What is the most seamless way to do this, without interruption to the existing site?

This is anything but a simple question! The answer will depend on:

• whether you need to retain backend data (customer or sales data)
• whether you want to remain on 7.0 or move to 7.1.
• the type of site
• whether you need 7.1 features like 10,000 products.

If you have a commerce site and you want to stay on the same version of Squarespace, it may be better to preview another template and make your changes whilst in this preview mode. This will allow you to rebrand without affecting the live site.

If you want to upgrade to Squarespace 7.1 then you may need to start again with a new trial site. However, the new site can never contain your backend data, for example commerce order history, customer accounts and analytics information. Also, the site subscription cannot be moved, so when the new site is ready, the subscription will need to be cancelled and a new one purchased.

There's an existing thread about the options below. It's not exactly the same situation but I've tried to explain some of the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods :

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