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Stage and live websites explained

We have two websites, stage and live. Content changes are first made on the stage website (https://stage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/) before they are published on the live website (https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/).

Each of these websites has a different purpose and level of access:

  • Stage website is only available internally, so everyone in the council​ can see the draft content
  • Live website is the external public facing website, it can be viewed by anyone 

If you are a content provider or a content editor this page explains:

  • The difference between the stage and live websites
  • What each site is for
  • Who can access and edit them

Stage website

https://stage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/

Stage is the internal version of the live website. It is only available on the council network, so council employees can see it, but it is not visible to the public.

Stage lets us work on page updates without affecting the live public facing website.

Content editors can make changes to their assigned pages and request publishing from the UX team. Publishing requests go through an approval process to make sure they align with content guidelines before being made live. View user guides for content editors on how to make changes and request publishing.

UX team is able to work on more complex changes and, when required, get feedback from the relevant content provider before transferring the changes to the live website.

Stage website access and purpose:

  • Viewing access: internal only
  • Editing access: designated content editors for specific pages and UX team for the whole website
  • Purpose: where changes are made and can be previewed before the live website is updated

Live website

https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/

Live is the public-facing website which everyone can view externally.

There is no draft content on live. To maintain high user experience, published content on live is the final version that aligns with content and accessibility guidelines and is ready to be used by the public.

Live website access and purpose:

  • Viewing access: external
  • Editing access: UX team only
  • Purpose: final version of the website, for public use to find out about and access council services