3.1.2. Local deployment

One of the most frequently asked questions when working with Sitecore is whether to develop locally inside the web root or outside. Although the general recommendation is to work outside the web root, you should consider the implications.

There are two major aspects which should lead to choosing one or the other:

Firstly, it is very important to be able to separate the implementation specific files and changes from the standard frameworks and files. The importance of this separation cannot be overstated, as it will help in many aspects in the long run, such as general development, troubleshooting, upgrades and more. This separation is easier if the implementation specific files are physically separated from the files in the standard frameworks etc.

Generally, if tasks that are repeated frequently become taxing, they will be circumvented – and this will lead to inconsistencies in the processes and ultimately inconsistencies in quality. Therefore, secondly, the ease of development is important. Working outside the web root will lead to an additional step in the development process – deploying the change to the running environment – and given the frequency of this task it is imperative that this is easy. Tools and automated scripts can help this to become almost transparent for the developer.

Sitecore Helix Examples - Sitecore TDS

The Sitecore TDS version of Helix Basic Company uses the built-in capability of TDS to deploy files to the web root on build. To avoid the need for a TDS project for modules which do not have associated items, a single TDS project is used to build and deploy files for all solution modules.

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Figure: Source web projects for file deployment

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Figure: File deployment location, originating in the TdsGlobal.config

You can also enable the Content File Sync feature of Sitecore TDS to automatically deploy changes to any content files, such as Razor views and CSS/JS files.

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Figure: Configuring Content File Sync in Tools > Options > TDS Options.

Sitecore Helix Examples - Unicorn

The Unicorn version of the Helix Basic Company uses the Helix Publishing Pipeline (HPP) open source tooling to enable publishing of the entire Helix solution as a single unit, and to enable auto-publish to the web root on build.

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Figure: Helix Publishing Pipeline reference in Helix Basic Company - Unicorn

For information on configuring auto-publishing with HPP, see its documentation.