Running beta in production

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Running beta in production

We’re constantly working on new features, improvements, and technical upgrades for Basecamp. Many of these changes need to be experienced in the wild to guide their evolution. We need to live with them in our daily use of Basecamp to see whether what seemed like a good idea is actually a good idea.

To this end, we run six different beta servers that all point to the same production database. We’ve found it impossible to accurately evaluate a feature unless it’s being used in anger with real data that actually matters. Evaluating changes against a staging server that’s Running an old copy of the database just doesn’t cut it.

The way we book a beta server for use with a certain branch is simple: It’s just in the title of the BCX Campfire room.

When you’re done with a beta server, you change the title to “available”. When you need a beta server, you change it to the name of the Running branch.

To select a given beta server, we’ve added a drop-down to all 37signals’ staff accounts within Basecamp itself.

You just pick the server you want to run on and it’ll route you to the beta environment Running the branch you’re looking to try out.

Long-term exposure to upcoming features is a great way to get them just right. But it’s also a great way to realize that what you thought was a great idea just wasn’t good e**ugh to ship. We’ve killed many features and changes to Basecamp after living with them for a few weeks. Often times, the most important features are the ones you don’t ship.




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Running beta in production