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General question re: licensing

I am wondering, is it possible to have 2 (or more) separate installs on separate domains under one license?

The situation is, I am developing a site for a client (this is my first commercial site) and they want only specific elements of what I have developed, however I do not want to "dumb down" all my templates, only to have to rebuild them at a later time.

Is it possible to have a production install on one domain and a staging install on another, which share elements of code that can be shared, e.g. Perch HTML templates and so on being copied from the development domain to the production domain(s) notwithstanding additional licenses but which may have completely different content?

I am aware there is also a 3rd field where I can enter a domain for development, and while I'd be inclined to use localhost I am not in a hurry to do that, as my internet/hosting is good enough to work online and most of what I am doing is in PHP anyway, with the odd bit of content injection from Perch but of course this will change over time but I really need flexibility in how I approach the workflow, without being concerned about databases.

I do hope I am making my concerns clear.

Garth Holmes

Garth Holmes 0 points

  • 5 years ago
Rachel Andrew

Rachel Andrew 394 points
Perch Support

Each domain is for one project, as explained in the terms. So if you are working on a new project that would require an additional license.

We would not suggest working solely online as good practice, as that means you have no development version and presumably also are not using source control etc. however that is up to you. However in terms of licensing our license is clear that you need a license for each individual project.

Hi,

I am not looking to "game" the system, as the website states, but rather develop a different version of the same site under a different domain (there are no developer licenses for standard Perch).

I don't want to use a sub-domain or a sub-folder or anything like that.

It is simply a situation where I must take a copy as it were, and work on that separately so I can either re-integrate the code or use it for another project at a later time, which from my reading of the License terms would then require me to purchase an additional license, which I'd be more than willing to pay.

The only thing that would happen of course on the so-called staging domain would be that the content would likely become more generic so as a commercial vehicle, it would have virtually zero application. For example, there would be no graphics, and contact details would be John Doe or something similar.

I did read the License terms and it seems to be discretionary on Perch' part so if there is any problem with the use case I am proposing let me know, otherwise I can only do what I feel is within those terms and hopefully not receive any warning(s).

Rachel Andrew

Rachel Andrew 394 points
Perch Support

If your development version is the same site - for example a new design - that is fine. If this is a different project then it requires a unique license. This is explained very clearly in the license terms, which can be found here: https://grabaperch.com/license and when you buy a license you agree to these terms.

I have copied the relevant part below. Please remember that for the amount you have paid us we have been responding to the many support tickets you have raised. If people try to avoid buying licenses then our ability to support and further develop Perch is compromised.

"You may use each licence of Our Software for one Project only. However, this doesn’t mean that you may use the licensed copy on one domain only. We appreciate that developing websites can be a long complicated process and that it is necessary to build them in a closed, private environment before unleashing them on an unsuspecting world. For that reason, in addition to the domain upon which you will eventually publish the Project, you may also nominate a further two domains for that project, one as a development site and one as a staging version.

However, please note this doesn’t mean you have a licence to use Our Software for three different websites. You don’t. You have a right to use one licensed copy of Our Software on up to three different versions of the same Project, two of which we expect either to be entirely closed or significantly limited in some way. If we suspect that you are using one licensed copy of Our Software for two or more projects, we will disable those domains until you purchase the appropriate number of licences and if you do it repeatedly, we may terminate all of your licences."

I did read that and believe it is fair and have no intention of trying to thwart or game the system, since I do appreciate the product and the support afforded by yourself, Dean and others.

I suppose I could try a local install but regardless, it is essentially for the same project, even if under a different (domain) name.

While the work I am doing at this stage is for a client, it is largely for myself in terms of the template work I am performing and were I to create another site for another business (or personal) purpose I'd naturally purchase another licence.

I believe prices are even lower now than before, which actually clinched the deal for me and again I do appreciate the help given by yourself and others.

All the best

I use Mamp for running my site locally and git for version control on my local machine. You can then experiment in an experimental branch and commit that to master when your happy. The master branch will then be your clients work to upload to the server. You could even have two databases by setting a different one in config on your experimental branch. To stop config being committed to master use a .gitignore file in your project folder.
I hope that is of some use )

Hi William,

I'm downloading it now and will see what I can do.

Of course I'd rather develop locally if I can, since there are delays at times uploading files and I must be connected to the internet so I will try this before I install it somewhere else because hosting costs money too.

Cheers

No worries, It's worth it. Here's a link taking you through the basic set up. https://teamtreehouse.com/library/build-a-simple-php-application/getting-started-with-php/install-php-on-mac-os-x
It should be similar for windows I assume.
Also this may be handy.
https://git-scm.com/downloads/guis