Shared-hosting deploy checklist

A safe order of operations for deploying PHP changes to cPanel shared
hosting (LiteSpeed). Learned the hard way, so you don't have to.

1. Back up first. Zip the docroot — or at least every file you're

about to touch — before changing anything.

1. Upload new files before editing old ones. If index.php is about

to reference a new library, that library must already exist on the
server, otherwise visitors hit a fatal error in the gap.

1. Permissions: 0644 for files. Under LiteSpeed, 0660 can cause

403s. Verify in File Manager after every upload.

1. Run installer scripts, then delete them immediately. Visit the

installer URL, confirm its success message ("table ready" or similar),
then delete the file — never leave installers on the server.

1. Verify live, not just in the editor. Load the real URLs with a

cache-busting query string (?v=2) and confirm the actual behavior.
Browser sessions can die mid-deploy — resume at verification, don't
re-upload blindly.

1. Clean up when done. Remove staging copies, test databases, and

empty the File Manager trash.

# Shared-hosting deploy checklist

A safe order of operations for deploying PHP changes to cPanel shared
hosting (LiteSpeed). Learned the hard way, so you don't have to.

1. **Back up first.** Zip the docroot — or at least every file you're
   about to touch — before changing anything.
2. **Upload new files before editing old ones.** If `index.php` is about
   to reference a new library, that library must already exist on the
   server, otherwise visitors hit a fatal error in the gap.
3. **Permissions: 0644 for files.** Under LiteSpeed, `0660` can cause
   403s. Verify in File Manager after every upload.
4. **Run installer scripts, then delete them immediately.** Visit the
   installer URL, confirm its success message ("table ready" or similar),
   then delete the file — never leave installers on the server.
5. **Verify live, not just in the editor.** Load the real URLs with a
   cache-busting query string (`?v=2`) and confirm the actual behavior.
   Browser sessions can die mid-deploy — resume at verification, don't
   re-upload blindly.
6. **Clean up when done.** Remove staging copies, test databases, and
   empty the File Manager trash.