Read this guide first. Core dna is hosted, so there is nothing to install; your repository holds only templates and front-end assets; and a new kind of page starts in the admin, with a layout. In half a day, from what the platform is to a page you built, deployed and rendered in Smarty or Twig.
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Unit 02 · From zero to a deployed change
The access to ask for
From zero to a deployed changePage 8 of 28Updated
Four things to ask for on your first day, and who usually grants each: a backend user on the development site, its hostname, the theme repository with its branch mapping, and the project's issue tracker. A request you can send once instead of four times.
Who this is for. A developer joining a Core dna site, and whoever brings them on board. After this page you can ask for everything you need in one message, and check it works before you start.
What to ask for
What
Why you need it
Usually granted by
A backend user on the development environment, and later on production
To create layouts and records, and to sign in to the site's MCP server
An administrator of that site, under Users › Users in the admin
The development hostname
There is no local copy of the site: you see your changes there
Core dna, who set up the site's environments and their hostnames
Access to the theme repository, and which branch deploys to which environment
To change templates and deploy them
Whoever administers the repository for the project
Access to the project's issue tracker
Where the work is described and reviewed
The project lead
Ask for the user type your work needs. Most site work needs an Administrator. Two things you will want early are reserved for the Super admin and Developer types: clearing an environment's cache and reading its deployment log. If your own user will not have them, find out now who does.
The request
Subject: Access for <your name> on <site>
Could I please have:
- a backend user on the development environment (and production when I need it),
as an Administrator, or as a Super admin if I am to clear caches and read deployments
- the development hostname
- access to the theme repository, and which branch deploys to which environment
- access to the project's issue tracker
My email: <address>
My repository username: <username>
Access usually takes longer to arrive than anything else on your first day, so send the request first and read the rest of this unit while you wait.
Check it works
Sign in to the admin at /cdna-admin on the development hostname. If the sign-in refuses a password you know is right, the account may be a member's (a Frontend user) rather than a backend user: members cannot sign in to the admin.
Load the development site signed out, in a private window, and check it is the site you expect.
Clone the repository and check out the branch that deploys to the development environment.
Open the issue tracker and find your first ticket.
You need nothing extra for the MCP server: it signs you in with your backend user. A script of your own that calls the API needs a credential of its own, which Authentication and authorisation helps you choose.