# Misc. information

## Keep a test version at hand!

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Right after you have completed setting up your store, but just before officially opening it to the public, we strongly recommend that you install a local test version on your personal computer, MAMP for Mac, or LAMP for Linux, or, for Windows, it is recommended to use [WSL2](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install), or elsewhere on your hosting server.
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This second instance will be useful as a pre-production environment in which you can carry out all future changes to your PrestaShop store without affecting the live version. This way, if an error occurs, your live store remains intact and untouched.

After you have confirmed that your test version works as it should, copy the test version over to the live version. It is best to do this after peak usage hours, and with your store properly and temporarily disabled from within the PrestaShop back office. 

To do so, you can use [Maintenance ](https://docs.prestashop-project.org/v.9-documentation/user-guide/configuring-shop/shop-parameters/general-settings/maintenance)mode.

## Checking for the GD library

The [GD library](https://libgd.github.io/) enables PrestaShop to rework images that you upload, especially resizing them.

On a default installation of PHP, the GD Library should be turned on, but if that's not the case for your installation, here are the standard Windows instructions:

1. In the root directory of your PHP folder, **open the `php.ini` file.**
2. **Uncomment the `extension=php_gd2.dll` line** by deleting the ";" at the start of the line. This line should be located about halfway through the file, in the middle of a long list of extensions.
3. **Restart the PHP services**.

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If you have no access to the `php.ini` file (which is often the case in shared hosting), contact your host about your hosting needs.
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