Announcing new Shifter features! Auto Deploys and Artifact Previews

One of the most exciting things we do at Shifter is turning customer feedback into features and today we announce two of the most requested.

Auto Deploy Artifacts

Auto-deployment gives Shifter users the option to generate static WordPress sites and deploy them as they are created. This feature is optional and will be available for all new artifacts once it’s released.

We believe this process will reduce the turn around time from content creation to going live. Prior to this update, the deployment of each build could be selected from the available artifacts list. This is still available if this method fits your workflow too.

As sites deploy we’ll still send you a notification via email in case you leave the Dashboard during this process.

Live Preview Artifacts

This feature is designed to give Shifter users the option to view each build without deploying or replacing the live production site. As you develop, create content, and build your WordPress site on Shifter the preview feature can come in handy to check the process along the way.

Prior to this feature, artifacts previews were available by downloading the static site artifact. This feature is still available in case you need to commit those files to give, share on another service like Netlify or create an offline backup.

Release Notes

A few things to note for these new features is that preview sites will be available for up to 60 minutes.

We’ve recently come across a few issues relating to themes using absolute URL functions. It’s best practice to avoid these according to the official WP.org guidelines and they do create some conflicts during the generating process. While this is rare, we can help you resolve this is it happens. Let us know!

We’ve also squashed a few bugs relating to URLs in RSS feeds.