The last week has been very busy around the office and we managed to get out some helpful tips for those of you working with Sitecore for the first time, as well as folks who may be considering a Sitecore upgrade for their current installation.

Trying to get started with development on Sitecore and preparing for your first Sitecore upgrade are similar in a very simple way: it can seem scary. We hoped that with these tips we could convince some more folks out there that it wasn’t so bad and that a little help can go a long way to making the transition smooth and painless.

The laws of Sitecore development

First, my colleagues Nick Allen and Gavin Fortugno joined me for a Google Hangout as part of the nonlinear buzz series.  We chatted about about some common questions regarding development on the Sitecore platform, including a few ‘first-timer’ tips. Have a look!

3 tips: Preparing for a Sitecore upgrade

After that, as a lead-up to our first ever MVP forum, I posted some tips for folks preparing for a Sitecore upgrade.  The low-down:

1. Move your configuration customizations to include files
2. Map out your upgrade path
3. Configure a load-balancer for a live upgrade

For the full article, have a read of the nonlinear blog: 3 tips: Preparing for a Sitecore upgrade.