Tiny AI Arcade made this concrete. A visitor with an older page open could still need files from the previous version, even after new visits were loading the current one. Deleting those files right after a release could break the game for the person who had been playing all along, so I keep them available while older pages still depend on them.

Program files are only part of what sits on the server. Uploaded photographs, saved conversations and generated images belong to the people who made them. I keep that material separate from the application versions, so replacing the software leaves it where people expect to find it.

The separation matters most when a release has to be undone. Rolling back to an earlier version of the software shouldn't erase work someone added after the change. I plan for both parts before a new version goes online, and earlier versions stay close at hand while I check the new one.

Moving an application to another machine raises the same issue. For The Story Scrolls, the stories, illustrations and the information connecting them have to arrive together. I work through a move with backups and a way back, then make sure new work goes only to the intended copy. Otherwise two locations start collecting different changes.

After any change, I check what a person will actually use: the address, the sign-in and the pages where their work lives. A process running on the server is a good sign, and I still open the site to confirm it.

My part covers the server integration, application moves and a repeatable release process across these projects.