Component Development Guide > Basics
Development & Upgrade Logistics
We ask you to perform all component development in a development version of the component. This version should have a "_dev" suffix at the end of its name (e.g. "ePrize Sweepstakes _dev"). It should reside in your Flite account.
You are free to make changes to this version of the component anytime except during the certification process. The component is certified based on this _dev version, so it is important that you do not make changes to it while it is being reviewed. Once a _dev component is certified, Flite will make a copy of the component, version it appropriately, and push it into production. You are then free to use the _dev version for further development if you so choose.
Please keep in mind that your component must undergo the certification process each time you make a change – so please do keep changes to a minimum.
Updates and Versions
You will likely want to make changes to your component after its initial release. You may do this to fix bugs that you find post-release, to add some additional functionality, to expose some parameters that users have asked for, or for any number of other reasons.
Component versioning is handled by Flite, so component developers do not have to worry about it. However, it is important to understand how versioning works.
We recognize two different types of component releases:
Updates: Changes that are applied to the existing production version of the component. Such changes are immediately reflected in any live ads that use the component, and therefore must be fully backwards compatible. Updates are reserved solely for bug fixes and urgent changes to live campaigns. See Component Maintenance.
Versions: Changes that are not applied to the existing production version of the component. The release of a new version will not affect any live ads that use the component; however, any new ads built after the release, will use the latest version. This is the customary way of upgrading a component, outside of bug fixes and urgent updates to live campaigns. There are two version types.
- Major version: A fundamental change to the component.
- Minor version: A less significant change to the component.
Component versions and updates use the dot release notation. For instance, “ePrize Sweepstakes 2.3.4” indicates major version 2, minor version 3, update 4 of the ePrize Sweepstakes component.