Overview
In software development, an environment is a computer system or set of systems in which a computer program or software component is deployed and executed.
In simple cases, such as developing and immediately executing a program on the same machine, there may be a single environment; however, in more complex cases, a "development" environment (known by various names, but with the shared characteristic of being the environment where changes are originally made) and production environment (what end users actually use) might both exist and are separated, sometimes with several stages in between. This structured release management process allows phased deployment (rollout), testing, and rollback in case of problems.
Within the WPP's instance of Fluxx, there are two environments: one "Development" environment (known as Pre-Production – sometimes written as Preproduction) and one Production environment (known as Production or simply called the "Portal" to grantees and employees).
As the names imply, these environments follow the general software development explanations. The Production environment is where all staff work is completed and where Grantees submit their applications, requirements, amendments, registrations, etc.
The Pre-Production environment, instead, is where WPP staff can perform advanced testing to ensure that changes are desired and won't cause unintended consequences prior to building out those features/records in the Production environment.
Any questions about the differences between the Production and Pre-Production environments should be addressed to WPP's System Analyst.
Accessing the Pre-Production Environment
In general, accessing the Pre-Production environment is very similar to accessing the Production environment. There is a link that takes you to the "Homepage" (just as with the WPP's main portal) for where you can sign in and access the Profile you would like (e.g. Employee, Grantee, Reviewer, etc.).
The link to access Pre-Production is here: https://wpp.preprod.fluxxlabs.com/user_sessions/new
If you have an account in WPP's main Fluxx portal (i.e. Production) that existed and whose password was last set prior to July 5th, 2022, then you do not need to do anything to "set your password;" you can use your Production password to sign into Pre-Production without any issues. If you either reset your password after 7/5/2022 or your account was created in Production after that date, you'll need to take some steps.
If Your Password Was Reset After 7/5/2022 in Production (But Account Was Created Prior to This)
You'll need to follow steps similar to those laid out in the Fluxx Employee Reference Guide. Essentially, go to the Pre-Production homepage and click on the "Reset or Create Password" link. That will prompt you to enter in your email address, where you should enter your @wisc.edu email address. That will send an email to your account with a link that will allow you to reset your Pre-Production password and allow you to sign in.
If Your Account Was Created in Production After 7/5/2022
You'll need to reach out to an admin who already has access to the Pre-Production environment. They'll be able to create your user in Pre-Production so that you can sign in. Follow their instructions for setting your password/signing in to the environment.