I am going to create a big powerful website for customers to interact with service providers. A big on-demand system with lots of users and roles and lots of stuff going on. So obviously I want a nice flashy back-end theme with all the bells and whistles.
I'm trying to wrap my mind around how I need to install Drupal as compared to how I operated with Dreamweaver. I've scanned this site, flipped through some books, have done Google searches as well as on YouTube, but cannot find the information I am looking for. I kind of like to know what I need to do to get started before actually digging in to learn the entire product.
Basically, what is the best and proper way to test changes before the world/users see them? (ie, new themes, changes in layout, new content, etc)