Suite Test/Upgrade plan* what do you think of this?
 

Like most people here I have a fairly active forum running and am looking forward to moving to the new version. And like everyone here I want to do this with as little fuss as possible. This is my vague plan for upgrading but I'm not sure if it'll work that well* can you all please pick any holes you can in it?

Background

• My forum has a small group of premium members who pay for extra privileges* one of which is the right to view (ie test) any changes if possible
• Most of these members have minimal experience and understanding* while a couple are actually professional testers
• All my members are incredibly understanding* so I would be happy to start again and add in plugins and fix the design as we go along

Setup

• Close the site for the duration of the test site setup
• Ensure my current site is upgraded to latest version of 3.8.x
• Backup - database dump and copy of all the files in htdocs
• Set up web space at my host for an alternative domain (ie my current site is www.abc.com* set up www.abc2.com which I also own but am not using)
• Install VBulletin 4 in the new space

• Option A
  • Point to the current site database (can I do this? how can I do this?)
  • Allow my testers to take a look at the site* all the posts they make would then also be on the old site
• Option B
  • Import the database from the old site to the new
  • When I want to go live I would re import* losing everything that my testers have added
• Option C
  • Just give my testers a raw site to play with
  • When I want to go live I would re import* losing everything that my testers have added

Go Live

• For go live I would then repoint the DNS for the existing domain to the new test site* update the database and then be good to go

OK* what am I missing????