I get the feeling I have dodge a bullet for years now.  I have been making all updates to our server hosted db's live.  Everything I read here and at Filemaker tells me this is a BAD idea.

 

So - what is the proper way to make a change to a hosted file?  I'm having trouble finding documentation regarding the proper procedure. 

Making changes to a live hosted application has some risks associated with it, but the ability to do so is also a huge factor in the ability to develop FileMaker applications faster than applications built on other tools. Don't be so hard on yourself. If you search the forums more closely, you'll find a number of best practices that mitigate the risks of developing on live applications. In broad strokes, make a copy of anything you want to change, change the copy, then only after you've tested the copy and confirmed that it works do you make that functionality available to users. Also, stay out of Manage Database if you can help it while users are in the system.