Flyway Tips: Multiple Projects

Posted on March 4, 2026 by way0utwest

One of the nice things about Flyway Desktop is that it helps you manage your database code as a project and see what changes are being built. However, many of our customers end up working with multiple databases, so there is a need for multiple projects.

This post looks at the new addition to the GUI: the ability to work with multiple projects at one time in the same GUI.

I’ve been working with Flyway and Flyway Desktop for work more and more as we transition from older SSMS plugins to the standalone tool. This series looks at some tips I’ve gotten along the way.

Opening a Project

Flyway Desktop (FWD) used to only allow one project to be open at a time. This proved cumbersome. We debated allowing multiple instances of FWD, but keeping track of them can be cumbersome. We decided to allow multiple projects inside the same FWD instance.

You can see this below, where I have three projects open at once. I have Northwind, a Synapse project, and an Autopilot project. These are listed across the top as tabs, and clicking each brings that project to the front. The current project is showing the Autopilot one.

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If I click the Northwind project, notice the little red underline. This indicates the project being shown.

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To add a new project, I click the plus (+) at the top to the right of my projects.

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This gives me a list of my projects, the same way I’d see them when I started Flyway Desktop. Notice the 3 I have open are listed first, as they were most recently touched.

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If I click any of these projects, like my SimpleTalk_Timestamp project, it opens up. As with any project, the comparison on the Schema Model tab starts automatically.

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Now I can switch projects quickly with a click, and my existing projects don’t close.

Summary

This is a small change, but one that has a big impact. The teams are constantly working on small and large changes like this. The ability to manage multiple projects is one that’s been requested and we were working on it, testing designs with customers and finding the best balance for most of them.

We settled on multiple projects in one GUI, which I like and seems to be working well.

If you work with Flyway, update your desktop and give it a try. We would love to hear your feedback.

Flyway is an incredible way of deploying changes from one database to another, and now includes both migration-based and state-based deployments. You get the flexibility you need to control database changes in your environment. If you’ve never used it, give it a try today. It works for SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL and nearly 50 other platforms.

Video Walkthrough

Watch me do this in video:

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Editorial Republish: Detecting Issues

Posted on March 2, 2026 by way0utwest

It’s the Redgate company wellbeing data, where everyone gets the day off. I’m traveling back from Florida after coaching all weekend, so you get to re-read Detecting Issues.

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A Wellbeing Day at Redgate

Posted on March 2, 2026 by way0utwest

It’s a day off for Redgate today. This is our annual wellbeing day, where everyone gets the day off.

Well, not everyone, but anyone that has to work today gets to take another day off. I missed last year’s day because of travel and commitments, but I managed to take a day off later in the year.

For me, I was coaching in Orlando this weekend at the 2026 Sunshine Classic Girls Junior National Qualifier with my wife. Actually, I was the assistant to the assistant coach, so I was really there supporting my wife and cheerleading for the young ladies. We stayed an extra day for a cheaper flight, and to unwind a bit. The timing worked out, so I don’t use a vacation day today, though I did last Friday, which was the first day of the tournament.

This is a relatively new perk, just a few years old, but I’m proud that Redgate tries to support and care for employees in different ways. The company has always recognized that balance in life is important and we need time away from work. We work hard when we’re working, so we need breaks.

It’s a travel day, but these three day tournaments are long and tiring. It’s nice to have a day to unwind before getting back to it tomorrow.

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Having a Little Fun at SQL Server Central

Posted on February 27, 2026 by way0utwest

When we started the site, I had never met most of the other co-founders (we went from 7 to 3 inside of a few years). A few knew each other, but Brian, Andy, and I had only communicated through emails and phone calls. We ran the company remotely from Denver, Orlando, and Jacksonville. In fact, I met Brian for first time when he came to Denver for the 2002 PASS Summit (moved from 2001). I met Andy later that year at the Seattle Summit in November 2002. That, coincidentally, was my first meeting with Simon Galbraith, founder of Redgate Software.

Over the years, we’ve tried to enjoy running an online community in different ways. We wanted this to be a profitable endeavor, but one where we could have some fun. We did this in few different ways. One was with some off-topic articles. Early on, Andy wrote a piece asking Is Steve Jones Really Steve Jones? I still enjoy reading that one today.

Once I was running the site full-time, and stuck with the Question of the Day and editorial responsibilities, I added a category for humor that I used on holidays and other random times. April 1 was a fun day (and still is), with me trying to write plausible, but completely untrue articles about database topics. I’m still thrilled that my joke from Apr 1, 2005, SQL Server on Linux, finally came true.

We had a Lighter Side category for editorials that didn’t fit anywhere else, which I and others have used to try and remind ourselves that not everything is about databases and it’s also not the most important things in our lives. We have had a lot of articles on career topics and soft skills, especially editorials, as the guest editors and I know these are some of the most important skills to develop for career growth.

Thankfully, Redgate has supported some of my fun, as they agreed to pay for and publish a series of crosswords and cartoons over the years.

Perhaps the most fun I’ve had over the years was running the SQL Server Central parties at the annual PASS Summit. In exchange for promoting the event and getting people to register with our code, we got a small payment for each person. This started in 2002, and we decided not to take this money as profit, but rather to have fun with it. Each year we’d get a few thousand dollars from referrals, so we tried to be creative. We gave away books and shirts the first year, with a line stretching out the door during the welcome reception. In Florida in 2003 or 2004, we decided to have a video game party with XBOX consoles. We not only purchased consoles, but also TVs, and gave everything away at the end of the night to random people.

Somehow, I stumbled on the idea of a Casino party one year and contracted with a firm in Seattle. We ran those parties for years and even charged admission for people who hadn’t used our code. I would guess how many people would come and then go shopping at Best Buy when I arrived in Seattle, spending a few more thousand dollars on random prizes to give away. I’m sure we lost money in a few of those years, but it was all for fun.

Maybe one of the most memorable things I did was for TechEd in 2004 or 2005. We wanted to brand ourselves and try to raise awareness of the site. Since I was in charge, I ordered 3 different styles of Hawaiian shirts for each of us, with a SQLServerCentral logo and name embroidered on each, intending to wear a different one each day. Andy and Brian were good sports, going along with me most of the time. There was a day Brian refused to wear my choice as it was a little too out there for him.

However, I did meet Euan Garden (RIP) for the first time there and he loved our chili pepper shirts. I arranged for a shirt to be made and shipped to him and I loved seeing him wearing it at a events over the next few years. I also got inspired to do an interview series, which I really enjoyed.

Thinking back on the history of this business, I’m both amazed by how it changed my life, and I can smile at so many good memories. Hopefully, you feel the same way.

Steve Jones

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