Q:

Development Environment - I can see changes without publishing

Still new to Sitecore..
I am making content changes in the master database (either via Rocks, or in the Content Editor), but if I refresh the page, I can see the changes without having to publish.
If I view item on "web" database, it's still showing the old content..
I've double checked my     .... entry in my config file, and it's set to use "web"... I'm sure I am missing something obvious, but some pointers would be great. 

A:

You might have the database for your website set to master. To check this go to yourBaseUrl/sitecore/admin/showconfig.aspx. After that locate your site node and check the database attribute. This should tell you the file that is setting that attribute by mentioning the patch it is coming from (patch:source). If nothing is noted then it is coming from your Sitecore.config.

