How to Create Staging Area for Your WordPress Site
Posted on June 6th, 2022
It’s essential to create a staging when trying to change or upgrade our websites. We can create a staging website to see and test the changes and check them just before updating it on a live website. A staging data will only remain on the staging website or will not affect your live website. And it’s necessary because if you’re changing all the significant changes on a live website, it’s wrong. We should use the staging features to test out new features and changes. We can use these features as a backup whenever you update any major part or update plugins and themes.
Creating a staging for a website was a bit tricky in the past. But now, we have enough tools and plugins available that even can be used by non-technical personas. This article will learn all the important points about staging and its benefits. Then we will show you how we can create staging for a website with a step-by-step tutorial. There are some different methods available for WordPress websites, and we will use some of the methods. So, you can choose the easiest method. So, let’s discuss the Staging area and its benefits first.
What is Staging?
As we discussed, a staging website is a clone website that we can use to track and test the changes before applying them on a live website. The staging website can help check and solve the errors, and it will also help you safely use the changes instead of breaking up your website. A staging site is just a replica of your live website, but two significant differences are available. First, the staging site is not publicly accessible. And second, the changes made on the website will not affect your live website.
Here are hundreds of people who install WordPress on their local computers, which can be Windows or Mac machines. Once they complete the changes and solve all the issues regarding the changes, it’s easy to transfer the files from our localhost to the webserver space. It’s the most convenient way, but what if the changes we did work perfectly on localhost, but it may work differently on a live website. And one of the effective reasons can be the environment of both websites. WordPress on localhost and a web server are both environmental platforms for a website.
Staging allows us to test all the changes without affecting our live website, and there are hundreds of benefits to it. We can try new plugins and themes and new code snippets without generating any risk factors. Because the staging will also work on your web server environment, the new configuration is already working with the staging website.
Many Managed WordPress web hosting companies provide staging features. But, hosting accounts or hosts is not the only way to create a staging. There are more simple ways to make a staging website from WordPress dashboards. So, let’s discuss one of the best plugins to create a staging website with WordPress.
WP Staging plugin
WP Staging is a powerful WordPress staging plugin that helps you create and manage staging sites easily. WP Staging makes it easy to test changes to your site before pushing them live, and it’s also great for developing and managing WordPress sites. WP Staging is free to use, and it’s available for download from the WordPress plugin repository.
WP Staging is an excellent plugin for WordPress users who want an easy way to create and manage staging sites. With WP Staging, you can create a staging site in just a few clicks. And once you’ve completed your staging site, you can quickly push changes from your staging site to your live site. WP Staging also makes it easy to manage multiple staging sites. You can easily switch between staging sites and live sites, and you can even clone a live site to create a new staging site. WP Staging is a powerful plugin that makes it easy to manage all your WordPress sites. With WP Staging, you can easily create backups, staging areas, clones, and migrations – all with just a few clicks. WP Staging is super easy to use, thanks to its intuitive interface, even for beginners. So if you’re looking for a hassle-free way to manage your WordPress site’s staging environment, WP Staging is a perfect choice. Let’s see all the necessary features of the WP Staging plugin one by one.
Features:
- WP Staging comes with various features like Staging, Backup, Cloning, and Migration for WordPress Websites.
- The speed of this plugin is pretty fast and reliable, all the data will reside on our server space, and that could be a reason. The backup and cloning process takes less time than other plugins.
- WP staging plugin also provides Multisites support, so now you can use this plugin on main and network sites.
- Using the WP Staging plugin, we can do Backup and Clone in one click. There are dozens of features available like this. You can even select particular parts and elements of the website and create scheduled backups.
- Even WP Staging allows us multiple staging area support to operate numerous upgrades simultaneously.
- WP Staging plugin is a freemium plugin, and it has a free version with all the necessary features like backup, cloning, and staging. For extra features like Website Transfer and User Authentication. We need a pro version which comes with a one-time investment.
- WP Staging has a good support system, and they have a responsive support team based on WordPress experts.
Pricing:
As we discussed, WP Staging is also available as a premium plugin, which includes additional features and support. WP Staging personal plan is available for $94 with a lifetime plan. WP Staging developer plan includes priority support, necessary updates, and an unlimited site license. The price for the Developer plan is pretty high at $252. You also find a business plan with 3 website support between these plans. The price for a business plan is $147 for a lifetime working. WP Staging is an excellent tool for anyone who wants to make changes to their WordPress site without affecting the live site.
How to Create a Staging site using the WP Staging plugin
One of the easiest ways to get after a web host is a plugin. We have a WP staging plugin that we can easily install on the WordPress website. And in a couple of clicks, we can create a staging website. So, follow the tutorial to install and use the WP Staging plugin.
Step 1: Go to the WordPress dashboard using your username and password. Then hover your cursor on the Plugins tab and click on the Add New option, as you can see in the image below.
Step 2: Now, click on the search bar and search for WP Staging. Then find the right plugin and click Install Now button.
Step 3: After installing the plugin, click on the Activate button to activate the plugin, as you can see in the image below.
Step 4: To use WP Staging and Create a site Staging. Click on the WP staging option available in the tab section, as you can see in the image below.
Step 5: Click on the CREATE NEW STAGING SITE button on the staging tab, as you can see in the image below.
Step 6: Now, enter the staging site name and click on the Start Cloning button, as you can see in the image below.
Step 7: WP Staging has started cloning the website, as shown in the image below.
Step 8: After successful cloning, click on the Open Staging Site button, as you can see in the image below.
Step 9: You will redirect to the Staging Site Login page as below image. Enter the same username and password as your current website.
Step 10: Then, click on the Login button to access the Staging site, as shown in the below image.
Step 11: In the below image, we just enabled our Staging site, and now we can access all the functions the same as a regular WordPress website. The staging website created with the WP Staging plugin always contains a different header color, as shown in the image below.
Now, here on the staging website, you can easily change the themes and apply new changes you recommend on your live website. So, after making all the necessary changes, we have to update our current website with staging. So, let’s see how we can do that.
How to Update Staging Site with Live Website using WP Staging plugin
Step 1: Go to the WordPress website’s admin area dashboard using your username and password. Then click on the WP Staging option from the left-side tab section, as you can see in the image below.
Step 2: On the next screen, you can see a list of all the staging or clone sites of your current live website.
Step 3: Click on the Actions button to see all the options, as shown in the image below.
Step 4: After that, you can see some options like Update, Open and Delete the staging data. Click on the update option, which will allow us to update your current live website with staging.
Step 5: Select all the necessary options available as Database and Files. Click on them to see the list as well as you can also click on the checkbox for Clean plugins or uploads. These options will help you to remove all the unnecessary files and extensions.
Step 6: Lastly, click on the Update Clone button to update the current website with all its staging changes.
Conclusion
WP Staging is an excellent plugin that can help you save time and headaches when staging your WordPress website. It’s easy to use and can be set up in minutes, making it the perfect solution for those who want to test updates or new plugins before pushing them live. We hope you found this review helpful and will consider using WP Staging on your next project! Have you tried out WP staging yet? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
Please provide an example that does not require paying for it. WP Staging is great, but the free version is not at all good
If you’re looking for a free alternative to WP Staging, you can use the “Duplicator” plugin. Duplicator is a popular WordPress plugin that allows you to create a full copy of your website, including the database, files, plugins, and themes. It’s useful for creating staging sites, migrating your website to a new host, or making backups.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use the Duplicator plugin:
1. Install and activate the Duplicator plugin:
– Go to your WordPress dashboard.
– Navigate to “Plugins” > “Add New.”
– Search for “Duplicator” and install the plugin developed by “Snap Creek.”
2. Create a Duplicator package:
– After activating the plugin, you’ll find “Duplicator” in the WordPress sidebar.
– Click on “Packages” and then “Create New.”
– Follow the on-screen instructions to build a package. This will bundle your entire website, including the database and all files, into a single ZIP archive.
3. Download the package:
– Once the package is created, you’ll get two files: the installer and the archive (ZIP file). Download both of them to your local computer.
4. Set up a new environment (staging site):
– You’ll need a new environment (staging site) where you want to replicate your website. This can be a subdomain or a separate folder on your hosting account.
5. Upload the files to the new environment:
– Access the staging site via FTP or cPanel File Manager.
– Upload both the installer.php file and the ZIP archive to the root directory of your staging site.
6. Run the installer:
– Open a web browser and visit the URL of your staging site followed by “installer.php” (e.g., http://staging.yourdomain.com/installer.php).
– Follow the on-screen instructions provided by the Duplicator installer. It will ask for the database details of your staging site and guide you through the setup process.
7. Test the staging site:
– Once the installer completes, you should have an exact copy of your live site on the staging environment.
– Check the staging site thoroughly to ensure everything works as expected before making any changes on your live website.
Please note that while Duplicator is a reliable plugin, it’s always a good practice to back up your site and database before making any major changes. Additionally, the migration process may vary slightly depending on your hosting environment and server settings. Always exercise caution when working with your website’s files and databases.