What Is a Staging Site? How Do You Set One Up In SirsteveHQ CP?

What Is a Staging Site in WordPress:

A WordPress staging site is a replica of your live website that you can use to test changes and try out plugins, themes, and any other updates before implementing them on your live site. Having a staging site can catch errors and avoid breaking your live website.

Why Use a Staging Site:

Testing updates and changes on your live website can be risky, as a small mistake can cause a significant impact. A staging site provides a safe environment where you can test and make changes without affecting your live site. Additionally, a localhost installation and a live server may have different configurations, so testing on a localhost may not give accurate results. A WordPress staging site, on the other hand, runs on the same server configuration as your live site, ensuring that the changes you make will work correctly on the live server.

How to Set Up a Staging Site in SirsteveHQ CP:

To set up a staging site, your website must be hosted on an SirsteveHQ CP WordPress platform. Here are the steps to follow:

• Login to SirsteveHQ CP
• Go to the WordPress Tools section and select Staging
• Click Create Staging Site
• The site will then be cloned onto a subdomain, e.g. staging.yourdomain.com. This may take a few minutes to complete.
• Once your site has been cloned, you can access and edit the staging site through the WordPress Admin, File Manager, or FTP. You can also edit the database through the newly created SCSTAGING database in phpMyAdmin.

Pushing Changes from Staging Site to the Live Site:

When you’re satisfied with the changes made on the staging site, you can push them to your live site. Here’s how:

• Go to the WordPress Staging icon.
• Select the checkbox next to ‘I can confirm this will overwrite my existing, live website data.’
• Click Clone into live. This may take a few minutes to complete.

Conclusion

A WordPress staging site provides a safe environment for testing and making changes to your website before implementing them on your live site. By setting up a staging site, you can avoid breaking your live site and ensure that the changes you make will work correctly on the live server. If you’re hosting your website on an optimized WordPress platform, setting up a staging site is straightforward and can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.