How to Create a Staging Site for WordPress: A Safe Testing Guide

Preface

Ever wished you could test new plugins, themes, or major updates on your WordPress site without the fear of breaking anything? That’s where a staging site comes in! It’s like having a risk-free playground for your website. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a staging site, so you can safely experiment and ensure your live site remains perfect. Let’s dive in and learn how to create a staging site for WordPress!

What is a WordPress Staging Site?

A WordPress staging site is essentially a clone of your live website. It resides in a separate environment, allowing you to make changes, test new features, and troubleshoot issues without affecting your public-facing site. Think of it as your website’s personal test lab.

Info: A staging site is a duplicate of your live website used for testing purposes before changes are implemented on the live site.

Why You Need a Staging Site?

1. Safe Testing Environment: The primary benefit is the safety it provides. You can test new plugins, themes, and updates without worrying about breaking your live site. If something goes wrong, it only affects the staging site.

2. Reduced Downtime: By testing changes on a staging site first, you minimize the risk of errors causing downtime on your live site. This ensures a smooth and uninterrupted user experience.

3. Experimentation: A staging site allows you to experiment with new designs, layouts, and features without any pressure. You can try out different ideas and see what works best before making anything public.

4. Client Collaboration: If you’re working with clients, a staging site provides a perfect platform to showcase changes and gather feedback before implementing them on the live site.

Methods for Creating a WordPress Staging Site

There are several ways to create a staging site for your WordPress website. Here, we’ll explore three common methods:

1. Using a WordPress Plugin
2. Using Your Web Hosting Provider
3. Manual Creation

Method 1: Using a WordPress Plugin

The easiest and most beginner-friendly way to create a staging site is by using a WordPress plugin. Several plugins are designed specifically for this purpose. Here’s how to do it using a popular option like WP Staging:

1. Install and Activate the Plugin:

   • Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
   • Go to Plugins > Add New.
   • Search for ‘WP Staging’ and install the plugin.
   • Activate the plugin.

   You can also use other plugins from the WordPress directory. Just search for staging plugin. Here is also a good article on how to install WordPress plugins: How to Install WordPress Plugins.

2. Create a New Staging Site:

   • In your WordPress dashboard, find ‘WP Staging’ in the left-hand menu.
   • Click on ‘Sites / Start’.
   • Click the ‘Create New Staging Site’ button.

console.log('Cloning your wordpress site with WP Staging Plugin');

3. Name and Configure the Staging Site:

   • Give your staging site a name (e.g., ‘staging’).
   • Choose whether to copy the entire website or select specific files and database tables. For a full staging environment, it’s recommended to copy everything.
   • Click ‘Start Cloning’.

4. Wait for the Process to Complete:

   • The plugin will now copy your website files and database to create the staging site. This process may take some time, depending on the size of your website.

5. Access Your Staging Site:

   • Once the cloning process is complete, the plugin will provide a link to your staging site. It usually looks something like http://staging.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com/staging.
   • Log in to your staging site using the same credentials as your live site.

Method 2: Using Your Web Hosting Provider

Many web hosting providers offer built-in staging environments as part of their hosting packages. This method is generally more reliable and faster than using a plugin. Here’s how to do it with some popular hosting providers:

HostGator

Hint: Some hosters provide a free solution. Take advantage of this and always create a staging site!

If you host your website with HostGator, you can easily create a staging environment through their cPanel.

1. Log in to cPanel:

   • Access your HostGator cPanel.

2. Find the Staging Tool:

   • Look for the staging tool—often labeled as ‘Staging’ or ‘WordPress Staging’.

3. Create the Staging Site:

   • Select the domain you want to create a staging site for.
   • Follow the prompts to create the staging environment. This usually involves choosing a subdomain or directory for the staging site.

4. Access the Staging Site:

   • Once created, you will receive a link to access your staging site.

Bluehost

Bluehost also offers a staging environment for its users.

1. Log in to Bluehost:

   • Access your Bluehost account.

2. Find the Staging Option:

   • Navigate to the ‘Sites’ section and select your website.
   • Look for the ‘Staging’ option.

3. Create the Staging Environment:

   • Click the ‘Create Staging Site’ button.
   • Bluehost will set up a staging environment for your website.

4. Access the Staging Site:

   • You will receive a link to access your staging site once it’s created.

DreamHost

DreamHost provides staging functionality through its control panel.

1. Log in to DreamHost:

   • Access your DreamHost account.

2. Find the Staging Section:

   • Go to the ‘WordPress’ section and find the ‘Staging’ option.

3. Create a Staging Site:

   • Select the domain you want to stage and create the staging environment.

4. Access the Staging Site:

   • Once the process is complete, DreamHost will provide a link to your staging site.

Info: Check your hosting provider’s documentation for specific instructions on how to create a staging site.

Method 3: Manual Creation

Creating a staging site manually is more technical but gives you the most control. This method involves creating a subdomain, copying files, and duplicating the database.

1. Create a Subdomain:

   • Log in to your hosting account’s cPanel or control panel.
   • Go to ‘Domains’ and create a new subdomain (e.g., staging.yourdomain.com).

2. Copy Website Files:

   • Use an FTP client (like FileZilla) or the cPanel file manager to copy all files from your live website’s root directory to the new subdomain directory.

3. Duplicate the Database:

   • In cPanel, go to ‘phpMyAdmin’.
   • Select your WordPress database.
   • Export the database as an SQL file.

-- Database dump of your live site will follow here

*   Create a new database for the staging site.
*   Import the SQL file into the new database.

4. Update the wp-config.php File:
   • Edit the wp-config.php file in the staging site’s directory.
   • Update the database name, username, and password to match the new staging database.

// ** Database settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //
/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define( 'DB_NAME', 'staging_database' );

/** Database username */
define( 'DB_USER', 'staging_user' );

/** Database password */
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'staging_password' );

5. Change the Site URL:
   • Log in to your staging site’s WordPress dashboard.
   • Go to Settings > General.
   • Update the ‘WordPress Address (URL)’ and ‘Site Address (URL)’ to the staging site’s URL (e.g., http://staging.yourdomain.com).

Info: Be extra careful when performing manual duplication of WordPress pages, as you can break things more easily!

Best Practices for Using a WordPress Staging Site

1. Regularly Update Your Staging Site:

   • Keep your staging site synchronized with your live site. Regularly update the staging site with the latest content and database changes from the live site to ensure accurate testing.

2. Test Thoroughly:

   • Before implementing any changes on your live site, thoroughly test them on the staging site. Check for compatibility issues, broken links, and any other errors.

3. Backup Before Making Changes:

   • Even on a staging site, it’s good practice to create backups before making significant changes. This provides an extra layer of security in case something goes wrong.

4. Use a Robots.txt File:

   • To prevent search engines from indexing your staging site, use a robots.txt file to disallow crawling. This ensures that your staging site doesn’t compete with your live site in search results.

   • Create a robots.txt file in the root directory of your staging site with the following content:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

5. Secure Your Staging Site:
   • Password-protect your staging site to prevent unauthorized access. You can do this through your hosting provider’s control panel or by using a WordPress plugin.

Pushing Changes from Staging to Live

Once you’ve thoroughly tested your changes on the staging site, you’ll want to push them to your live site. Here are a few methods to do this:

Using a Plugin

Some staging plugins offer a feature to push changes directly to the live site. This is often the simplest method.

1. Backup Your Live Site:

   • Before pushing any changes, create a full backup of your live site. This ensures you can restore your site if something goes wrong during the deployment process.

2. Use the Plugin to Push Changes:

   • Follow the plugin’s instructions to push the changes from the staging site to the live site. This usually involves selecting the changes you want to deploy and initiating the process.

Manual Deployment

If you created the staging site manually, you’ll need to manually deploy the changes as well.

1. Backup Your Live Site:

   • As always, start by backing up your live site.

2. Copy Files:

   • Use an FTP client or the cPanel file manager to copy the updated files from the staging site to the live site.

3. Update the Database:

   • Export the database from the staging site.
   • Import the database into the live site.

Hint: Always backup your data before you migrate from staging to your production environment to prevent data loss!

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

1. Staging Site Not Accessible:

   • Problem: You can’t access your staging site after creating it.
   • Solution: Check your DNS settings to ensure the subdomain is correctly pointed to the staging directory. Also, verify that the wp-config.php file has the correct database credentials.

2. Broken Links and Images:

   • Problem: Links and images are broken on the staging site.
   • Solution: Use a plugin like ‘Better Search Replace’ to update the URLs in the database to match the staging site’s URL.

3. Search Engines Indexing the Staging Site:

   • Problem: Search engines are indexing the staging site, which can negatively impact your SEO.
   • Solution: Ensure you have a robots.txt file in place to disallow crawling. Additionally, password-protect the staging site.

4. Conflicts After Pushing Changes:

   • Problem: After pushing changes to the live site, you encounter conflicts or errors.
   • Solution: Restore your live site from the backup you created before pushing the changes. Then, carefully review the changes you made on the staging site and try again, addressing any potential conflicts.

Staging Sites and SEO

Hint: If search engines can index our staging website you loose SEO power!

Staging sites are invaluable tools for website maintenance, but they can pose SEO risks if not handled correctly. Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Prevent Indexing: As mentioned earlier, always use a robots.txt file to prevent search engines from indexing your staging site. This is crucial to avoid duplicate content issues, which can harm your search engine rankings. Learn more about SEO and improving your website for Google in this guide: How to Optimize Your Website for SEO: A Quickstart Guide for WordPress.
• Canonical Tags: Ensure that your staging site does not use canonical tags that point to the live site. This can confuse search engines and lead to indexing problems.
• Noindex Meta Tags: Add a ‘noindex’ meta tag to the <head> section of your staging site pages to further discourage search engines from indexing them.

Conclusion

Creating a staging site for your WordPress website is a smart move for anyone who wants to make changes safely and efficiently. Whether you choose to use a plugin, take advantage of your hosting provider’s features, or create one manually, the benefits are clear: reduced risk, minimized downtime, and a playground for experimentation. So go ahead, set up your staging site, and start testing with confidence! And don’t forget, you can find more valuable resources to help you start making websites today at STARTMAKINGWEBSITES!