How to Create and Use a WordPress Staging Site to Safely Test Updates

WPEngine’s admin area makes it easy to copy and deploy your staging and live sites – it is done with the push of a button.

The downside is that these hosting plans are more pricey than typical cheap shared hosting, running between $20-$30+ a month. However, having a dedicated WordPress host with features that can really help you manage your site better is a major plus for many businesses.

Pros and Cons of 1-Click Staging

Pros:

• Quick and seamless cloning of your live site to a staging site.

• Ability to create and destroy staging sites easily.

• Hosting environments mirror your live server, minimizing issues.

• The easiest way to push changes to your live site.

Cons:

• These hosting plans are more expensive than typical shared hosting, costing between $20-$30+ a month.

• Requires enough space in your hosting plan to accommodate multiple copies of your site. Larger websites may run out of space.

• Available only through certain WordPress-specific hosts.

The Plugin Solution: WPStaging

Not everyone has the ability to change hosts or to pick a host that offers built-in 1-click staging. Another option is to use a plugin to create a staging version directly in your existing WordPress install.

WPStaging is a staging plugin that allows you to create a staging or development environment within your existing live site, right there on your same hosting account. Basically it’s setting up a subdirectory install for you, which is really nice since doing that manually can be complicated.

The WPStaging plugin is available in both free and Pro versions. As expected, the Pro version offers far more functionality and is a pretty cheap investment considering the cost of hiring an hourly developer to fix a broken site.

This plugin clones your site into a subfolder or subdomain for staging via cPanel or similar. You then make changes, updates, etc, and push Staging to overwrite Live. It’s an ambitious project being managed by a single person, and has a lot of features that are very impressive and useful for managing a Staging site.

There are some limitations and drawbacks, however – the ability to push your Staging to Live only exists in the Pro version. If you have an altered version of WordPress (this is an advanced topic and doesn’t apply to typical users) you may find some conflicts. The developer is active in the support forums though, which is a good sign that they are putting effort and time into creating a very useful tool. It’s definitely worth reviewing as an alternative to a host-based staging environment.

Pros and Cons of Plugin Solutions

Pros:

• Easy to install and use for beginners.

• Allows you to create a staging site on your existing hosting account.

• The Pro version of WPStaging includes powerful features, such as direct deployment to Live.

Cons:

• Some functionality, like pushing staging to live, is locked behind the Pro version.

• Limited to your hosting environment and any constraints of your server.

The Local WordPress Site Solution

In the development world, “local” means the site is running on your own computer – not your web host. To do this, you need to install programs on your computer to make your computer function like a server.

It’s standard these days for developers to build websites locally – it runs super fast since you’re not waiting for communication with a remote host every time you change something. However, anyone can use a local site as a duplicate of their live site to test things like a new theme or plugin, for example. There are even a few WordPress-specific solutions that make running a local install super simple for non-developers.

Building a staging site locally also means you are virtually unlimited in how many staging sites you can have. Interested in trying out a membership site? Or a site that is purely a blog? Maybe you are feeling confident in your WordPress powers and want to build a blog for a colleague. You can do this locally, and then push it up to any hosting account when it’s ready.

Local by hosting company Flywheel offers local hosting, but adds on extra developer tools like mirroring live your environment with Apache or Nginx. It also lets you share your local site so others can look at it, or you can test it on other devices. This is great for development reviews, but also comes in handy if you’re just using it as a staging site for testing a new theme – get colleague reviews of it before it goes live!

Local also provides many more options for customizing your development environment and is actively in development to continually add new features all the time. Check out this review of Local by Flywheel over at the WPExplorer blog.

Pros and Cons of Building a Staging Site Locally

Pros:

• Runs very fast since it doesn’t rely on remote hosting.

• You control your entire environment.

• Unlimited WordPress websites, allowing you to do anything you want with them.

• WordPress-specific solutions are super quick to install, and allow you to create a fully functioning WordPress site in minutes, or import an existing site.

Cons:

• Getting your staging site to your live site can be difficult. Some offer a direct deployment feature, but it doesn’t work with all hosts. You can export to archive, then import the archive to your live site using a plugin and export, but it’s a bit clunky when you need to do this for every update.

• As it’s running on your local computer, it’s not fully mirroring your live server. All hosting setups are different, and something that works fine on your local site could break or function differently on Live because of these nuances.

• Some computers have restrictions in place that do not allow you to install a server for running your site locally. You will need to have admin access on your computer for it to run.

Staging Sites Aren’t Just for Updates

Many website owners are hesitant to install new plugins or themes—or even run updates—because they don’t want visitors to see changes in progress on their live site. But with a staging site, there’s no need to worry. If you’re curious about experimenting with a new theme or plugin, your staging site is the perfect place to do so. You can add the new theme, configure it, and take it for a real-world test drive, all without affecting your live site. You can even invite others to check it out and give feedback.

The same goes for new features and plugins—vetting them in a staging environment safeguards your live site and lets you work out any kinks before going public. Once everything looks good, you can push the updated staging site live with minimal downtime.

For an extra layer of protection, make sure your WordPress site stays secured from threats before and after updates. Explore SiteLock’s WordPress security services to keep your site protected from vulnerabilities and maintain a secure online presence.