A staging website is a clone of a live website that is used for testing and development purposes.
Considerations:
→ The staging tool is only available for WordPress websites
→ To create a staging website, the website you would like to stage must not exceed 2GB in total size
→ Creating a staging site from a WordPress website built with Oxygen Builder, Elementor, or any other WordPress builder and/or plugin that stores website components, including images, CSS, links, or any other aspect of the website in files instead of a database will result in discrepancies between the original website and the staged copy. If this happens, we advise you to consult with a WordPress website developer.
→ Staging websites are a complimentary feature and developer tool – troubleshooting errors arising from a staged WordPress website require the assistance of a WordPress website developer
The first step to create a staging website is to verify the size of the website you’d like to stage.
1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Click on the Account Usage button
3. Locate your domain name
4. On your domain name row, look under the Disk Usage column
5. Verify your Disk Usage is less than 2GB in total size
Once you’ve verified the Disk Usage is under 2GB, move to the next steps.
1. Go back to your hosting control panel main page
2. Click on the WordPress Manager button
3. Locate your WordPress installation row and click the down arrow V
4. Click the Staging button
5. On the Staging WordPress page, fill in the fields:
- Choose Installation URL (Choose Domain): Select your website from the dropdown
- Choose Installation URL (In Directory): Type in staging
- Disable Search Engine Visibility: Enabled (check the box)
- Site Name: Staging Website
The rest of the fields can remain default, here’s an example:
6. Click the Create Staging button
7. On the Congratulations, the staging was created successfully – you will see the WordPress staging administrative URL – you can use this URL to login to your staging WordPress admin dashboard (use the same login credentials as the main website). Alternatively, you can click the Return to WordPress Management button and then the Login button next to your staging website to sign in.
To convert a staging website to a live website, go to: Convert staging website to live website