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Ultimate Guide to WP-Staging

Websites today are increasingly complex in design. Because of the volume of code and the numerous technologies packed into a single website, an apparently simple change in code can cause an unpredictable outcome in the performance of the site. Making code revisions or other changes directly to a live website creates unacceptable risk, especially when downtime can result in loss of revenue to an Ecommerce enterprise. For this primary reason, a modern website is first developed on a staging site. Then, after testing shows that no new bugs arose from code changes, the staging site is deployed to the live site, also called “production.” WP-Staging is a plugin for WordPress sites which greatly facilitates and simplifies the creation and operation of a staging environment for WordPress sites. 

Benefits of Staging WordPress Sites

Why use a staging environment? Even a modest WordPress site often contains half a million lines of code in PHP, MySQL, jQuery, Angular, React, and much more. The backbone of WordPress sites also contains all the code libraries of the WordPress Codex, a vast resource of functions. The number of potential bugs and performance issues which can arise from a seemingly simple code revision is unlimited and represents an extraordinary risk to production of Ecommerce enterprise. WP-Staging empowers us to sandbox development risk by first revising code on a WordPress staging site. Then, only after QA has tested and verified the new version as bug-free, WP-Staging automates deployment of the new version to live production. The benefits of WP-Staging are truly persuasive:

  • Automatic cloning of existing site to staging site environment
  • Translation of live site paths to staging site paths in code
  • Detection of files which have changed
  • Automatic deployment of new app version to live site
  • Automatic rollback to previous version of code
  • Authentication provides security on staging site

How to Use WP-Staging

The first step in setting up a staging site is to clone the live or production site. In this step, WP-Staging creates a replica of your website on your server in a new location which you designate. In the setup stage, you can choose to copy the production MySQL database and include or exclude tables as required. Or, you can use the live version of your MySQL db with the staging site. As WP-Staging copies files according to your settings, it automatically revises paths in code files to point correctly to the new locations. Cloning is very fast and does not affect the performance of the live site while in progress. Several important options which you can configure for cloning include:

  • Duplicate the MySQL database for use with staging
  • Optionally use live site version of MySQL
  • Exclude specified tables in your MySQL database
  • Designate specific user access and roles

Intuitive Features of WP-Staging 

WP-Staging is a WordPress plug-in which accomoplishes an amazing set of tasks. One of the great developer-oriented features, WP-Staging color codes the new staging site WordPress dashboard to quickly and obviously distinguish it from the production site Admin dashboard. When you first sign in to the staging site and the new Admin Dashboard is bright orange, you know right away this is the staging admin panel, and there is no way to accidentally make design changes to the production site. That’s just one of many awesome intuitive features of WP-Staging.is a WordPress plug-in which accomoplishes an amazing set of tasks.

Another important feature is the automation of tedious tasks. Many WordPress users choose WordPress content management system (CMS) because it reduces the technical overhead significantly. WP-Staging amplifies this by automating many of the complex tasks of manually creating a staging site.

WP-Staging is an ALL-In-One Solution

WP-Staging features both a free version and a paid version. Only the basic function of cloning a website for the purpose of creating a staging site is provided in the free version. All the more advanced features such as migrating a site to multiple domains, and pushing an entire site to production, require the paid version. The pro version is very affordable and under €100 at the time of writing.

The daily workflow of coding changes to a WordPress site is significantly more efficient when using WP-Staging to roll out new versions of your site. WP-Staging eliminates the risk of doing so, while providing a convenient method to roll back to previous versions when needed. Using WP-Staging is very much like having a continuous integration – continuous delivery (CI/CD) engineer on staff for the low cost of a Wp plugin. WP-Staging is a great all-in-one solution for companies in need of low overhead technology and developer solutions!

References

Image captures:

https://athemes.com/tutorials/how-to-setup-a-wordpress-staging-site/

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How to use WPStageCoach.com for WordPress

Introduction

WP Stagecoach, just from its name, offers WordPress users the ability to place their WordPress websites on wpstagecaoch.com to preview and fix all needed changes before importing it to their live sites. Therefore, in this piece, you will learn how to use the WP Stagecoach plugin for your WordPress website.

What does Staging mean in Web Development?

Staging is cloning a website that is independent of a live site that visitors can see. The staging website looks just like the live website but offers you safety as it is placed in a staging area while you are working on it.

Why use a Staging Environment?

  1. It allows you to modify your website without affecting your live site. So, no downtime and your audience can keep accessing your website while making those changes in maintenance mode.
  2. SEO ranking is not affected while trying new changes and settings to your site since search engines won’t be able to index your staging website.
  3. You are also able to run tests on your site before going live.
  4. You can redesign or revamp any website with a staging site easily.

Development and Maintenance

Whether the website is in the development phase or the Live phase, WP Stagecoach offers you limitless features to carry out any routine check you need to your website.

WP Stagecoach is a one-click WordPress staging solution known to work on every web host and doesn’t overwrite your database during import. You can troubleshoot for days during the maintenance while e-commerce and other plugins take orders or registrations. This unique WordPress staging plugin uses a ‘database merge’ feature—not an overwrite feature—to ‘push’ your updates live in one click, and you never lose your data or re-do your work again!

How to Create a Staging Site with WPStagecoach.com

Sign up for a WP Stagecoach account:

After completing your purchase, the next thing to do is download the WP Stagecoach plugin, either from your Account page or from the link sent to you in your purchase confirmation email.

Download the Plugin and Install:

Visit Plugins –> Add New, click on Upload Plugin. Locate your copy of WP Stagecoach, then click ‘Install Now.‘ After installing the plugin, click ‘Activate Plugin.

Enter your License Key: 

In your dashboard menu, click on WP Stagecoach in your dashboard menu. Fill your username (the one you chose when you signed up for WP Stagecoach) and API key. The API key can be found in your purchase confirmation email or on your Account page.

Creating the Staging Site:

To create a staging site, click on WP Stagecoachin your dashboard menu. Click Ride the Stagecoach! If you want, you can adjust some options before you create your staging site: After you click Ride the Stagecoach, the WP Stagecoach will go through a series of steps to develop it.

Editing the Staging Site: 

Once the staging site is done, a URL would be generated for you, where you can view your site. You can sign in to your staging site’s WordPress dashboard using the same username and password currently used on your live website. It is possible to also connect to your staging site via FTP or SFTP using the credentials displayed on the WP Stagecoach page.

Use this duplicate of your site for testing your changes: Install your plugin customization, theme changes, WordPress core update or plugin update on this site. Your live site stays unaffected. Visit all relevant pages and flows like user registration and check if everything is ok. We at Testup can help you doing this automatically. If yes, you can proceed. If no, you have plenty of time to solve the issue since your live site stays untouched.

Importing Changes Back to Live Website: 

Go to WP Stagecoach –> Import Changes. Click on Check for changes to see what changes have been made on your staging site. When completed, you can choose from three different kinds of import; One-click, Advanced, and Manual.

Cleaning Up and Deleting your Staging Site:

Once the import is finished, check your live site to make sure that the changes are imported. The moment that is confirmed, you have two options; Clean up and delete staging site OR Clean up options, which are quite straightforward.

Conclusion

WP Stagecoach offers you great user-friendly features to successfully stage any WordPress website, and more so, it is very compatible with all hosts.