What is Staging in WordPress and How to Create a Staging Environment with Softaculous?
Introduction
A staging environment is an exact copy of your live website where you can safely test changes, updates, or new features without affecting the live site. This helps you avoid errors and ensures everything works correctly before applying changes to your real website.
Why Use a Staging Environment?
- Test new plugins, themes, or updates without risk.
- Develop and try out new features in a safe environment.
- Avoid downtime or errors on your live site.
Creating Staging with Softaculous – Step by Step
- Log in to your hosting control panel: Sign in to your web hosting panel (e.g., cPanel).
- Open Softaculous: Click on the Softaculous icon in the control panel.
- Select or install WordPress: If WordPress is already installed, select it from the "Installations" list.
- Create staging: Click the "Staging" button next to your WordPress installation.
- Enter staging details: Choose the target folder or subdomain for the staging site (e.g., staging.yourdomain.com).
- Create: Click "Create Staging" to generate the copy.
Test Changes and Perform "Push to Live"
After testing your changes in the staging environment, you can push the updates to your live site:
- Open Softaculous: Go back to Softaculous and select your staging installation.
- Select "Push to Live": Click the "Push to Live" button.
- Confirm: Review the settings and confirm the process.
- Done: Softaculous copies the staging site to the live domain, overwriting the existing website.
Important Notes
- Always create a backup of your live site before performing "Push to Live".
- Notify your users as there might be brief downtime during the process.
- Staging is ideal for developers, agencies, and anyone who wants to work risk-free.
