Creating a Managed WordPress staging site

The staging site feature creates a copy of your existing site on a new site. The staging site will start with staging.example.com. The staging site is independent; changes made to one won't affect the other.

Push to live should only be used if no existing site is available. i.e., a first-time site build. Changes should be made separately on the main website if it's an update or adds a new element. This practice can help prevent unintended updates to other site elements, which may break websites.

• Data copied over to the staging site
• Create a staging site with Managed WordPress
  • Pushing a staging site to live

Data brought over to the staging site

The following site data is copied to your staging site:

• Configurations, API keys, and the database are connected.
• Posts
• Pages
• Themes
• Plugins
• Uploads
• Users

Create a staging site with Managed WordPress

WordPress staging can clone your live website for testing and development. 

1. Log in to the client area.
2. Select services.
   
3. Press Active to enter your service.
   Note: SSL provisioning may take up to 24 hours.
   
4. Choose WordPress Management.
   
5. Click the → icon to bring up the staging site fields.
   
6. Enter the staging fields and hit Confirm.
   

   Staging fields	Function
   Protocol	The site encryption protocol.
   Domain	The domain name.
   Directory	Where the staging site exists.
   Database	The name of the staging site database to be created.

   
7. Allow a few minutes for the staging site to be created. When successfully created, you will see the staging installation.
   

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Pushing a staging site to live

The Exact Hosting managed WordPress platform provides tools to manage your staging site. This includes editing and pushing those edits to the live version of the site.

1. Log in to the client area.
2. Select services.
   
3. Press Active to enter your service.
   Note: SSL provisioning may take up to 24 hours.
   
4. Choose WordPress Management.
   
5. The staging site installation will have the same management tools as your live site.
   

   WordPress installation tools	Function
   Clear cache	It clears the cache of your installation, which is helpful when making changes on your site.
   Clone	This tool allows you to clone the WordPress installation from one location to any other domain. Enter a domain, set the relative directory for the new installation, and type in the new name of the database to be created for the installation.
   Push to live	Pushes the staging site to the live site.

   
   
   
6. Upon pushing the staging site to live, you must hit Confirm.
   Important: All the files for your live installation will be replaced with the ones for the staging installation. The live database will be erased and imported from your staging installation.
   

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