The staging site feature creates a working copy of your live WordPress site at staging.example.com so you can test changes safely. The staging site is independent — edits made on staging do not affect your live site until you choose to push them.
About Managed WordPress staging
Staging sites are part of Managed WordPress on Exact Hosting. They give you a sandbox to test plugin updates, theme changes, or new content without risking your live site.
The Push to live action replaces your live files and database with the staging copy. For ongoing sites, make changes directly on the live site or on a staging copy created from a recent backup — pushing an older staging site to live can overwrite recent updates.
Note: Push to live is best used for first-time site builds. For existing sites, make incremental updates to the live site whenever possible to avoid overwriting recent changes.
What data is copied to staging
When you create a staging site, the following data is cloned from your live site:
- Configurations, API keys, and the connected database
- Posts
- Pages
- Themes
- Plugins
- Uploads
- Users
Before you begin
- An active Managed WordPress service. Staging is available only on Managed WordPress plans.
- A completed SSL provisioning. SSL provisioning may take up to 24 hours after a new service is activated.
Step 1: Open your Managed WordPress service
- Log in to the Exact Hosting client area.
- Select Services.
- Click Active next to your Managed WordPress service.
- Choose WordPress Management.
Step 2: Create the staging site
- Click the arrow (→) icon to open the staging site fields.
- Fill in the staging fields and click Confirm:
Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
Protocol | The site encryption protocol (HTTP or HTTPS). |
Domain | The domain name for the staging site. |
Directory | The directory where the staging site will be created. |
Database | The name of the new database to be created for staging. |
Allow a few minutes for the staging site to be created. When it is ready, the staging installation appears in your WordPress Management area.
Step 3: Manage your staging site
The staging installation has the same management tools as your live site:
Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
Clear cache | Clears the cache for the staging installation. Useful after making changes. |
Clone | Clones the WordPress installation to a new domain or directory. You set the destination domain, directory, and database name. |
Push to live | Replaces the live site files and database with the staging copy. |
Step 4: Push staging to live
- From the staging installation, click Push to live.
- Click Confirm to start the push.
Warning: All files for your live installation are replaced with the staging files. The live database is erased and re-imported from the staging database. This action cannot be undone — back up your live site first if you need to keep its current state.
Next steps
- Back up your site regularly. See WordPress manual backup (Softaculous).
- Keep plugins and themes up to date. Use staging to test updates first — see Updating WordPress plugins and Updating WordPress themes.
Questions? Contact Exact Hosting Support.
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