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Staging

The WordPress Hosting staging environment lets you test changes safely before pushing them to your live production site. Create a separate copy of your website where you can experiment, make updates, and verify everything works correctly—all without affecting your live site or visitors.

What is Staging?​

A staging environment is a separate copy of your website where you can:

  • Test plugin and theme updates
  • Make major content changes
  • Experiment with new features
  • Debug issues safely
  • Preview changes before going live

Once you're satisfied with your changes in staging, you can push them to production with minimal downtime.

Availability​

WordPress Hosting Pro: Staging environments are available for all Pro accounts.

WordPress Hosting Standard: Staging is not available. Standard accounts edit production sites directly.

Key Features​

Push to Production​

After testing your changes in staging, you can push them to your live site with a single click. The push process minimizes downtime and ensures your changes go live smoothly.

tip

Use the "Preserve the Staging files" option if you want to keep your staging environment intact after pushing to production. Otherwise, staging files will be deleted after the push.

Reset Options​

You have three flexible ways to reset your staging environment:

  1. Reset to Live Site - Creates an exact copy of your current production site
  2. Reset from Backup - Restore staging from any backup in your backup list
  3. Reset from Template - Start fresh with a new template selection

Import to Staging​

You can import backups (including All-in-One WP Migration backups) directly into your staging environment, making it easy to test changes from different points in your site's history.

How It Works​

  1. Create a staging environment from your WordPress Hosting Pro dashboard
  2. Make your changes in the staging environment—test plugins, update content, modify themes
  3. Test thoroughly to ensure everything works as expected
  4. Push to production when you're ready to go live

Staging URL​

Your staging site has its own unique URL, separate from your production domain. This allows you to:

  • View and test changes without affecting your live site
  • Share the staging URL with team members or clients for review
  • Work on updates without visitor interruption

Best Practices​

  • Create a staging environment before making major updates or changes
  • Test thoroughly in staging before pushing to production
  • Use staging for debugging - enable WP_DEBUG to see errors and warnings inline
  • Preserve staging files if you need to continue working after pushing to production
  • Reset staging regularly to keep it in sync with your production site

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)​

Will search engines index my staging site?

By default, staging environments are usually set to "discourage search engines from indexing this site" in WordPress settings, or protected via a separate URL structure, to prevent duplicate content issues.

Does the staging site have its own URL?

Yes. The staging build will have a unique URL so you can view and share it without affecting your primary domain.

Why is my staging site taking a long time to create?

Staging creation time depends on more than just the site's file size—it also depends on how large and complex the site's database is.

Examples:

  • A 4.5 GB eCommerce site with 10,000+ products will take significantly longer than a 4.5 GB brochure site with 5 pages and large media files.
  • This is because staging involves copying both the file system and performing database writes, which can be slow for content-heavy or highly dynamic sites.

If your staging site is taking longer than expected, give it additional time or reach out to support if it's stalled for an extended period.

Does WordPress Hosting Pro block SEO bots from crawling temporary URLs?

Yes. WordPress Hosting Pro automatically restricts SEO bots from indexing temporary URLs (e.g. sitename.websitepro.hosting).

Why this matters:

  • Prevents premature indexing of incomplete or placeholder content
  • Protects your SEO reputation
  • Avoids duplicate content penalties from search engines

Best practice:
Connect your custom domain before launching your site or beginning any SEO efforts. Only custom domains allow full indexing and visibility by search engine bots.

Temporary URLs are not intended for public visibility or long-term use. SEO bots are blocked by design until a custom domain is in place.