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What You’ll Learn

  • Installing the Staging Extension and WP Staging plugin
  • Creating staging sites from child sites
  • Updating and deleting staging sites
  • Running updates on staging sites first
  • Publishing staging changes through WP Staging Pro
Integration Add-on - This add-on requires WP Staging Free or Pro on your Child Sites. It does not provide a push-to-production action.
Staging Sites are sites that duplicate your Production Sites (same hardware, same software, same settings) so that any change can be tested and evaluated before being placed into production. In other words, it’s a complete but independent copy of your production site, including the database. The MainWP Staging Extension allows you to create and manage staging sites without hassle. The MainWP Staging Extension integrates with WP Staging Free and WP Staging Pro for creating, updating, and deleting staging sites. Publishing staging changes to production is handled separately through WP Staging; see Push Staging Changes to Production.

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How it works

Once you trigger the process of creating a staging site, the WP Staging plugin will duplicate all site files and copy them to a subdirectory. All database tables will be duplicated, but the prefix will be changed. Once this process is done, the necessary data will be updated in the wp-config.php file in the staging site. Within a couple of seconds, you will have a replica of your child site where you can test updates. After creating a staging site, MainWP adds the new staging URL to your MainWP Dashboard as a staging site and places it in the Staging Sites tag when that tag exists. MainWP Staging Extension is extensively tested by the MainWP team. If you find any issues, please contact MainWP Support.

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Install and Set the MainWP Staging Extension

Installation of the MainWP Staging Extension requires two important steps:
  • Installing the Extension itself on your MainWP Dashboard site
  • Installing WP Staging Free or Pro on Child Sites

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Installing the Extension

The MainWP Staging Extension needs to be installed only on your MainWP Dashboard site. You can install it as any other MainWP add-on.

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Installing the Plugin

Install and activate WP Staging Free or Pro on your production Child Sites. Both editions are recognized by the MainWP Staging Add-on. The plugin-search instructions below install WP Staging Free from WordPress.org. For Pro, use the separate ZIP package from your WP STAGING account and follow the WP Staging Pro installation guide.

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Install from MainWP Dashboard

1

Login to your MainWP Dashboard

2

Go to the MainWP > Sites > Plugins > Install Plugins page

3

In the Search field, enter the plugin name (WP Staging)

4

Press enter on your keyboard

5

After the search results appear, locate the plugin

6

Select the Install this Plugin option

7

Select your child sites

Select your child sites
8

In the Installation Options box, make sure that the Activate after installation option is selected.

In the Installation Options box, make sure that the Activate after installation option is selected.
9

Click the Button to complete the installation.

10

Once the Installation is complete, Sync your MainWP Dashboard

For additional help with installing WordPress plugins from the MainWP Dashboard, please review this help document.

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Install directly on Child Site

1

Login to your child site

2

Go to the WP > Plugins > Add New page

3

In the Search field, enter the plugin name (WP Staging)

4

After the search results appear, locate the plugin

5

Click the Install button

6

Click the Activate button

For additional help with installing WordPress plugins, please review this help document. After installing the WP Staging plugin, it is required to Synchronize your sites so your MainWP Dashboard becomes aware that the plugin has been installed and activated.

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Create Staging Site

To create a staging site for a child site,
1

Login to your MainWP Dashboard

2

Go to the MainWP > Add-ons > Administrative > Staging page

3

In the list of child sites, locate the wanted child site and click the Create Staging Site action

In the list of child sites, locate the wanted child site and click the Create Staging Site actionScreenshot showing Create Staging Site action in child sites list
4

On the Create Staging Site page, set your preferences

5

Enter the Staging Site Name

Enter the Staging Site Name
  1. Exclude/Include database tables
  2. Exclude/Include files
  3. Click the Create Staging Site buttonScreenshot of staging site creation form with database and file exclusion options

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Update a Staging Site

Updating a staging site copies the selected database tables and files from the live site to staging again. This can overwrite changes on staging; it does not publish staging changes to production. To refresh the staging copy,
1

Login to your MainWP Dashboard

2

Go to the MainWP > Add-ons > Administrative > Staging page

3

Locate the wanted child site

4

Click the Manage Staging Sites action (you will be redirected to the page where you can see your staging sites for the child site)

Click the Manage Staging Sites action (you will be redirected to the page where you can see your staging sites for the child site)
5

Locate the staging site that you want to update

6

Click the Update action link

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Push Staging Changes to Production

The MainWP Staging Add-on does not provide a push-to-production action, including when WP Staging Pro is installed. Publishing takes place in WP Staging on the production Child Site. WP Staging Free does not include the built-in push feature. To use it, install WP Staging Pro with a plan that includes Push to Live. Check WP STAGING’s current plan comparison for availability. These steps apply to a staging copy listed in WP Staging on the production site. Create and verify a fresh production backup before starting.
1

Open the production site's WordPress admin

You can also go to MainWP > Add-ons > Administrative > Staging (/wp-admin/admin.php?page=Extensions-Mainwp-Staging-Extension) and choose Go to WP Staging from the production site’s action menu.
2

Select the staging copy in WP Staging

Open WP STAGING > Start / STAGING, locate the staging copy, and select Push Changes.
3

Review what will be published

Choose the files and database tables to copy. Selected tables replace their production counterparts, so protect any newer live orders, comments, or other content.
4

Start the push and verify production

Confirm the selection, start the push, and check the live site when it finishes. Follow WP STAGING’s illustrated push guide for the full procedure.
If the staging copy is on a separate server or was created with another tool, the standard push workflow may not apply. Review WP STAGING’s migration guidance for that setup. Connecting both sites to MainWP does not create a publishing connection between them.

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Delete a Staging Site

To delete a staging site,
1

Login to your MainWP Dashboard

2

Go to the MainWP > Add-ons > Administrative > Staging page

3

Locate the wanted child site

4

Click the Manage Staging Sites action (you will be redirected to the page where you can see your staging sites for the child site)

Click the Manage Staging Sites action (you will be redirected to the page where you can see your staging sites for the child site)
5

Locate the staging site that you want to delete

6

Click the Delete action link

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Run Updates on Staging Sites

To run updates on your child sites,
1

Login to your MainWP Dashboard

2

Go to the MainWP > Sites > Updates page

Go to the MainWP > Sites > Updates page
3

Select Staging sites

After selecting Staging sites, updates will be performed only on staging sites. After you verify that everything is ok on the staging sites, you can run updates on your production sites.