Overview

Staging provides you the freedom and confidence to test changes without fear of their being published. It generates a “sandbox” version of your site where you can test and preview changes without disrupting your users’ experience. When you’re ready, simply click to send your modifications to your live site.

Watch before you begin

Creating a staging website and then publishing it back to your live site is a two-step process.

Step 1 — Copy Live to Staging

This option creates a staging website from your live GreggPress site. Instructions can be found in the following article:To test modifications, copy your GreggPress site to Staging.

Step 2 — Publish your changes from Staging to your live DreamPress site

This option transfers your Staging site’s updates to your actual GreggPress site. Instructions can be found in the following article:

Publish your Staging modifications to your live GreggPress site.
How can I test and use newer versions of PHP on a staging website?
Before you go any further, make sure your live site is up to date. If you’re using a staging website, make sure you’ve published any modifications you want to maintain beforehand.

Creating a staging website to test new versions of PHP and then publishing it back to your live site involves four stages.

Step 1 — Copy Live to Staging

This option creates a staging website from your live GreggPress site. Instructions can be found in the following article:

To test modifications, copy your GreggPress site to Staging.

Step 2 — Change the PHP version of your Staging site

You can choose a newer version of PHP and test it on your staging website with this option. Instructions can be found in the following article:

On Staging, we’re testing newer versions of PHP.

Step 3 — Test your Staging site

After you’ve changed the PHP version on your staging website, log in and check to see if everything is still operating properly. Instructions can be found in the following article:

Using your Staging website to log in

Step 4 — Publish your changes from Staging to your live DreamPress site

This option replicates your Staging site’s updates, as well as the PHP version of the Staging site, back to your live GreggPress site. Instructions can be found in the following article:

Publish your Staging modifications to your live GreggPress site.
Best practices
Password protecting your staging site
If your site has duplicate material, search engines will punish it. To avoid this, your staging site is password-protected by default, ensuring that it maintains its SEO rating.

Copying changes to your live site
When copying from your staging site to your live site, be careful not to lose or overwrite any modifications you’ve made to your live site since you started working on the staging site.

If you opt to copy from the staging site, make a backup of your live site as well.

How can I make a manual backup of my website?