The cPanel WP Toolkit Staging feature is a powerful tool for WordPress users who want to make changes to their website but want to avoid breaking the live site. With this feature, users can create a separate, isolated environment for testing and development and quickly push changes to the live site when they are ready.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use cPanel WP Toolkit Staging:
Log in to cPanel: The first step to using WP Toolkit Staging is to log in to your cPanel account. You can access your cPanel account through yourdomain.com:2083.
Launch WP Toolkit: Once you are logged in to cPanel, look for the "Domains" section and click on the "WordPress Toolkit" icon. This will launch the WP Toolkit interface.
Select Your Site: The WP Toolkit will display a list of all the WordPress sites hosted on your cPanel account. Choose the site you want to create a staging site.
Create the Staging Site: After selecting your site, click "Clone" to create a staging site.
Choose the Staging URL and click the Start button.
You will see a status bar showing the creation process's progress. Depending on the size of your site, this process may take a few minutes to complete.
Access Staging Site: Once the staging site has been created, you will see it in your WordPress installations. Click on the Open link to view the staging site in a new tab. You will notice that the URL of the staging site is different from the URL of the live site. This is because the staging site is a separate, isolated environment.
Update Staging Site: Over time, you may make changes to the live site that you want to test on the staging site. To keep the staging site up-to-date with the live site, click the "Copy Data" link in the WP Toolkit under the live site section.
Set the staging site as the Target and click the Start button. This will synchronize the latest changes made to the live site with the staging site, so that you can test the changes on the staging site before pushing them to the live site.
Test Changes on Staging Site: Now that you have a fully updated staging site, you can make changes and test them. For example, you can test the latest version of a plugin or theme or try out some customizations. Since the staging site is separate from the live site, you can make changes without affecting the live site.
Push Changes to Live Site: Once you are satisfied with the changes you have made on the staging site, you can push them to the live site. To do this, click the "Copy Data" link under the staging site section in the WP Toolkit. This will transfer all the changes you made on the staging site to the live site.
Back up Your Live Site: Before pushing changes to the live site, it is a good idea to back up the live site in case something goes wrong. This will allow you to quickly restore the live site to its previous state if necessary.
The cPanel WP Toolkit Staging feature is valuable for WordPress users who want to change their websites in a safe and controlled environment. By following these steps, you can create a staging site, test changes on it, and then push them to the live site confidently.