How to create a staging site with WP Toolkit

This guide shows how to clone your WordPress site to a staging subdomain with WP Toolkit, test changes there, and copy them back to your live site.

Staging and cloning are part of WP Toolkit Deluxe, which comes with our WordPress plans.

Create the staging copy

1. Log in to cPanel and click WP Toolkit.
2. Find your live site and click Clone. On some versions this is under a menu with three dots.
3. Under Target, choose to create a new subdomain. The suggested name is usually staging, giving you staging.yourdomain.co.uk. You can change it.
4. Leave the database name as suggested unless you have a reason to change it.
5. Click Start. WP Toolkit copies the files and database. This can take a few minutes on a large site.

When it finishes, the staging site appears as a separate site in WP Toolkit. Click Log in under it to open its dashboard.

Keep search engines away

You don’t want Google to index a copy of your site. In the staging site’s WordPress dashboard, go to Settings, then Reading, and tick Discourage search engines from indexing this site. WP Toolkit may also offer a Search engine indexing switch on the site card.

Make and test your changes

Update plugins, try a new theme or edit pages on the staging site. Check everything works before moving on. Remember that new orders, comments or form entries on the live site keep arriving while you work, and they won’t be on the staging copy.

Copy the changes to the live site

1. In WP Toolkit, find the staging site and click Copy Data.
2. Choose your live site as the target.
3. Choose what to copy. You can copy Files only, Database only or Files and database. Copying only files is the safer choice for theme and plugin changes, because it won’t overwrite new orders or comments in the live database.
4. If you copy the database, you may be able to pick only some tables. Leave this alone unless you know which tables you changed.
5. Leave the option to create a restore point ticked if it’s offered.
6. Click Start.

Check the live site once the copy has finished.

If it doesn’t work

• The staging subdomain shows an error or someone else’s site. It can take a few minutes for a new subdomain to work. If it carries on, check the subdomain exists in cPanel under Domains.
• The live site has lost recent orders or comments. The database was copied over the live one. Restore from the restore point, or see how to restore a backup with JetBackup.
• You can’t see Clone. Check you’re on a WordPress plan. Web hosting plans may show WP Toolkit without the Deluxe features.

Good to know

Delete the staging site in WP Toolkit when you’ve finished with it, so you don’t have an old copy to keep updated. To add https to the staging subdomain, see how to install a free SSL certificate.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we’ll help.