Creating a WordPress staging site on UnderHost

A staging site is a private copy of your live WordPress site where you can test changes-theme updates, new plugins, code changes, redesigns-without affecting visitors. When satisfied, you push the changes to production.

Method 1: Softaculous clone (easiest)

1. First, create a subdomain (e.g., staging.yourdomain.com) in cPanel → Domains → Subdomains
2. Open cPanel → Softaculous → All Installations
3. Click on your live WordPress installation
4. Click Clone
5. Set the destination to the staging subdomain and the correct folder
6. Click Clone Installation

Softaculous copies files and the database, and updates the WordPress URL configuration to the new subdomain automatically. The clone is ready in a few minutes.

Method 2: Manual copy

1. Create a subdomain in cPanel → it gets a folder like /public_html/staging/
2. Copy all files from public_html to the staging folder (via File Manager or FTP)
3. Export the live database via phpMyAdmin
4. Create a new database in cPanel for staging
5. Import the exported SQL into the new database
6. Update wp-config.php in the staging folder with the new database name, username, and password
7. Run a search-replace to update the URLs: wp search-replace 'yourdomain.com','staging.yourdomain.com'

Method 3: WP Staging plugin

The WP Staging plugin (free) creates a staging site with a few clicks from within WordPress:

1. Install and activate WP Staging from the plugin repository
2. Go to WP Staging → Create New Staging Site
3. Choose a name for the staging directory
4. Select which tables and files to copy
5. Click Start Cloning

Access the staging site from the WP Staging dashboard. Changes on staging do not affect the live site.

Password protect the staging site

Add password protection so the staging site is not publicly accessible and doesn't get indexed by search engines. Use cPanel → Directory Privacy or add a .htaccess Basic Auth. See: How to password protect a directory

Push staging to production

The paid version of WP Staging can push changes from staging to production. Manually: backup production, copy changed files via FTP, export the staging database, import to production, and run a search-replace to revert URLs back to the production domain.

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