wordpress staging site, create staging site wordpress

How to Create a Staging Site in WordPress

June 14, 2025

Ever clicked “Update” on a WordPress plugin only to see your entire site crash? Or installed a new theme that completely broke your site layout?

Testing or experimenting anything directly on your live website is a gamble and can bring everything down. That’s why it’s wise to create a clone of your site where you can safely test changes, fix bugs, and fine-tune updates without risking your actual site.

At Fluent Support, we use staging sites to test changes or updates before they go live. And it really helps us avoid downtime, broken features, and those last-minute fire drills.

What is a staging site?

A WordPress staging site is a private clone of your live website built specifically for testing changes before making them live. It gives you a safe space to test with new themes, plugins, custom code, or even full redesigns without the risk of crashing your actual site.

You can also live this staging site (clone site) at a separate web address or subdomain, such as

yoursite.com/staging
staging.yoursite.com

So it will not be visible to any search engines or web traffic, unless you share the direct link. And once everything runs smoothly on your staging site, you can confidently push those changes to your live website.

Now, let’s create some of these staging sites in WordPress and deploy them to a live website.

Creating a WordPress staging site

You can create a staging site in several ways. However, the easiest way is to use your hosting provider’s built-in staging feature (if they offer one). You can also use a WordPress plugin or even set it up manually if you prefer more control.

Create a staging site on Bluehost
Create a staging site on Kinsta
Create a staging site on SiteGround

Create a staging site on Hostinger
Create a staging site on GoDaddy
Use the WP Staging plugin

No matter which method works for you, use the navigation below to jump right in and get started quickly.

Method 1: Using the web host’s built-in staging feature

Many hosting providers now offer a one-click staging site feature. If yours does, you’re in luck! You can have a staging site up and running in just a few minutes.

Popular hosts that offer staging:

Bluehost
Kinsta
SiteGround
GoDaddy (on some plans)

Creating a staging site on Bluehost

Bluehost offers a one-click staging feature for all its hosting plans. So if you’re hosting your site with Bluehost, we’ll show you two quick ways to create your staging site, and it takes just a few clicks.

From the WordPress dashboard

First, log in to your website’s wp admin dashboard.
In the left-hand menu, click on “Staging” under the Bluehost section.
Now, scroll down and click the “Create Staging Site” button.

By following these, you’ll soon see that your staging environment has been successfully created. But if you’re more comfortable working through cPanel, there’s another way to create a staging site that might feel more familiar to you.

From Bluehost cPanel Softaculous app (Optional)

Log in to your Bluehost account and click on “Advanced” from the left-hand menu.
Use the search bar to look for “Softaculous Apps Installer” and click to open it.
Once the app loads, click on “All Installations” from the top navigation bar.
Here, you’ll see a list of all your WordPress installations. Find the one you want to clone, and click “Create Staging” next to it.
On the “Staging WordPress” page, enter the directory where you’d like your staging site to live (e.g., staging).

Optional: You can uncheck the “Search Engine Visibility” option to keep your staging site hidden from Google. You can also give your staging site a custom name.

Click “Create Staging.” The process may take a few minutes, depending on the size of your live website.

Once it’s done, you’ll see your new staging site listed along with its unique URL (usually displayed right under your WordPress admin URL). You can log into the staging site directly from the link or use the “One-Click Admin” option from the “All Installations” page.

Deploying changes to the live site on Bluehost

Once you’ve finished testing on your staging site and everything looks perfect, it’s time to push those changes to your live website.

Go to your WordPress Dashboard and navigate to Bluehost » Staging.
Scroll down to the Deployment Options section. You’ll see three choices: deploy files only, database only, or both files and database.
If you’re not sure, click on the Deploy Files and Database button to deploy all changes from the staging environment.
A pop-up will appear, and you will be asked to confirm that you want to deploy the staging site to the production site. Click on the Yes, Let’s Deploy button to continue.

It will start to deploy your staging site to the live site. Depending on the size of your website, this may take a while. After that, your live website will reflect all the changes you tested in staging.

Creating a staging site on Kinsta

Kinsta offers premium staging environments with their custom MyKinsta dashboard. All Kinsta plans include staging functionality with easy one-click creation and deployment.

From MyKinsta dashboard

Log in to your MyKinsta account and select the site you want to create a staging environment for.
In the site overview, click on the Change environments tab from the right-side bar.
From there, select the Staging environment.
Then click the Create staging environment button to get started.

Kinsta will automatically create a staging environment with a unique URL (e.g. staging-sitename.kinsta.cloud).

This process usually takes 2-5 minutes, and you’ll receive an email notification once it’s complete. Once created, you can click WP admin to access your staging site’s WordPress dashboard, or click Visit site to view the frontend.

Deploying changes to the live site on Kinsta

Once you’ve finished testing on your staging site and everything looks perfect, it’s time to push those changes to your live website.

Go to your MyKinsta dashboard and navigate to your site’s Staging environments.
Navigate to the Info section of your staging environment.
Click the Push Staging to Live button in the top-right corner.
A confirmation pop-up will appear asking for your permission.
To confirm, you’ll need to enter your live website’s name in the field provided.

Once deployment is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation message, and your live website will reflect all the tested changes.

Creating a staging site on SiteGround

SiteGround makes it easy to create a staging copy with just a few clicks, right from its dashboard. If you’re hosting your WordPress site with SiteGround, follow these steps:

Log in to your SiteGround account and go to the Websites section.
Click on Site Tools for the website you want to clone.
From the left-hand menu, click WordPress and select Staging.
Enter a name for your staging copy and click Create.

Before creating a new staging site, make sure to delete any old or unnecessary staging copies to avoid clutter or confusion.

SiteGround will now begin creating your staging environment. This may take a few minutes.

Once it’s ready, you’ll see an option to log in to the admin panel of your staging site, where you can freely test, modify, or experiment without impacting your live website.

Deploying changes to the live site on SiteGround

Once you’ve completed all your testing and updates, pushing your staging site live is quick and simple.

Here’s how to do it:

Go back to the Staging section in your SiteGround account.
Locate your staging site and click the three-dot menu on the right side.
You’ll see two deployment options:
Full Deploy (Pushes the entire staging copy to your live site)
Custom Deploy (lets you select specific files or database sections to push)
Choose the option that best fits your needs and confirm the deployment.

The process may take a few minutes, depending on the size of your site or selected sections. Once completed, your changes will go live without disrupting your website or affecting user experience.

Creating a staging site on Hostinger

Hostinger makes it simple to set up a staging site using the built-in tools on hPanel.

Follow these steps to create your staging environment:

Log in to your Hostinger account and go to the Websites section.
Click on Manage next to the website you want to clone.
In the left-hand sidebar, type and select Staging.

If the Staging option doesn’t appear, ensure that your WordPress installation is detected by hPanel.

Then click the Create Staging button.
A pop-up window will appear. Enter a subdomain name (e.g., staging.yoursite.com) and click Create.

After a few minutes, your staging environment will be ready to use.

Deploying Changes to the Production Site on Hostinger

Once you’ve finalized all the updates on your staging site, it’s time to push them to your live website.

Here’s how:

Go to the Staging section from your hPanel.
Locate your staging site from the list and click the three dots icon next to it.
Select Publish to begin the deployment process.
A confirmation popup will appear with a disclaimer. Click Publish again to confirm your action.

The process may take up to 15 minutes, depending on your website size and content.

Creating a staging site on GoDaddy

GoDaddy makes it easy to test your site updates without disrupting the live version, thanks to its built-in staging environment.

If you’re on the Basic plan, you’ll need to upgrade to access staging features.

Here’s how to create a staging site:

Log in to your GoDaddy account and go to your Product Page.
On the My Products page, locate Managed WordPress and click Manage All.
Find the website you want to clone and open the Menu icon next to it, then select Settings.
Find the Staging Site section and click Create.

It may take a few minutes for GoDaddy to generate your staging environment. Once it’s ready, you can edit the staging site by clicking Edit staging site under the Actions button.

Pulling live site into staging (Optional)

If you want to overwrite your current staging copy with a fresh version of your live site:

Go back to the Settings section of your website.
Under the Actions, select the option to Pull production to staging from the Sync button.
Click on Overwrite content if you have an existing staging site and want a fully fresh copy for your new one.

Confirm the action, GoDaddy will copy the current state of your live website into your staging environment. This is useful when your live site has newer updates you’d like to test before going public.

Pushing staging site to production on GoDaddy

After you’ve tested everything and your changes are ready to go live:

Go back to the Staging Site section and click on the Actions.
From the Sync sites section, select Click Push staging to production.
Confirm your choice to overwrite the live site with the staging version.

GoDaddy will begin deploying your staging changes to your live environment. This process might take a few minutes, depending on your site’s size.

Method 2: Using WordPress staging plugins

If your host doesn’t offer built-in staging, plugins are your next best friend. These tools work inside your WordPress dashboard and are designed specifically for non-technical users.

Here’s what you can use:

WP Staging
WPvivid

Creating a staging site using WP Staging plugin

WP Staging plugin is one of the easiest tools to create a staging site. It’s perfect for beginners who want a fast and simple way to clone their site for testing.

The free version lets you create a staging site, but pushing changes to your live site is only available in the Pro version.

Here’s how to get started:

From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New.
In the search bar, type WP Staging.
Locate the official WP Staging and click on Install, then Activate.

Once activated:

You’ll find WP Staging in your sidebar. Click “WP Staging > Sites/Start.”
Enter a name for your staging site and click “Start Cloning.”

Depending on the size of your site, this may take a few minutes. After the cloning process completes, you’ll see an “Open Staging Site” button.

Pushing changes to live site with WP Staging Pro

If you’re using the Pro version of WP Staging, you can easily push your staging site updates to your live WordPress site.

From your WordPress dashboard, go to WP Staging > Start / STAGING.
If you’ve created multiple staging sites, select the one you want to publish and click “Push Changes.”
Under the Database Tables section, select the tables you wish to copy.

Each selected table will replace its counterpart on the live site.

Next, go to the Select Files section and choose all relevant folders, including: plugins, media files, and theme files.
Once everything is selected, click on “Push Staging Site to Live Site.”

WP Staging will now start transferring data from your staging environment to the live site. After the push process is complete, reload your live website to see all the updates in place. You may be prompted to log in again, which is normal after a full push.

Creating a staging site with the WPvivid plugin

WPvivid is a reliable backup and migration plugin that also supports staging functionality (with some limitations).

Here’s how to create a staging site using the WPvivid plugin:

Install and activate the official WPvivid plugin from the WordPress Plugins section.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to WPvivid → Staging from the left-hand menu.
Click on the Create a staging site button to start the process.
On the next screen, you’ll be prompted to choose the directory location for your staging site and whether to include the entire site or select specific files.

Note: Some options may be locked behind the Pro version

Once you’ve configured your preferences, click Create Now to launch the staging site creation.

The process may take a few minutes based on your site’s size. Once done, you’ll get a direct link to your staging site. Log in using the wp-admin URL slug and the same username and password as the live site.

Push a staging site to live (WPvivid Pro)

To publish changes from your staging site to your live WordPress site:

Go to the Staging Sites tab and click the Copy the Staging Site to Live button.
Choose the content you want to copy: Database + Uploads Folder or Custom Content.
Once your selections are complete, click Copy Now to begin the transfer.

Do not refresh or close the page during the publishing process. The time it takes will depend on your website size and internet speed.

After completion, a success message will appear, confirming your staging site has been successfully pushed to live.

Creating a staging site on WordPress.com

WordPress.com now allows you to create a staging environment. It’s great for testing major design or plugin updates without affecting your live site.

Any administrator can create a staging site, but the original site owner will always be listed as the owner of the staging version.

Go to your Sites list from the WordPress.com dashboard.
Select the site you want to create a staging version for.
Click on the Staging Site tab in the sidebar.
Hit the Add Staging Site button.

You can only create one staging site per production site. If a staging site already exists for that production site, you’ll see a Manage Staging Site button instead.

Synchronization from staging to production (WordPress.com)

Once you’re happy with the changes you’ve made in your staging environment, you can sync them to your live (production) site in just a few steps:

Go to your Sites list from the WordPress.com dashboard.
Select your staging site from the list.
Click on the Staging Site tab in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Database and File Synchronization section.
Choose the Staging to Production option.

This will begin syncing your changes (including files and database content) from your staging site back to your live website.

Wrapping Up

Remember, the method you choose depends on your comfort level and needs. If you’re just starting, use your hosting company’s built-in staging tools or try the WP Staging plugin.

These options require no technical knowledge and work reliably for most situations. As you become more comfortable, you might explore manual staging or local development environments for greater control and flexibility.

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Prosanjit Dhar

I’m Prosanjit Dhar, a digital marketer specializing in organic growth and SEO. I’m also into literature, FPS gaming, and have a degree in English literature.

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