Knowledgebase

WP Toolkit allows you to clone your existing website. You can use the cloned site as a staging site to test website settings, plugins, and themes before deploying them to the live website.

Step 1: Clone

• Go to cPanel > Domains > WordPress Management.
  
  Expand the website you want to clone.
  
  
• Click "Clone".
  
  
• Select "Create subdomain" next to Target.
  
  Enter "staging" in the first text field.
  
  Make sure to empty the text field next to /
  
  
• Click "Start".
  
  Wait for the process to finish.
  
  
• Done!
  
  

Step 2: Third-Party DNS

If you use Cloudflare/Quic.cloud/third-party DNS, create the following DNS records on Cloudflare/Quic.cloud/third-party DNS:

A Record:
Name: staging.yourdomain.com
Value: <server IP>

A Record:
Name: www.staging.yourdomain.com
Value: <server IP>

*You can find the server shared IP on the right sidebar of your cPanel home.
*Replace staging.yourdomain.com with your actual subdomain.

After the DNS records are created, install an SSL certificate.

Sync Changes from Clone to Live

Once you have tested your changes on the cloned site, you can synchronize them to your live site. Make sure to take a backup of the live site before syncing data so that you can quickly revert changes if anything goes wrong.

First, take a backup of the live site:

1. Go to cPanel > Domains > WordPress Management.
   
   Expand the live website.
   
   
2. Click "Backup / Restore".
   
   
3. Click "Backup".
   
   Wait for the process to finish.
   
   
4. Click "Close" (X icon on the top-right).
   
   
5. Done!
   
   

Synchronize data:

1. Go to cPanel > Domains > WordPress Management.
   
   Expand the cloned website.
   
   
2. Click "Copy Data".
   
   
3. Select the live website next to "Target".
   
   
4. Under "Data to Copy", select what data you want to copy.
   
   You can select "Files only", "Database only", or "Files and Database".
   
   
   Note:
   
   
   • Click the "i" icon next to an option to learn what it does.
     
     
   • Be cautious if you copy the database. If your live site has new content, such as new posts, comments, orders, etc., overwriting the database can lead to losing that new content.
     
     
   • Replace files modified on target: If you have made changes to plugins or themes, it will overwrite changes on the live site with those from the cloned site.
     
     
   • Remove missing files: If you have removed any plugins or themes from the cloned site, it will reflect those changes on the live site.
     
     
     
5. Under "Database Tables", select which database tables you want to copy.
   
   By default, critical tables (postmeta, posts, usermeta, and users) are excluded to protect data that frequently changes on the live site. You can override this selection.
   
   
   Note:
   
   
   • Click the "i" icon next to an option to learn what it does.
     
     
   • All Tables: This could overwrite recent orders or customer information on e-commerce sites.
     
     
     
6. Select [*] Create a restore point under "Restore".
   
   
7. Click "Start".
   
   Wait for the process to finish.
   
   
8. Done!
   
   

After synchronization, check the live site to verify everything works as intended. If there is an issue, you can restore the site using the backup you created just before synchronization.