Knowledgebase

A staging site or clone allows you to test website settings, plugins, and themes before deploying them to the live website. You will need a subdomain to create a staging site/clone.

Create a Subdomain

• Go to cPanel > Domains > Create a New Domain.
  
  Create a subdomain (e.g., clone.yourdomain.com or stage.yourdomain.com) to install the staging/clone site.
  
  
• If your DNS is not managed by us (e.g., if you are using a third-party DNS host), you will need to create two DNS records for each subdomain you create:
  
  A Record:
  Name: clone.yourdomain.com
  Value: <your IP>
  
  A Record:
  Name: www.clone.yourdomain.com
  Value: <your IP>
  
  *You can find the server shared IP on the right sidebar of your cPanel home.
  *Replace clone.yourdomain.com with your actual subdomain.
  
  
• Install an SSL Certificate on the subdomain (e.g., clone.yourdomain.com and www.clone.yourdomain.com)
  
  

Clone

Staging sites slow down your primary website. A clone does not and is faster, but you cannot 'push to live' a clone:

• Go to cPanel > WordPress Manager by Softaculous.
  
  Expand the website you want to clone.
  
  
• Click "Clone".
  
  
• Enter the following details:
  
  Choose Installation URL: https://clone.yourdomain.com
  
  Check mark [*] "Disable Search Engine Visibility".
  
  Site Name: <enter a name for the clone site title>
  
  The "Info" section displays the source installation details.
  
  
• Click "Clone Installation".
  
  Wait for the process to finish. Do not leave this page until the progress bar reaches 100%.
  
  
• Done! Go to WordPress Manager and click Login to log in to the WordPress dashboard.
  
  

Stage

You can 'push to live' a staging site, but it slows down your primary website:

• Go to cPanel > WordPress Manager by Softaculous.
  
  Expand the website you want to stage.
  
  
• Click "Staging".
  
  
• Enter the following details:
  
  Live Installation URL: <URL of source website>
  
  Choose Installation URL: https://stage.yourdomain.com
  
  Check mark [*] "Disable Search Engine Visibility".
  
  Site Name: <enter a name for the staging site title>
  
  
• Click "Create Staging".
  
  Wait for the process to finish. Do not leave this page until the progress bar reaches 100%.
  
  
• Done!