Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Staging is one of the features I lean on most at Pressable. You get a full copy of WordPress to break things on, and it doesn’t cost you a site on your plan. Here’s how staging sites work, how to make one, and how to push your changes live safely.
How staging works on Pressable
A Pressable staging site is a completely separate WordPress install. By default it lives on a mystagingwebsite.com address, and you can set a custom staging domain so each staging site gets a subdomain of a domain you own.
The best part is the math. Live sites count against your plan limit. Staging sites don’t.
| Site type | Counts against your plan? |
|---|---|
| Live (production) site | Yes, one site |
| Staging site | No |
| Clone created as a live site | Yes, one site |
| Clone created as a staging site | No |
Two limits to know: you can’t attach DNS records to a staging site, and you can’t add a domain to a staging clone.
How to create a staging site
In MyPressable, either add a new site or clone an existing one, and switch on the staging option before you create it. Cloning is what you want most of the time, since it gives you a copy of your real content to test against.
Once it’s up, set the WordPress environment type to staging. Pressable notes this heads off some plugin and theme licensing problems and keeps Jetpack from getting confused about which site is which.
Three ways to push staging live
| Method | What it does | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Data Transfer (recommended) | Copies the database, files, or both from one Pressable site to another, after backing up both | It overwrites the destination. Newer orders or comments on the live site are lost. |
| Domain Swap | Moves your domain from the old live site to the staging site, which becomes the new live site | It copies nothing. The staging site now counts against your plan. |
| Migration plugin | Pressable Automated Migration or All-in-One WP Migration copy a site between installs | Read the plugin’s docs for what it overwrites and backs up. |
Data Transfer, step by step
- In MyPressable, open the staging site’s Environments section and choose Transfer Data.
- Pick the live site as the destination.
- Choose a full copy, or tick only the parts you want to move.
- Wait for the green “Ready to sync data” message.
- Decide whether to skip the HTTP status check and maintenance mode on the destination.
- Choose whether to keep the Jetpack license settings on both sites, and set the WordPress environment for the destination (Default keeps what it has).
- Click Start Transfer & Overwrite. You get an email when it finishes.
Pressable takes an on-demand backup of both sites before it copies anything, so you can roll back. If your on-demand backup slots are full, it will tell you how to clear one.
Before you click Start Transfer
- Ask everyone to stop editing both sites, especially the live one.
- Run it during your lowest-traffic hours. There is some downtime while the backups and copy run.
- Be careful with WooCommerce or busy news sites. Pushing the database replaces any orders or posts created on live since you cloned.
- If you don’t use the staging environment setting, disconnect Jetpack on both sites first, then set the license and reconnect afterward.
- Check robots.txt afterward. A custom robots.txt from staging comes along for the ride.
- If you use Yoast, reset its indexables after the push.
- Collaborators need the Restore Site and Download Backup permissions on both sites to run a transfer.
One more limit: you can’t sync individual database tables between Pressable sites yet. It’s all or nothing for the database.
Not on Pressable yet? Every plan includes staging sites that don’t count against your limit, plus backups and a CDN. Plans start at $250 a year.
FAQ
Do staging sites count against my Pressable plan?
No. Only live sites count against your plan limit. Staging sites and staging clones are free.
Can I push only part of a staging site live?
Yes. Data Transfer lets you choose the database, the files, or specific parts. You can’t sync individual database tables, though.
Will pushing staging overwrite my WooCommerce orders?
If you include the database, yes. The destination database is replaced, so orders placed on the live site after you cloned would be lost. Plan store pushes carefully.