Staging on the previous servers
If you want to run staging on a Box that is not yet located on the new Raidboxes 2.0 infrastructure, you will find a separate article on the staging function.
With the staging function, you can create a test environment for your Box at any time.
In this test environment, you can test plugin and theme updates, new designs and functions, for example, without impacting your live site. If you are happy with the changes, you can then push them to your live site with a single click.
Most important change for staging on the Raidboxes 2.0 infrastructure
Your staging environment and live site no longer share resources, which means:
Server resources exclusively for your live website, even if staging is active
No more control via staging cookie
Your own staging URL
Dedicated storage space capacities
⚠️ However, the following still applies:
WordPress or PHP updates can still only be tested by Box cloning.
No backups are created for your staging environment.
Activate staging
To activate staging, click on Staging in your Box. You will now be taken to the staging menu of your Box and can activate the function.
⏳ It will now take a moment for the staging environment to be fully created. When the process is complete, you will be taken to the staging menu automatically.
How staging works
Staging is no longer referenced via a cookie, but is an independent environment that can be accessed via its own URL.
No cache on the staging
The server-side cache is always deactivated on the staging environment.
How to manage the staging environment
Each staging environment has its own database, its own file system and its own log files.
Staging database: You can access the staging database via the staging menu. Simply click on Login in the MySQL database Box.
SFTP access: The staging environment of your Box has its own file system, which is created paralell to the file system of your live site. You can find the FTP access data in the staging menu in the SFTP Box.
Log files: So that you can analyze the events in the staging environment independently of the live site, each staging environment has its own log files.
Working with Staging
The test environment in staging looks and behaves exactly like your live website. To access the test environment, click on Login in the staging overview.
The staging environment is no longer indicated by the orange banner in the frontend. Instead, you can use the other URL that is displayed at the top of the browser line as orientation.
How to Log in into Staging
Click on the login button in the staging overview. Your page will then open in the frontend in the staging environment.
To log in to the staging backend, add "/wp-admin" after your staging domain in the browser bar and confirm with Enter.
Now you will see the usual WordPress login and you can log in with the same login data that you use on your live site.
⚠️Our password protection is always active for staging and cannot be deactivated.
Share staging link
You can also test your staging environment in other browsers or share it with third parties at any time. Simply click on the share icon next to Login and send this link to your customers or colleagues.
Push staging to live
Once you have made the desired changes in the staging environment, you can push them from staging to live with one click.
Your live page will be overwritten with the content of your staging environment. The staging environment is of course not deleted during the live push.
Before you push the changes from staging live, please create a backup of your site.
Expert mode
If you don't want all the content on your live site to be overwritten, use the expert mode of staging. Here you can set exactly which files and database tables should be overwritten and which should not.
Deactivate staging
If you want to deactivate staging again, simply switch it off again via the staging menu.
💡 If you reactivate staging later, a new staging instance will be created from the current status of your live website.
