With WordPress, you can make imprevements to your site with a new plugin, theme, or some custom code on your site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when it only takes a few clicks to completely transform the design of your site, add new features, or modify your site in some other way, why not experiment a little?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s a problem.<\/strong> Despite the relative ease with which we can make wide-reaching changes to our WordPress websites, these changes can have unexpected effects members might not appreciate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll explain how you can work on your WordPress website without disrupting the user experience<\/strong> \u2013 something especially important when you have paying members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What a Staging Site is and Why You Need One<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
$\"Site$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
As mentioned, if you try out new themes, install new plugins, or just tinker with the widgets and menus in WordPress, you could unwittingly put your site at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider what a prospective new member may think if the site design suddenly changes, a feature stops working, or the entire website becomes unavailable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At best they\u2019ll think twice about entering their personal details; at worst, they\u2019ll leave your site, never to return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s possible they\u2019ll go on to tell others about their frustrations with your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n $\"WPCode$ <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
All the above can occur if you start adjusting the core components of your website. And that\u2019s why it\u2019s recommended you use a staging site or development environment to test any changes you plan to make to your website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a membership-site owner, it\u2019s even more important to not make changes to your live site and instead create a copy of your website only you and your team can access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your staging site is a safe place where you can do what you want without:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Frustrating existing members<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Alienating new visitors <\/li>\n\n\n\n
Losing data, including customer transactions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Then, when you\u2019re satisfied that your changes haven\u2019t caused any issues, you can transfer them to the live version of your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sound good? Then read on to find out how to create a staging site for your WordPress membership website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Check with Your Web Host<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
$\"$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
One of the benefits of choosing a platform that now powers\u00a0 over 30% of websites<\/a> is that there are some excellent WordPress-optimized hosting packages available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the features now common to these WordPress web hosts, including our top recommendation, Rapyd Cloud<\/a>, is the ability to quickly create a staging site or testing environment based on your live website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
READ >>10 Best Web Hosts for Membership Sites on WordPress <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best staging-site services offered by web hosts make it easy to create a private test area push the test version of your site to the live hosting environment.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
$\"SiteGround$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Thanks to this, you can take as long as you want and be as thorough as you need when testing out a new site configuration. Then, when you\u2019re ready, you can make those improvements available to visitors and members in just a few clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We highly recommend you check out whether your current web host<\/a> offers this service. It may currently be part of your hosting plan or available as an optional upgrade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Either way, using a staging site helps you avoid the inevitable problems that come with using your live website for testing and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Find a Suitable WordPress Staging Site Plugin<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
$\"WordPress$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
When choosing a WordPress plugin to set up a staging version of your site, you have two main options: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
a plugin built specifically for this purpose or <\/li>\n\n\n\n
a more general-purpose website-duplication plugin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s take a quick look at the pros and cons of each approach before listing a few suitable plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A purpose-built staging-site plugin<\/strong> may seem like the obvious choice, but your options are more limited as there are fewer plugins of this type to choose from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, you usually don\u2019t have as much control over the process and end result as you do with more general-purpose site-copying plugins. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n
$\"WPStaging$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
The second option, a general-purpose site-duplication plugin<\/strong>, gives you more control over the entire process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best plugins in this category allow you to copy specific parts of your site, such as the database or content. They also give you more options for where the staging site is located, including a local WordPress installation or a private subdomain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although many of the best WordPress website-duplication plugins are free, they aren\u2019t always as easy to use as commercial staging-site tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if your web host doesn\u2019t offer a staging-site service or you want to set up a testing environment yourself, consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
WP Stagecoach<\/a> \u2013 a commercial one-click staging-site-creation WordPress plugin with lots of useful features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
WP Staging<\/a> \u2013 a free work-in-progress WordPress website staging-and-cloning plugin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Duplicator<\/a> \u2013 a powerful but more complicated WordPress website-duplication plugin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, if you\u2019re prepared to pay for a premium plugin, the process is a lot easier. However, while the free options may require a bit more effort, they are certainly viable tools for creating a WordPress membership-staging site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hopefully you now understand the advantages of creating a staging environment for your WordPress membership website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it may be tempting to try and save time and just\u00a0 activate that new plugin<\/a>\u00a0or switch themes on your live site, at best, you could disrupt your visitors\u2019 user experience; at worst, you could erase their recent activities or even cancel financial transactions midway through processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may get away with\u00a0 cowboy coding<\/a>\u00a0on a small personal blog, but when you\u2019re running a professional membership site, you have a greater obligation to care for your members, whether they\u2019re paying for access or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How will you create a staging site for your membership website? Share your thoughts in the comments below.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the reasons WordPress is such a good choice for your membership website is the wealth of themes and plugins this software offers, not to mention all the customization options available to you. With WordPress, you can make imprevements to your site with a new plugin, theme, or some custom code on your site. [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":16322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_strive_editorial_status":"not-started","_strive_copy_of":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_strive_checklists":"\"\"","_strive_active_checklist":"62291e2bb2422","_strive_post_notes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[25],"class_list":{"0":"post-16316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice","8":"tag-wordpress","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t

<\/span>Check with Your Web Host<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/span>Find a Suitable WordPress Staging Site Plugin<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhen choosing a WordPress plugin to set up a staging version of your site, you have two main options: <\/p>\n\n\n\n