How To Create WordPress Test Site (Step-by-Step)

Updates to your WordPress site often break it. It is a scary situation that you and countless WordPress users might have faced many times. You cannot let that happen to your site, especially when it is vital to your business or personal project.

But what if you could test these changes in a safe, risk-free environment? What if there were no repercussions to making these changes? That’s exactly what a testing environment for WordPress offers.

At BlogVault, we believe you deserve the peace of mind that comes with a stable site. This means knowing your live site is untouched, no matter how many tweaks or trials you conduct.

That’s why we strongly advocate having a WordPress testing site. It’s not just a luxury—it’s a necessity for anyone serious about maintaining a top-notch WordPress site.

Concurrently, we also understand how complex it can be to set up and manage a WordPress testing site. In this article, we will break down the steps to set up a testing site, and discuss how and when to use it.

TL;DR: Manually building a WordPress test site can be a complex, time-consuming process. Skip the hassle with BlogVault, with its one-click testing site setup. It offers a quick and easy way to set up a fully functional test environment in seconds.

What is a WordPress test site?

A WordPress test site is a replica of your live site. It is a secure environment where you can try out changes without impacting your live site.

Think of it as a sandbox where you can try out new themes, plugins, and adjustments. It also mimics the production environment. That means you can see how your changes affect your site in real-time. Any errors or issues that arise stay confined to the testing environment. This keeps your live site untouched and functional as usual.

Another key aspect is privacy. Your testing site is a private development space that is accessible only to you or your team. This ensures that visitors won’t encounter an incomplete or malfunctioning site.

You can use WordPress testing sites only for the duration of your specific testing needs. Once you’ve ensured everything is perfect, you can apply those changes to your live site. After that, you can clean up the testing environment.

Option 1: Using BlogVault to build a test site

Creating a WordPress testing site can seem daunting, especially if you’re not tech-savvy. Thankfully, BlogVault’s one-click solution simplifies the process and saves you valuable time. A key advantage of using BlogVault is that it acts as one of the best plugins for creating staging sites in WordPress, making setup straightforward.BlogVault backs up your site, and from there you can spin up a WordPress testing site in minutes. No more waiting to test changes, updates, and new features in a risk-free environment.

Building a testing environment

1. Visit the BlogVault website and create an account.
2. After logging in, add your WordPress site to the BlogVault dashboard. You’ll be prompted to provide your admin credentials. 

Note: When you add a site to BlogVault’s dashboard, it will take a few minutes to sync your site. During this process, automatic backups will be created. This is to ensure you have a safety net in case anything goes wrong. It will continue to take daily backups, without you having to lift a finger.

3. Scroll down your BlogVault dashboard and click Add Staging Site.

4. By default, the same PHP version as your live site will be selected.
5. Click Continue and allow a few minutes for the process to complete.

Note: The testing environment is password-protected. This is important to make sure unauthorised users don’t have access to your test site. It restricts all other traffic: readers, customers, etc. Once your testing site is created, you will receive the credentials required to access the login page.

WordPress testing using BlogVault 

Accessing the wp-admin

All you need to do is click WP-ADMIN to log in to your testing site. You are now in your WordPress testing environment. Here, you can make any changes, try out new plugins, or update themes without impacting your live site.

Accessing your site files

1. In the same section, click Details and you will be taken to the test site’s dashboard.
2. On the right side, you’ll see a panel displaying your FTP or SFTP credentials. Use these to access your site via FTP.

Modify database tables

1. Similar to the site files, open up the Details menu to be redirected to a dashboard for the environment.
2. Click php in the top right corner of the dashboard.

This will take you to your site’s phpMyAdmin interface, where you can modify tables. 

Merge test site with live site

Once you have ensured all your changes work perfectly, it’s time to merge changes with the live site. In the same section of your BlogVault dashboard, you will find the Merge option. If you blindly click Merge, it will overwrites everything on the live site with your tested changes. This ensures that all modifications are seamlessly integrated into the live environment.

But, the Merge feature might cause problems for dynamic sites like WooCommerce stores. WooCommerce test sites need to be handled differently, as the stores are constantly accepting orders, updating inventory, and processing transactions. Using Merge will blindly overwrite the live site. This can result in lost orders or data inconsistencies.

We recommend that you manually replicate the steps you performed on the testing site onto your live site. For example, if you were testing a wishlist plugin and it works fine on the testing site, just install it on the live site too. 

Another popular recommendation is to put the site in maintenance mode before merging. However, this method leads to site downtime, which can disrupt the user experience. We don’t recommend it for smaller changes. However, if you perform major changes like a design overhaul, definitely consider using maintenance mode. 

Option 2: Using a web host to build a WordPress test site

All the good web hosts offer the option to create a testing environment on the same server as your WordPress site. This method is easier than setting up a testing site manually. However, it is not the best because it consumes server resources.

For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on using Cloudways as an example. However, other web hosts like GoDaddy, WP Engine and Kinsta also offer their own documentation for setting up testing environments.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use Cloudways to build a testing site, test on it, and merge it with your live site.

Building a testing environment

1. Login to your Cloudways account.
2. Select the server that your site is hosted on.
3. Click the www icon and click on the application you want to test.
4. On the top right, click Quick Actions.
5. Click Clone app/Create Staging
6. Select your server from the drop down and select the checkbox as seen below:

Give it a few minutes and a new application will be created. For example, our test site was called Shreya Blog Site and the following is an image of how our staging site was named:

WordPress testing with Cloudways 

1. Click Applications in the sidebar.
2. Select the test site from the applications available.
3. You will find separate access details.

Making changes on the wp-admin panel

1. Click the application URL.
2. In the address bar, add: wp-login.php/ at the end of the URL.

3. The credentials are the same as the live site.

Make changes to the site files

If there aren’t any SFTP or FTP credentials, you will have to create them. Just click Add SFTP User at the bottom of the page. Then create a username and password. Use these credentials and the public IP address to connect with your server using an FTP client. 

Merge test site with live site

Cloudways offers an easy feature to push changes to the live site. This can be safe for a static site like a portfolio site. Here is what you need to do:

1. Login to your Cloudways account.
2. Click Applications in the sidebar.
3. Select the right application.
4. Then, click Staging Management on the left.
5. Click Push in the Copy Data from Staging to Live section.

6. Select the files or database that you want to push to the live site.
7. Select the option to take a backup of the live site.

Note: If you have a WooCommerce site, we would recommend replicating the steps you took on the WooCommerce testing site. But, if you would rather use the merge feature, put the site in maintenance mode first. This is to avoid overwriting any new data, like orders or customers. This will cause some downtime, which is why we do not recommend it. However, it is helpful if you are making a major change to your site design that is time-consuming to replicate. 

Option 3: Build a test site manually

There is a world of advice on how to build a test site manually. Most of that advice is complicated and not beginner-friendly. In this section, we will show you how to do it using the least complicated method of them all. 

The first thing to do is to backup your entire site. Once you’re done, export your backup and import it on a seperate site. In this example, we will show you how to create a new locally hosted site that you will import the backup on. Then, you can modify this locally hosted copy without impacting your live site. 

For this method, you will need local hosting software like Local by Flywheel or DevKinsta. We are using Local for this article. 

Building the local testing environment

1. Take a full backup of your live site and download it to your system as a zip file.
2. Click Create a Site in the Local dashboard.
3. Select the option to import an existing site from a zip file.
4. Pick the Custom option and match the server configuration to your live site.

5. Upload the zip file containing your site’s backup.
6. Configure the database settings to match those of your exported site. The Local software will guide you through this process.
7. You will be asked to create admin panel credentials. Note down these credentials somewhere safe. You won’t find them later on the Local dashboard.

Testing WordPress on the local environment

Access wp-admin panel

On the Local dashboard, click WP Admin on the top right. This will take you to the dashboard. You can now make changes like updating a plugin and test if it works fine. 

Managing the database

On the Local dashboard, you will see a Database tab that takes you to Adminer, the database manager. You can modify tables here. Files can be modified on your device, in the folder for that site. 

Modifying site files

1. Launch the Local application and navigate to the site you wish to work on.
2. Once you have your site open, access the site files by clicking on Go to Site Folder.

This action will open the root directory of your WordPress installation. 

When to use a WordPress test site?

A WordPress test site serves as a crucial tool for various scenarios like:

• Experiment with new functionality: Before adding any new functionality or plugins to your live site, try them out in a test environment. Ensure that they work as intended and do not cause conflicts.
• Trial new design changes: Safely explore new themes or make design changes on a test site without disrupting the user experience on your live site.
• Identify and resolve bugs: Use a test site to identify and rectify any bugs or issues without affecting live users, ensuring a smooth experience for your audience.
• Ensure compatibility: Verify that new plugins or themes are compatible with your existing site elements, minimizing the risk of conflicts and potential site crashes.
• Test updates: Before updating existing plugins or themes, use a test site to ensure these updates do not break your site or cause any issues.
• Optimize performance metrics: Experiment with optimizing site speed and performance metrics in a safe environment before pushing the enhancements to your live site.
• Draft and preview new content: Allow content creators to draft and preview new content on a test site. This ensures any issues are resolved before content goes live.
• Conduct security assessments: Test security vulnerabilities in a secure environment to identify and mitigate problems, keeping your live site secure.
• Network-wide changes: For multisite networks, use a test site to evaluate changes across different sites, ensuring compatibility and functionality throughout the network.
• Site migration testing: Use a test site to experiment with migrating data from one site to another before making the jump. This helps you reduce the risk of data loss. 

Best practices for WordPress test sites

Using a WordPress test site helps maintain the integrity and functionality of your live website. To maximize its effectiveness, here are some best practices to follow:

• Maintain backups of various versions of your test site to easily revert to previous states if needed. This ensures you can quickly recover from any issues that arise during testing.
• Restrict test site access to developers, testers, and other authorized personnel only. This minimizes the risk of unauthorized changes and enhances security.
• Use password protection to prevent unauthorized and unintended access. This keeps your testing environment secure and private. BlogVault does this by default, reducing the hassle for you. 
• The test environment should have enough server resources. This is to accurately reflect the production environment. This is why we recommend having the test site be hosted separately from your live site too. 
• Maintain a detailed log of all changes made in the test environment. This documentation is invaluable for tracking modifications and understanding their impact.
• Use separate hosting environments for test and production sites to avoid resource conflicts. This separation ensures that issues in one environment do not affect the other. BlogVault creates a testing environment on its own servers, separate from your web host. 
• Ensure that the test site uses a separate database from the production site. This prevents accidental data loss or corruption in the live database. BlogVault gives you access to a separate phpMyAdmin account.
• Conduct regular audits of your test site practices and update them as necessary. Ongoing assessments help maintain best practices and adapt to new challenges.

Best way to manage WordPress test sites

Managing a test site for WordPress can be particularly challenging due to the dynamic demands of continually updated content, plugin interactions, and user data. They often involve continuously evolving elements such as blog posts, media files, and custom functionalities. This complexity asks for a reliable and efficient testing solution to ensure that updates and changes do not disrupt your live site. BlogVault offers just that solution.

• One-click test site setup: One of BlogVault’s standout features is its one-click test site setup. With just a single click, you can create a fully functional test site that replicates your live site exactly. This eliminates the need for complicated manual setups, making it accessible even for beginners. 
• Secure and isolated environment: Your test site created via BlogVault is secure and isolated from your live site. This setup ensures that any changes or experiments conducted in the testing environment do not affect your live site’s performance or data integrity. BlogVault provides an SSL-secured environment, giving you the peace of mind that your testing processes are safe and contained. As the test site is hosted on BlogVault’s servers, it does not impact the performance of your live site. Additionally, it employs basic authentication to password-protect your test site.
• Automated backups: At its core, BlogVault is a robust backup solution. It automatically takes daily backups of your live site, ensuring you always have a safety net. If something goes wrong when you push changes to your live site, you can restore it with a single click. This feature is invaluable for maintaining the integrity and reliability of your WordPress site.

Final thoughts

A WordPress test site is a valuable tool for mitigating risks associated with making modifications to your live site. It allows you to experiment, troubleshoot, and optimize in a secure environment, ensuring that changes are thoroughly vetted before going public. However, setting up and managing a test site can be complex, especially if you lack technical expertise.

This is where BlogVault shines. With its user-friendly interface, one-click setup, secure environments, and reliable backups, BlogVault simplifies the entire process. You can focus on enhancing your site’s functionality and user experience, confident that BlogVault will ensure a seamless and safe transition from test to live environment. Leave the complexities behind and let BlogVault make your WordPress site management stress-free and efficient.

FAQs

What is a WordPress test site?

A WordPress test site is a copy of your live site where you can experiment with and test new features, plugins, themes, and updates without affecting the actual live site. It provides a secure environment to troubleshoot and optimize without risking the functionality or user experience of your main site.

Why do you need a WordPress test site?

A WordPress test site is essential for reducing the risks associated with making changes to your live site. It allows you to debug, test new functionalities, evaluate plugin and theme compatibility, and experiment with design changes. By doing so, you can ensure that any modifications are safe and effective before deploying them to your live site.

What are the best plugins to create a WordPress test site?

The best plugin for creating a WordPress test site is BlogVault. It is known for its one-click test site setup, secure environment, and automated backups.

How do I push my test site to a live server?

To push your test site to a live server, follow these steps:

1. Ensure you have a recent backup before making any changes.
2. Replicate the changes manually, especially for dynamic website data, to ensure no critical data is overwritten.

Can I create a test site in WordPress?

Yes, you can create a test site in WordPress easily with BlogVault. Just create an account, add your site to BlogVault, and click Add Staging. 

Can you test WordPress for free?

Yes, you can test WordPress for free using various plugins and services that offer free tiers. For example, you can build it on a local server, using Local by Flywheel. It’s not the easiest or most efficient way to manage a test site. This is why we recommend using a plugin like BlogVault instead.