Why You Need a Staging Website for your Membership Program
One of the main reasons WordPress is a great selection for a membership site is the wide range of themes and plugins this software can provide in addition to the customization options available to users.
WHAT'S IN THE INSIDE Toggle
- What a Staging Site is and Why You Need One
- Check with Your Web Host
- Find a Suitable WordPress Staging Site Plugin
- Final Thoughts
With WordPress it is possible to make imprevements to your site with an entirely new theme, plugin or even a customized codes on your website.
It only takes just a couple of clicks to alter the appearance of your site, add new features, or modify the layout of your website in a different method, why not try it with a few ideas?
However, there's a problem. Despite the relative ease with which we can create a variety of changes to WordPress websites, there are some limitations. WordPress websites, these modifications could have unintended consequences that users might not appreciate.
In this piece we'll show you the best ways to work on your WordPress website without impacting experience for users - something especially important in the case of paying users.
What a Staging Site is and the reason you should have one
Like we said, if you test new themes, install new plugins or play around with the widgets and menus of WordPress, you could unwittingly place your website in danger.
Consider what a prospective new member may think when the website's design abruptly shifts, a function stops working, or the entire site goes down.
The best case scenario is that they'll be hesitant regarding entering personal details In the worst case you'll see them leave the website, never to return.
They could be able to inform others of their disappointment about your website.
All the above can occur when you begin to alter the fundamental aspects of your website. And that's why it's recommended that you utilize a staging website or development environment to test any changes you plan to implement to your site.
If you're a member-site administrator is even more essential not to make any changes to the live website and make a backup of your web page that only you and your team have access to.
Your staging site is a secure place in which you are free to do whatever you want without:
- Current members are frustrated
- New visitors are attracted by the awe-inspiring
- The loss of data includes customer transactions.
When you're confident that the changes you made didn't cause problems, you're able to make them available to the current version of your website.
Sound good? Then read on to find out how to create a staging site for your WordPress site for membership.
Make sure to check with your Web host
One advantage of choosing a platform that now powers more than 30 percent of all websites is that there are a variety of WordPress-optimized web hosting services accessible.
One of the new features common to the WordPress web hosting providers, which includes the cheapest entry-level plans includes the capability to build a quick stage site or test environment using your existing website.
The best staging-site services that web hosts offer allow you to easily create a private test area push the test version of your website to the live hosting system.
Because of this, you can take as long as you want and be as thorough as you want when trying the new configuration of your site. When you're done for it, you'll be able to make the improvements available to visitors and members with just one or two clicks.
In any case, using staging sites can help to avoid problems that come with using the live site for testing and development.
Choose a suitable WordPress Staging Site Plugin
If you are looking to select the WordPress plugin that allows you to create the staging version of your site, you can choose between two choices:
- A plugin designed specifically for this purpose.
- a general-purpose web-duplication plug-in.
Let's take a quick glance at the pros and cons of each option before listing the best plugins.
A specially-built stage-site plug-in might seem like an obvious choice, but your options are more limited as there are fewer plugins that can be used that you can choose from.
Plus, you usually aren't as in control over the process and the end product as when using plugins that are more general-purpose for site copying.
A second alternative, a general-purpose site-duplication plugin will give you greater control over the entire procedure.
The most effective plugins in this category let you copy particular elements of your website, for instance, the database, or even content. You can also choose more options for where the staging website is such as the local WordPress installation or a private subdomain.
Although many of the best WordPress website-duplication plugins are free, they aren't always as easy to use as commercial staging-site tools.
- WP Stagecoach - a commercial one-click staging-site-creation WordPress plugin with lots of useful features.
- WP Staging A free, in-progress WordPress web-based staging and cloning plugin.
- Duplicator - an effective but more complicated WordPress website-duplication plugin.
You can see that when you're willing to pay for a premium plugin it's a lot simpler. However, while those that are free may need some effort, they are certainly viable tools for creating an WordPress membership-staging site.
Final thoughts
I hope you are now aware of the advantages of creating a staging environment for your WordPress Membership website.
You may get away with code that's a bit crude in a personal website, however when you're running a professional membership site there's a higher obligation to look after your customers, regardless of whether they're paying to access your site or not.
What are you planning to do when creating an online staging area to host your membership site? Comment on your suggestions by leaving a comment below.