Change is the only constant. And this is especially true for WordPress-powered sites.
Now and then, you will have to make changes to your WordPress site. You may have to update or uninstall a plugin or theme, edit your existing content, edit PHP source codes, etc.
If you are seeking a comprehensive but easy-to-implement guide on how to edit your WordPress site online, then you will love this article. This guide will teach you how to edit your WordPress site online in a staging environment.
Table of Contents
Why Use a Staging Site for WordPress Edits?
Unfortunately, not every change you make in WordPress will go smoothly. At times, changes can go badly and alter the smooth running of your WordPress site.
A staging site is a duplicate of your live site in an isolated and private space. It is a safe place away from your live site where you can freely experiment and test edits meant for your live site to see if the result will be hitch-free.
The changes you make on a staging site will not affect the live site, so if they result in an irreparable error, you can rest assured that your live site will continue to function without any hiccups.
Advantages of Editing Online in a Staging Environment
There are a range of benefits when you edit your WordPress site online in a staging environment, including:
- Test Changes Safely: You can safely test any type of experiments and edits you wish to make on your WordPress site to your heart’s content. The staging environment is your oyster. Whatever the outcome, you have zero worries.
- No Harm to the WordPress Live Site: Your staging site is separated from your live site, so changes you make to your staging site won’t harm or disrupt it.
- Avoid Downtime: Mistakes when editing your site’s PHP or source code can lead to downtime. Using a WordPress staging site to test these edits first can save your live site from downtime if things go south.
- Hassle-free Debugging: Bugs can arise when you try to edit your WordPress site, even in a staging environment, especially when it involves editing your PHP or source codes. Suppose you encounter an error or conflict while editing your WordPress site. In that case, you can easily enable debugging and resolve the issue in the staging site before implementation on the live site.
- Team Collaboration: WordPress staging sites allow teams to collaborate on changes and edits and ensure everything is up to par before being pushed live.
Setting Up a WordPress Staging Site
Let’s explore how you can create a WordPress staging website using InstaWP.
Step 1: Create an InstaWP Account
If you do not already have an InstaWP account, then sign up for free.
Step 2: Connect your WordPress Site to InstaWP
Next, connect your live site to your InstaWP account. To do this, install and activate the InstaWP Connect plugin on your live site.
From your dashboard sidebar, go to Tools > InstaWP.
Click on Connect and complete the process. Once your site is connected, you will be returned to your WordPress dashboard.
Select your preferred type of staging, and click Next Step.
The next step is selecting your information. This step allows you to customize your staging by including only active plugins and themes and skipping log tables.
You may not want to skip log tables if you are trying to debug an error.
Before proceeding to the next step, enable sync recording. This option lets your live site identify changes you make on your staging site so you can easily push those changes to the live site, as opposed to repeating them on the live site.
After choosing your preference, click on “Next Step.”
The next step allows you to exclude files and tables in your database, such as large media files and cache files. Excluding items will reduce your space usage and speed up the staging creation process.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Finally, confirm your settings and click Create Staging to initiate the staging site creation process.
Wait and let it cook.
Within minutes, your staging site will be created in your InstaWP account.
Click on the Magic Login to log into the staging site WordPress dashboard.
You will discover that your staging site dashboard is a replica of your live site. However, you can identify that this is a staging environment by the URL or the Staging Site notice box at the top right corner.
Making Edits in Your WordPress Staging Site
Now that the WordPress staging site has been created let’s see how to update content and modify themes and plugins.
Updating Content: Pages, Posts, and Media
Content is written texts and media files on your site. They can be found on pages and posts. Sometimes, you may need to correct or update content. Here’s how to edit pages, posts, and media in WordPress:
How to Edit Blog Posts in WordPress
To update content in posts, go to Posts > All Posts.
You can display posts under All, published, drafts, and Pending. You can also display posts you added.
Select the post of interest, and the WordPress editor will open. Make your edits and preview them. Then save your changes by clicking Save.
Click on the View Post link at the bottom after your update has been saved to see the effect.
How to Edit WordPress Page
To update page content, go to Page > All Pages.
In a similar manner as blog posts, make the necessary changes on your pages and save them.
How to Edit Media Files in WordPress
To edit media files, go to Media > Library.
Search, filter, or scroll down to locate the media file you wish to edit.
Click on the media file, and from the popup preview, select the button to edit it in WordPress. You can trim, crop, resize, or compress the media file and save the result.
Modifying Themes and Plugins
Your themes ultimately handle your site layout and aesthetics, while your plugins beef up your site with various features and functionalities. Editing your plugins or themes can affect how your site will look and work, and testing these changes first on a WordPress staging site can help a lot.
How to Modify WordPress Themes
If you wish to modify themes, go to Appearance > Themes.
To modify your existing theme look, select Customize and make your changes from the customization panel.
Alternatively, you can install, activate, and configure a new theme.
Endeavor to preview theme changes to see how they will affect your WordPress site layout and aesthetic. If the output is satisfactory, then you can push the change to live.
For code-based edits, you can use the WordPress Theme Editor. Go to Appearance > Theme Editor and make your code modifications.
How to Test Plugins in WordPress Staging
You can update, reconfigure, or install new plugins to test their effects and check for potential conflicts.
To get started, go to Plugins. Click on Add New Plugin to install a new plugin, or go to the plugins directory to update an existing plugin.
To update a plugin’s settings, click on the Settings link below the plugin and make your changes.
If you wish to edit plugin codes, you can use the WordPress Plugin Editor. Go to Plugins > Plugin File Editor and select the plugin you want to edit from the dropdown.
Testing Changes Before Going Live
It is imperative to test changes thoroughly before pushing them live to ensure that your WordPress site looks and works as expected. Perform browser compatibility and site functionality tests to confirm that elements and functions perform correctly.
After checking and testing your changes, then you can push them from staging to the live site.
Real-Time Code Editing
InstaWP comes with a built-in WordPress code editor (and VS Code Extension) that allows you to easily perform real-time code-based edits on PHP, CSS, and HTML.
To use the code editor, log into your InstaWP dashboard and navigate to Staging. Select the More Actions icon next to the staging site linked to your live site, and go to Tools > Code Editor.
Select either code editor to use. Note that the VS Code Extension allows you to edit codes via SFTP. However, it is only available to premium users.
For this guide, we will use the free Web Editor.
The Web Editor interface looks just like this when you click on it.
Simply click on the file you want to edit from the left panel, and it will open up in the web editor.
The code editor lets you edit multiple files simultaneously, as shown below.
Previewing and Testing Changes Efficiently
With features like Live Preview and Version Control, you can efficiently preview and test changes in InstaWP’s staging environment.
Transitioning from Staging to Live Site
After making your site edits, InstaWP provides simplified ways to move the updated staging site to the live site, including:
Safe Migration using the WordPress Migration Tool
InstaWP has an easy-to-use migration tool that lets you migrate your staging site to a live site via URL. To do so, simply open the migration tool, enter your staging site URL and your live site domain, and click Start Migration.
Reviewing and Merging Staging Changes using 2-way Sync
InstaWP also has a 2-way sync feature (which we activated during the staging creation stage) that allows you to merge changes between your live and staging sites seamlessly.
Troubleshooting Staging Issues
Common Problems and Solutions
Some common issues that may arise in a staging environment include:
- Broken Links: Use a broken link checker plugin.
- Missing Media: Check for and restore files that failed to migrate.
- Plugin Conflicts: Use a different plugin or deactivate the conflicting features.
- CSS/JS Conflicts: Use the WordPress code editor to resolve styling or functionality conflicts or revert problematic changes.
Debugging Tools Available in InstaWP
Let’s quickly identify InstaWP’s built-in debugging tools:
- View Logs: This tool shows error, access, command, and debug logs to troubleshoot PHP issues or conflicts.
- DB Editor: This tool allows you to access and resolve database issues.
- Code Editor: This tool allows you to directly write and edit WordPress source code files to rectify CSS/JS conflicts and issues.
- 2-way Sync: The 2-way sync listening feature allows it to record each event change in a tabular form, which can be used to identify the event just before an error.
How InstaWP Supports a Streamlined Site Editing Workflow
InstaWP is built for speed, simplicity, and efficiency, making it easy to create and edit WordPress staging sites quickly and effortlessly.
WordPress experts created InstaWP with the aim of developing a seamless platform that simplifies and enhances every aspect of the WordPress site editing workflow.
With a range of features, including instant WordPress staging site creation, real-time code editing, WP debugging, 2-way sync, seamless migration, and managed WordPress hosting, you will agree with me that InstaWP is a game-changer supporting a streamlined site editing workflow.
Conclusion
Suppose you wish to edit your WordPress site online. In that case, you need to use a staging environment to ensure the site remains immune to changes until they are thoroughly tested and approved before being deployed to the live site. You can use InstaWP to set up staging sites and migrate changes quickly and easily, streamlining your workflow efficiently.
