One primary requirement in WordPress development is the ability to develop sites faster. WordPress teams need to develop sites faster if they want to stay ahead of their competitors. They need to be able to develop sites faster for demo WordPress sites, staging sites, product demos, and live websites.
Developing sites faster allows teams to iterate and make improvements more frequently. By launching a basic version of the site quickly, teams can gather user feedback and data, which can then be used to make informed decisions and implement necessary changes. This iterative approach helps teams create a more user-friendly and effective website in the long run.
In this post, you will learn how WordPress teams can develop sites faster using InstaWP.
Using InstaWP for Fast WordPress Development
InstaWP is a cloud-based tool that provides developers with a dedicated safe, fast, and affordable WordPress sandbox environment with powerful tools to spin instant websites in seconds. It’s a one-stop shop for WordPress developers seeking means to speed up their website creation process.
Let’s look at some pretty amazing InstaWP features that make it a game changer for fast WordPress development.
WordPress Staging with InstaWP
WordPress staging involves creating a duplicate or clone of your live WordPress website to test any changes you want to make before implementing them on the live site.
Sometimes in WordPress development, when you make significant changes to a WordPress site, it can result in unexpected and undesirable outcomes that can harm the website. This is where WordPress staging comes into play.
Staging is a precautionary measure for WordPress teams to safely test changes without facing any real consequences. WordPress teams need this sort of precautionary measure to ensure that they don’t make changes that can harm the smooth operation of any live site.
Staging can come in handy for WordPress teams when performing various WordPress development operations, such as experimenting with a new theme or plugin, making adjustments to code, testing software updates, or completely redesigning a site.
InstaWP Connect staging plugin can be installed on any of your team’s live WordPress projects and used to create stage copies for your team to work on. The plugin is safe, reliable, and easy to use.
All that is required is to install and activate the InstaWP Connect staging plugin on the live site. Then click on “Create Site” and connect the site to InstaWP. Once the site is connected, your team will be able to create 1-click staging websites from within the WordPress admin panel.
There are three types of staging options you can choose from:
- Quick Staging: Quick Staging is creating a staging environment that does not include your site’s media folder.
- Full Staging: Full Staging replicates everything from your live website onto the staging website.
- Custom Staging: Custom Staging allows you to manually choose what you want to add or remove from the staging website, including plugins, themes, media, or specific files and folders.
WordPress teams can create full, custom, or quick staging of any live site, make and track changes, and push them back to live.
Development with InstaWP
As WordPress developers, there are some development tools that you need to perform your tasks smoothly and efficiently. Tools meant to help developers manage and organize WordPress sites, improve sites’ structure, how it’s displayed in search engines, and the quality of their user experience.
InstaWP provides these tools on a platter of gold for WordPress teams to develop sites even faster.
With these tools, WordPress teams can directly edit plugins and theme codes, modify databases, and see various logs related to running WordPress projects. The tools include:
Code Editor: The code editor allows WordPress teams to directly write, edit, delete, and save WordPress source code files.
DB Editor: The DB Editor or “Adminer” SQL management tool allows WordPress teams to create and manage the contents of SQL databases quickly and easily.
Log Viewer: The Log viewer allows you to view various types of logs related to running any WordPress site. Error Log shows the PHP/Apache-related error logs for the site, Access Log shows the live hits to your website with IP address, URL, and HTTP status code etc, Command Log shows the logs related to running Commands or Git Deployments, and Debug log shows the logs from the debug.log file when you have switched on WP_DEBUG mode.
Site Usage: InstaWP allows you to check the performance and sizes of your WordPress site’s databases and files.
SFTP & SSH: InstaWP allows you to securely access your site’s filesystem or run commands using SFTP & SSH. Secure Shell (SSH) creates a secure connection when you log in to a remote computer, and it also enables Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), which uses SSH to provide a safe way to transfer files between computers.
Commands: The InstaWP interface allows team members to run a sequence of commands against one or many WordPress sites to execute an operation. For example, WordPress teams can run a delete spam comments command to delete spam from all the sites they manage in one go. InstaWP has an in-built library of lists of useful commands that can be used to quickly perform actions on WordPress sites or create and save custom commands.
Launching Sites with InstaWP
Launching sites with InstaWP is pretty straightforward. WordPress teams can launch completed WordPress projects and make them live using InstaWP Live or any of our hosting partners.
InstaWP Live is a managed WordPress hosting powered by Automattic’s cloud. InstaWP lets you begin with a staging website, where you collaborate with your team and clients in real-time, and effortlessly go live with just a single click.
InstaWP Live provides a premium managed WordPress service. This means that in addition to hosting, you also receive a range of services that make your WordPress experience easier.
These services include automated updates for the WordPress core and plugins, integrated migration tools, and expert support. With us, you can concentrate on creating your content while we handle the technical aspects.
InstaWP live is equipped with DDoS protection, Web Application Firewall (WAF), Automated Backup, Content Delivery Network (CDN), and Guaranteed uptime for secured and smooth running of hosted sites.
Alternatively, you can use InstaWP live hosting partners. Presently, our live hosting partners include Pressable, RunCloud, or ServerAvatar and WordPress teams can purchase hosting directly from our live partners without even creating a hosting account.
WordPress teams can view and manage the hosted sites from all connected providers, as well as map custom domains to the hosted sites directly from the InstaWP dashboard.
Managing Sites with InstaWP
As already pointed out, WordPress teams can view and manage hosted sites from all connected hosting providers directly from the InstaWP dashboard.
As already stated earlier, WordPress teams sometimes need to create WordPress staging of sites they manage before implementing any changes meant for a live site.
When a change or update has been made on the WordPress staging site with no negative outcome, it has to be applied to the live site.
To achieve this, InstaWP has a 2-ways sync feature that allows WordPress teams to track and merge only the changes from the staging site to the live site easily and vice versa. The 2-ways sync feature of the plugin means you can push from staging to production and production to staging.
InstaWP 2-ways sync feature is equipped with an event-based tracking system that makes sure that the tool merges only the changes and does not touch existing data.
This means that live sites will not get completely overwritten when pushing from staging to production. In addition, the merge operation will be lightning-fast since only changes are being synced.
Troubleshooting with InstaWP
Breaking a site or encountering a common WordPress error after a new plugin or theme update, change in PHP version, or change in code is common in WordPress development.
Before trying to fix any WordPress error, WordPress teams need to make sure to first create a sandbox or staging site to replicate and solve that error. Doing this will protect the affected live site from further damage while attempting to troubleshoot the error.
WordPress teams can create a free WordPress site for troubleshooting in an instant with InstaWP. They can then replicate the condition of the live site on the sandbox or staging site to trigger the error.
From there, they can work on figuring out the source of the error and how best to solve the error. They can use troubleshooting WordPress plugins or InstaWP development tools. They can also take a look at the “Log Viewer” tool for error logs to identify the cause of the error.
When they have successfully troubleshooted the error, then they can implement the fix on the live site and have it restored.
Using InstaWP for Remote Collaboration
InstaWP, being a cloud-based tool, also helps facilitate remote collaboration among WordPress team members.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the way we work, leading to the introduction of remote jobs and team collaboration. This has opened up opportunities for individuals to work remotely, breaking geographical barriers and enabling collaboration across different locations. In addition to flexibility, many employees have experienced the financial benefits of remote work, such as reduced commuting and daily expenses.
Remote work tools and technologies like Git, VPNs, Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Trello, and cloud-based systems like Google Docs etc, have played a crucial role in facilitating communication, project management, and virtual collaboration, ensuring that work can continue seamlessly despite physical distance.
This shift has not only provided flexibility but has also highlighted the importance of remote work in maintaining business continuity at any given time.
Recognizing the importance of remote work in maintaining business, InstaWP is designed to support remote collaboration among WordPress team members.
InstaWP is cloud-based, and WordPress team members can collaborate on projects from any part of the World. They can review codes, create demo sites, troubleshoot errors, etc, remotely.
InstaWP also has version control systems like Git to help WordPress teams manage changes to their WordPress codebase efficiently. This ensures a clear history of changes, supports simultaneous work on different features, and facilitates quick rollbacks in case of errors. Combined with Git hosting services like GitHub or Bitbucket, it also encourages collaborative coding and code review practices.
Bonus Tips for WordPress Teams that Wanted High Productivity
For WordPress teams that value productivity, incorporating these strategies could lead to better project outcomes and a happier, more efficient team dynamic.
1. Set clear goals and deadlines: Clearly define the objectives and timelines for each project to ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal.
2. Establish effective communication channels: Use tools like Slack or project management software to facilitate seamless communication and collaboration among team members.
3. Delegate tasks efficiently: Assign tasks based on individual strengths and expertise to maximize productivity and ensure that everyone is working on tasks they are best suited for.
Delegating tasks can also save time and resources for the team. By streamlining the development process and delegating tasks appropriately, WordPress teams can allocate their human resources more efficiently and focus on other important tasks or projects.
4. Encourage continuous learning: WordPress is constantly evolving, so team members need to stay updated with the latest trends and technologies. Encourage them to attend webinars, workshops, or online courses to enhance their skills.
5. Implement a streamlined workflow: Create a standardized workflow that includes clear processes and guidelines for each stage of the WordPress development process. This will help eliminate confusion and improve efficiency.
6. Regularly review and optimize processes: Continuously evaluate your team’s performance and identify areas for improvement. Regularly review your processes and make necessary adjustments to optimize productivity.
Conclusion
In WordPress development, developing sites faster allows teams to launch more websites quickly, enabling them to establish their authority and attract more customers.
WordPress teams need to be able to develop sites faster to stay competitive, enhance customer satisfaction, iterate and improve project design and codes, and optimize resource allocation.
WordPress teams can use InstaWP to develop sites faster. With InstaWP, WordPress teams can collaborate to meet customers’ demands, identify and resolve issues or bugs promptly, ensure a smoother user experience, and reduce the chances of visitors encountering frustrating errors or delays.
Are you ready to elevate your agency and build sites faster, Explore InstaWP today!
