How to Create a WordPress Staging Site in DirectAdmin

A staging site is an environment used for building/updating websites before they go live.

Great for testing live updates to check on performance and functionality before pushing the site live.

Follow these steps to create a WordPress staging site in DirectAdmin:

1. Log in to your DirectAdmin account. For instructions on how to log in to your DirectAdmin account, please click here.

2. Once logged in, under Softaculous Apps Installer, click on the WordPress icon.

3. Softaculous will open up to the WordPress installer page.

4. Scroll down to Current Installations, then click the Create Staging button for the website that you wish to make a duplicate/staging site for.

5. Fill in the following information requested on the form to continue.

By default, the installation URL will create the domain ‘staging.domainname’. If you wish to have another subdomain name for the staging site, you will need to create the subdomain prior to this.

Live installation URL: This is the URL/Website you will be creating a staging site from.
Installation URL: This is the URL/Website/Domain name you want the WordPress site installed on.
Database name: The name of your database.

Click the Create Staging button once the form has been filled out.

6. When the staging website has been created, you will be taken to the next page with the details of the staging website’s login URL. The login credentials will remain the same as the site it was copied from.

How to Create a Fresh Staging Site

Firstly, log in to your control panel to create a subdomain to install WordPress on.

For instructions on how to create a subdomain in DirectAdmin, please click here.

Once the subdomain has been created, install WordPress using Softaculous onto that subdomain.

For instructions on how to install WordPress with Softaculous via DirectAdmin, please click here.