What is the reason you need a staging Site for Your Membership Campaign
One reason WordPress is a great option for your website that is a member-only is the wide range of themes and plugins this software can provide, not to mention all the options for customizing users.
WHAT'S 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 you are able to create imprevements to your site with the use of a brand new plugin, theme or a custom-written code on your site.
If it takes only a few clicks to completely alter the appearance of your website, incorporate more features or change your site in some other method, why not try it a little?
But there's a problem. Despite the relative accessibility to create a variety of changes to the design of our WordPress websites, these changes can have unexpected effects members might not appreciate.
In this piece we'll discuss the best ways to work on your WordPress site while not affecting the user experience which is particularly important when you have paying members.
What exactly is a Staging Site and Why You Need One
Like we said, if you test different themes, download new plugins, or just tinker with the widgets and menus within WordPress, you could unwittingly expose your website to risk.
Take a look at what a new member may think if the site design suddenly shifts, a function stops working, or the entire site goes down.
They'll at best think twice when they're asked to enter their personal information At worst, they'll leave your site, never to return.
They could be able to inform other people about their displeasure regarding your site.
These issues can arise if you start adjusting the core aspects of your website. And that's why it's recommended you use a staging site or development environment to test the changes you intend to make to your website.
If you're a member-site administrator is even more essential to not make changes to the live website and build a replica of your site that only you and your team have access to.
Your staging area is an area of safety where you are free to do whatever you like without worrying about
- Members who are unhappy
- Attracting new visitors
- Data loss, which includes customer transactions.
Once you're sure that your modifications haven't created any problems, you'll be able to make them available to the live version of the site.
Sound good? Check out this article to learn how you can build a staging page to host your WordPress site for membership.
Make sure to check with your Web host
One of the benefits of choosing a platform that is currently powering more than 30% of sites is that there are a variety of WordPress-optimized web hosting services available.
One of the features now available to these WordPress web hosts, including the cheapest basic plans that allows you to quickly create a test site or staging area using your existing website.
The top staging-site options that web hosts offer make it easy to create a test environment that is private. You can then move the test site version of your website into the live hosting system.
Because of this, it's possible to go all the time you like and do as much as you'd like when attempting to test the new configuration of your site. Once you're satisfied for it, you'll be able to make the modifications available to your visitors and members with just several mouse clicks.
In any case, using a staging website can help you stay clear of the inevitable issues that come with using your live website for testing and developing.
Select a Good WordPress Staging Site Plugin
If you are looking to select a WordPress plugin for setting up an interim version of your website, you can choose between two choices:
- a plug-in designed for this purpose or
- a general-purpose web-duplication plug-in.
Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of each method before identifying the best plugins.
A specially-built stage-site plug-in may seem like the obvious choice, but the options available are limited since there are less plugins like this to choose from.
In addition, you aren't as in control over the entire process or the end product as with more general-purpose site-copying plugins.
Another option, a general-purpose site-duplication plugin provides you with more control over the entire procedure.
The top plugins in this category allow you to copy specific elements of your website, for instance, the database or your content. Additionally, they offer options for where the staging site is located and include the local WordPress installation, or even a private subdomain.
Although many of the best WordPress websites-duplication plugins are available for cost-free, they're not always as user-friendly as professional staging-site software.
- WP Stagecoach - a commercial one-click staging-site-creation WordPress plugin with lots of useful features.
- WP Staging is a work-in-progress free WordPress website staging-and-cloning plugin.
- Duplicator is a robust but more complicated WordPress duplication plugin for websites.
As you can see, when you're willing to pay for a premium plugin it's a lot more straightforward. Although those that are free may need a bit more time, they're definitely an option for building an WordPress membership-staging site.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully you now understand the benefits of having a staging environment for your WordPress site for membership.
It's possible to get away with the simplest of codes on a small personal blog, but when you're running a professional membership site You have an even greater obligation to care for the members of your site, no matter if they're paying for access or not.
How will you create a staging site for your membership website? Comment on your suggestions in the comments section below.