Glossary
Staging site
A staging site is a private copy of a website where changes are built and tested before they are made on the live site that visitors use. It is used for new builds, redesigns, software updates and new features, and it is kept hidden from the public and from search engines.
The live site is often called "production". The staging copy has the same theme, plugins and settings, so a change can be tried there first. If something breaks, it breaks where no customer sees it.
What a staging site is used for
- Building a new website or a redesign before launch.
- Testing software updates before they are applied to the live site.
- Adding or changing features such as forms, booking steps or a checkout.
- Finding and fixing errors, and checking the site as a whole before changes go live.
What to watch for
A staging site should stay hidden from the public and from search engines. Google's documentation notes that blocking a page in robots.txt does not reliably keep it out of search results, so a staging site is better protected with a password or a noindex rule.
Staging is also not always an exact match for the live site. Caching, for example, is often switched off there. Take a backup before moving changes across, and check the live site again afterwards.
Why it matters to a business website
An update that breaks an enquiry form or a checkout costs enquiries and sales for as long as it goes unnoticed. Testing on staging first means the problem is found before a customer finds it.
Related
Stryx builds websites on a staging server before launch. See WordPress maintenance, website redesign and the guide How often should you update WordPress?