Backing up site / creating staging site

  • cwwpforum

    (@cwwpforum)


    1 year ago

    I have been asked to make improvements to a client’s WordPress site. I only have a few weeks’ worth of experience with WordPress. The site uses WP Admin for which I now have Super Admin privileges. There are 31 plugins already installed on the site, 11 of which require updates. It is the site of a gallery which sells paintings of multiple artists.

    Before I make any changes on the site, I feel it would be wise to a) make a/some backup(s) of the site, and b) make a staging site, so I am not working on the live site. I have found some methods by which to do this, but I have some concerns with what I have found.

    a) Backing Up The Site

    I have found two tutorials which suggest using the Duplicator plugin to create a backup of the site, however one recommends temporarily deactivating all plugins before making the backup and the other makes no mention of this step. I was thinking about making two backups following both tutorials, but my questions are i) “is temporarily deactivating all the plugins necessary?”, and ii) “particularly if unsure about the answer to (i) (but even if not), could temporarily deactivating all of the plugins have an adverse effect on the site even once I switch them all on again?”. Also, iii) would I be forced to update the plugins which require updates if I deactivate and reactivate them? And if so (or even if not), iv) could updating all of the plugins make it so that certain things will need fixing/adjusting?

    v) I hope not to need to use the backup, but is it easy to restore from it if needed? I have seen that apparently the Duplicator plugin gives you an archive file and an install file which need to be hosted elsewhere (which I don’t intend to do unless it becomes necessary). vi) How does one use WP Admin with the newly hosted backup? Is that even possible?

    vii) Could the simple installation and activation of the Duplicator plugin have any adverse/unintended effects on the website?

    The two conflicting tutorials are:

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsQTkyHDvz0&t=252s 
    2. https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-clone-a-wordpress-site-in-7-easy-steps/ 

    b) Making a Staging Site

    I have found a tutorial which suggests using the Bluehost plugin to make a staging site – apparently at a simple click of a button. I was about to maybe install it except I have seen that it doesn’t have a high rating. I tried to find other people recommending the Bluehost method of creating a staging site and I couldn’t find one. Then after some exploring I have seen that whilst the plugin is free, you may need a Bluehost account to operate it, which might not be free. My questions are:

    i) Does this method of creating a staging work, and work well?

    ii) Will this method cost money at any stage?

    iii) Will the simple installation and activation of this plugin have any adverse/unintended effects on the site?

    iv) Potentially related to (iii) – Would I still be able to use Elementor (and other plugins) on the Staging site, or does Bluehost “take over” in some way?

    v) Related to (b) – Once a staging site has been created (assuming I go with this method), does adding or subtracting plugins affect only the staging site and not the live site? If so, would it perhaps be recommended that I create the staging site first, then make the backup after as that would be the safest way to backup up the site using the “deactivate all of the plugins first” method?

    vi) Is it really a simple click of a button to create the staging site? Is it also a simple click of button to sync the live site to the staging site once it has been approved?

    Here is the tutorial I found for creating the staging site:

    Thank you very much in advance!

    Christopher Webb

    • This topic was modified 1 year ago by cwwpforum. Reason: Added tags

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Carlos Bravo

    (@cbravobernal)

    Hi there!

    There are a lot of questions there! I hope I can answer most of them.

    “is temporarily deactivating all the plugins necessary?”

    This will depend on which plugins are installed or not. Usually is not the case.

    could temporarily deactivating all of the plugins have an adverse effect on the site even once I switch them all on again?

    Yes, many plugins can run deactivation-activation scripts that could interfere with the site status. Also, during the deactivation process, site can suffer from changes. Of course, all of this will depend on which plugins you have installed. It’s still not a good idea.

    would I be forced to update the plugins which require updates if I deactivate and reactivate them?

    Usually not. Plugins can only force to update if there is any several security issue in it.

    could updating all of the plugins make it so that certain things will need fixing/adjusting?

    I’m not sure if I understood this question correctly, but some plugins can have breaking changes that will require some previous work. Again, it will depend on the plugins installed.

    is it easy to restore from it if needed?

    This usually depends on the hosting you are using. Some of them have auto-backups system to make it easier. Other requires to duplicate the site to a different folder/server and then point the DNS to them.

    How does one use WP Admin with the newly hosted backup? Is that even possible?

    WP Admin is just a part of a WordPress site, wherever you have hosted the site, you have both the front part and the WordPress admin. Remember that if you move a WordPress site to a different host, the last step is to point your DNS from your previous site to the new one.

    Does this method of creating a staging work, and work well?

    If you are looking for a plugin to create backups, do migrations, staging sites with a better review, you can take a look at All-in-One WP Migration. I cannot talk about the plugin you mentioned, as I’ve never used.

    Check also if your hosting provider has any staging sites feature.

    Will this method cost money at any stage?

    That will depend on your hosting provider conditions. Many of them are limited by sites number, storage, etc.
    If you want a staging site to be online, it usually will have similar costs than a real site (it will depend also if costs are traffic related, in which case staging sites has much more less traffic)
    If you have staging site in your local system, that’s for free, but only accessible by you.

    Will the simple installation and activation of this plugin have any adverse/unintended effects on the site?

    I cannot give you a 100% sure response to this. As it depends on many factors as plugin compatibility and hosting resources.

    Would I still be able to use Elementor (and other plugins) on the Staging site, or does Bluehost “take over” in some way?

    For licensed plugins, some features may be disabled, as usually are based on the URL. Bluehost should not take over anything. This question may be better answered within their own support forums.

    does adding or subtracting plugins affect only the staging site and not the live site?

    If you have a staging site, all changes will only affect your staging site. You will need to sync later all those changes into the live site.

    Is it really a simple click of a button to create the staging site? Is it also a simple click of button to sync the live site to the staging site once it has been approved?

    Again, this will depend on your hosting provider. It seems that the plugin you mention requires the website to be hosted in Bluehost.

    In that case, maybe their docs could be useful.

    Hope it helps!

    Thread Starter cwwpforum

    (@cwwpforum)

    Hi Carlos,

    Thank you so much for such a fantastic answer! We decided to go with the All in One WP Migration plugin! We had some trouble for a while downloading the site as it was so big – in the end we decided to just have a staging site with no images, at least to start with. We’ve been working on trying to get the images on there too. Somebody sent us a zip file of the site and somehow my colleague was able to download the full thing. Now we just need to extract all the images and import them onto the staging site, which is hopefully doable. We’ll see.

    Thank you again!

    Christopher Webb

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