So as described in the doc, on an Nginx server, after creating an individual domain(subdomain) or creating a site in an subdirectory, you will need to manually add the configuration rules for the domain(website).

Install A Staging Site to A Subdirectory

WPvivid Staging Pro supports installing a staging site to a subdirectory of the live site, in the root directory or the wp-content directory.

Install the staging site to the root directory of the live site

When you choose to install the staging site to the website root, and if the subdirectory name(where the staging site is installed)is monzgvhz(or any name you defined when creating the staging site), you will need to add the following rules to the Nginx config file:

location /monzgvhz(replace this with your own subdirectory name) {

# First attempt to serve request as file, then

# as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404,

#try_files $uri $uri/ = 404;

try_files $uri $uri/ /monzgvhz(replace this with your own subdirectory name)/ index.php?$args;

}

Install the staging site to the wp-content directory of the live site

When you choose to install the staging site to the wp-content directory, and if the subdirectory name(where the staging site is installed)is udlkbpsb(or any name you defined when creating the staging site), you will need to add the following rules to the Nginx config file:

location /wp-content/udlkbpsb(replace this with your own subdirectory name) {

# First attempt to serve request as file, then

# as directory, then fall back to displaying a 404,

#try_files $uri $uri/ = 404;

try_files $uri $uri/ /udlkbpsb(replace this with your own subdirectory name)/ index.php?$args;

}

Install A Staging Site to An Individual Domain(Subdomain)

WPvivid Staging Pro also supports installing a staging site to an individual domain(top-level domain and second level domain) that is hosted on the same server as your live site. For example, your live site is a.com, then you can install the staging site to 123.a.com or b.com.

Here is also a step-by-step Nginx offical doc on How to Install WordPress on Nginx and Configure Nginx.

In that case, you will need to create a different conf file for the domain and add the following rules to the conf file to make the staging site to work properly:

root /var/www/html/domain.com/wordpress(replace the root folder of the web server, the domain, and the website directory with your owns);
server_name domain.com(replace this with the individual domain name);

You can even map an individual domain to a different domain’s subdirectory, as long as the domains(websites) are hosted on the same server, for example, 123.b.com to a.com/wordpress/123. In this case, the rules that should be added to the domain’s(123.b.com) conf file are:

root /var/www/html/domain.com/wordpress/subdirectory(replace the root folder of the web server, the domain, and the website subdirectory with your owns);
server_name domain.com(replace this with the individual domain name);

Notes:

1. After adding the above rules, make sure to restart Nginx server to make the changes effect.

2. For staging sites on Nginx server, make sure to use the same Permalink settings as the live site.

You can choose which plugins and themes on your current site to copy to the fresh site. After a fresh install is created, you can also update it with the live site.

How to Create A Fresh WordPress Install?

To create a fresh WordPress install, login to your admin dashboard > click WPvivid Staging in the left side menu > switch to Create A Fresh WP Install tab.

1. Choose A Database for the Fresh Site

On the ‘Create A Fresh WP Install’ page, first enter a prefix for the fresh site’s database tables. You can leave it as the default: wpvividfresh**_

Then choose a database for the fresh site:

• Share the same database with your live site, which is recommended.
• Install the fresh site to another database, this requires you to provide additional login credentials for the database: database name, user name. user password, localhost.

2. Choose Which Subfolder to Install the Fresh Site to

Next, enter a name for subfolder where the fresh site will be installed. You can leave it as the default: myfreshinstall**

Then choose which subfolder of your current site you want the staging site to be saved in:

• The root directory
• The wp-content directory

3. Choose Which Themes and Plugins to Install

After that, choose which themes or plugins on the current site that you wish to install to the fresh site.

Once done, click the Creating Now button at the bottom to start creating the fresh site.

Note: Please don not close or refresh the page while the plugin is creating a fresh site. This can take some time depending on your connection speed and the size of the copy.

When the process is complete and you get the success message, head to the Staging Sites tab where all your staging sites and fresh WordPress installs are displayed. You can manage the sites from the list:

• Copy the fresh install to the live site
• Update the fresh install
• Access the frontend and backend of the fresh install
• Delete the fresh install

How to Copy the Fresh Install to Live?

After you finish the development work on the fresh install, you can publish it to your live site with one click.

To do that, click the Copy the Fresh Install to Live button of the site, on the tab that opens, choose what you wish to copy from the fresh install to the live site.

Once done, click the Copy Now button to start the process.

How to Update the Fresh Install?

Sometimes you may need to update the fresh install with some contents or settings on your live site, then you can use the update the fresh install option.

To do that, click the Update the Fresh Install button of the site.

On the tab that opens, choose what you wish to update from the live site to the fresh install.

Once done, click the Update Now button to start the process.

From this tab, you can manage your staging sites, update staging sites from the live sites and copy staging sites to live.

You can also access the staging site’s admin dashboard by clicking the Admin URL, and delete a staging site from the list(it will delete the staging site folder and staging tables).

How to Publish A Staging Site to Live?

To push a staging site to live, click on Copy the Staging Site to Live button on the Staging Sites tab,

Next, select the content you want to copy from the staging site to the live site,

• Database + Uploads folder: When you choose this option, only the database and the Uploads folder of the staging site will be pushed to the live site.
• Custom Content: Select content you wish to push to the live site, click the arrows to expand the options.

Once you have selected the content, hit the Copy Now button to start publishing it to the live site.

Note: Please do not close or refresh the page while the plugin is copying a staging site to a live site. This can take some time depending on your connection speed and the size of the copy.

Once done, a success message will pop up.

You can choose to copy the entire MU network(only subdirectory Multisite supported) or a specific subsite(both subdomain and subdirectory Multisite supported) to the staging site.

Once the staging site is created, you also have the options to update the live site to staging site and push the staging site back to live with one click.

How to Create A Staging Site for WordPress Multisite?

To create a staging site, login to your admin dashboard > click WPvivid Staging in the left side menu > click the Create A Staging Site button.

Note: WPvivid Staging will automatically exclude some most-used cache plugins when creating a staging site, but considering that there are hundreds of cache plugins on the market, we would recommend temporarily deactivating cache plugins before creating a staging site to rule out possibilities of unknown failures.

1. Choose Database and Directory to Install the Staging Site

First, enter a name for the folder where the staging site will be installed and a prefix for the staging site database tables.

The information you entered will be reflected immediately on the staging site overview section under the fields.

Next, choose a database for the staging site with the options to:

• Share the same database with your live site (recommended)
• Install the staging site to another database, this requires you to provide additional login credentials for the database: database name, user name. user password, localhost.

Choose which directory to install the staging site:

• Install the staging site to the root directory of the current site
• Install the staging site to the wp-content directory of the current site

2. Choose What to Copy to the Staging Site

Next, choose what content on the live site you want to copy to the staging site:

Option 1: Create a staging site for a single MU subsite

This option allows you to create a staging site for a single MU subsite, it supports both subdomain and subdirectory Multisite.

First, you will need to choose a subsite for which you want to create a staging site. You can search the specific subsite if you have many.

Then click Next Step to start choosing what content you want to copy to the staging site.

By default, the plugin will copy the entire database and WordPress files to the staging site, however, you do have the option to exclude files/folders that you don’t want to copy. To do that, expand the option ‘Exclude Additional Files/Folders’ > Select directory from the dropdown menu: /themes, /plugins, /wp-content, /uploads and select files/folders under the directory to exclude them. Click the trashcan icon delete a foler/file from the exclusion list.

Option 2: Create a staging site for the entire MU network

By choosing this option, you can create a staging site for the entire MU network. You have the options to choose to copy the entire MU database, exclude file/folder, select specific or all subsites to copy to the staging site. This option is only supported on a subdirectory Multisite.

3. Create the Staging Site 

Once you are done with the content, click the Create Now button to start creating the staging site. You can view the live progress on the dashboard.

Note: Please don not close or refresh the page while the plugin is creating a staging site. It can take some time depending on your connection speed and the size of the copy.

Once created successfully, the staging site will show up in the Staging Sites tab where you will get an overview of the staging site:

You can also mange the staging site with the options:

• Copy the Staging Site to Live
• Update the Staging Site
• Delete the staging site

How to Update A Staging Site of WordPress Multisite?

Sometimes when you make changes on the staging site, there can be new data generated on the live site at the same time.

In this case, you may also want to update the new data to the staging site before finally pushing it to the live site.

To do that, go to WPvivid Staging plugin > Staging Sites tab, click the Update the Staging Site button after the site.

Next, choose what you wish to update from the live site to the staging site.

If the staging site is a Multisite network as you chose when creating it, you’ll also have the options of:

Easy Mode: Quickly get started by choosing the entire MU database and custom files and/or specific subsites and updating them to the staging site.

Advanced Update: Give you the freedom to choose custom files and database tables of the entire MU network and update them to the staging site.

Once done, click the Update Now button to start the process.

Note: Please do not close or refresh the page while the plugin is updating the staging. It can take some time depending on your connection speed and the size of the copy.

Once the update is done, you’ll receive a popup message saying ‘Updating the staging site completed successfully’.

How to Publish A Staging Site to A Live WordPress Multisite Network?

Once you have finished your development work on the staging site, you can push it back to your live site.

To do that, go to WPvivid Staging plugin > Staging Sites tab, click on the Copy the Staging Site to Live button.

Next, choose what to copy from the staging site to the live site.

If the staging site is a Multisite network as you chose when creating it, you’ll also have the options of:

• Easy Mode: Quickly get started by choosing the entire MU database and custom files and/or specific subsites and pushing them to the live site.
• Advanced Update: Give you the freedom to choose custom files and database tables of the entire MU network and push them to the live site.

Once you have selected the content, click the Copy Now button to start publishing these selected content to the live site.

Note: Please do not close or refresh the page while the plugin is copying a staging site to a live site. It can take some time depending on your connection speed and the size of the copy.

Once the pushing is done, you’ll receive a pop message saying ‘Pushing the staging site to live completed successfully’.

This plugin comes in very handy especially in cases where you need to create a testing environment to test plugins, themes or WordPress updates, or you need to create a fresh WordPress installation to develop a WordPress site from scratch. With it, you can create a staging site or a fresh WordPress installation in a subdirectory of the current live site in just few clicks, and make the staging sites live after your finish the work.

This article will give you a great overview on the WPvivid Staging Pro plugin.

Install WPvivid Staging Pro

First, log in to your My Account area on wpvivid.com > Downloads section. Click Download button of the wpvivid-staging.zip.

Go to your WordPress dashboard > Plugins > Click Add New > Click Upload Plugin and upload the installation zip you just downloaded > Click Install Now > Click Activate Plugin.

Once installed, you can access the plugin from your left admin menu > WPvivid Staging.

WPvivid Staging Pro has 3 tab pages: Staging Sites, Create A Staging Site, Create A Fresh WP Install

Staging Sites

The Staging Sites page serves as a managing dashboard for all your staging sites. From the page, you can copy a staging site to live, update a staging site and delete a staging site. It also gives you quick access to the creating page of the staging site and fresh WP install.

Create A Staging Site

From the page, you can create a staging site in a subdirectory of the current site in few steps:

1. Choose a database to install the staging site: to the same database as your live site, or a separate database.
2. Choose directory to install the staging site: the root directory or the wp-content directory.
3. Choose what to copy to the staging site: Select files and database tables you want to copy from live site to the staging site

Once you’re done with the settings, click ‘Create Now’ to start creating the staging site.

Create A Fresh WP Install

The ‘fresh WP install’ page allows you to create a fresh WordPress install in a subdirectory of the current site in few steps:

1. Choose a database to install the fresh install: to the same database as your live site, or a separate database.
2. Choose directory to install the fresh install: the root directory or the wp-content directory.
3. Choose what to copy to the fresh install: Select files and database tables you want to copy from live site to the fresh install.

Once you’re done with the settings, click ‘Create Now’ to start creating the the fresh install.

Settings

The settings page of the WPvivid Staging Pro plugin. You can try to configure the settings when encountering problems when creating a staging site:

1. DB Copy Count: Number of DB rows copied within one ajax query. If you encounter timeout errors, try lower values until no more errors occur.
2. DB Replace Count: Number of DB rows processed within one ajax query. If timeout erros occur, decrease the value.
3. File Copy Count: Number of files copied within one ajax request. If you encounter timeout errors, try lower values until no more errors occur.
4. Max File Size: Maximum size of the files copied to a staging site. If you set the value of 0 MB, all files will be copied to a staging site.
5. Staging Memory Limit: A temporary PHP memory limit for the plugin to create a staging site. Increase the value if you encounter a memory error.
6. PHP Script Execution Timeout: The time-out is not your server PHP time-out. Try to scale the value bigger in a timeout situation.
7. Delay Between Requests: If your server has a limit on the number of requests, a higher value is recommended.
8. Retrying times when encountering a time-out error: Task retry times in a timeout situation.
9. Anyone can visit the staging site: When the option is checked, anyone will be able to visit the staging site without the need to login. Uncheck it to request a login to visit the staging site.
10. Keep permalink when transferring website: When checked, this option allows you to keep the current permalink structure when you create a staging site or push a staging site to live.
11. Keep staging sites when deleting the plugin: With this option checked, all staging sites you have created will be retained when the plugin is deleted, just in case you still need them later. The sites will show up again after the plugin is reinstalled.
12. Show the option ‘Push the staging site to live’ on the staging site: When this option is checked, the plugin will offer an option of ‘Push the staging site to live’ on the staging site, so you can directly push the staging site to live from the staging site. Uncheck it if you want to remove the option from the staging site.
13. Files permission: The setting controls how file permissions are applied to the target site during staging creation, staging update, and staging push operations. Proper permission settings help balance security and write access during staging workflows.

License

Enter your WPvivid pro license in this page to get the plugin update and support.