Staging sites let you safely experiment, like testing new themes, trying plugins, updating content, or fine-tuning your design, all without making unwanted changes to your live site.
But staging site management can sometimes be challenging. A cumbersome interface and limited sync options can slow development, increase the risk of errors, and make it harder to rely on your staging environment, especially when you're working across local, staging, and production.
That's why we've redesigned the WordPress.com staging site experience to streamline the process, giving you the flexibility to move between environments with confidence and decide exactly what gets synced between staging and production.
As a reminder, staging sites are included on all Business and Commerce WordPress.com plans.
Why now?
We're committed to ensuring WordPress.com is the best place to build and host WordPress websites. That means continually reviewing the product, conducting walkthroughs, and listening closely to your feedback.
A recent audit of the Hosting Dashboard surfaced three key friction points: unclear sync behavior, unintuitive environment switching, and hard-to-find destructive actions like "delete."
We also added selective sync to WordPress Studio, our free local development tool, last month. This feature — one of the most requested enhancements — lets you choose exactly what content is synced from your local sites to staging or production on WordPress.com.
To create a seamless workflow from local to staging to production, we brought the same level of control to staging sites on WordPress.com. The result is a redesigned interface that aligns with our modernized navigation and introduces the same selective sync experience you already have in WordPress Studio.
More power and control for your staging sites
The updated staging site interface gives you greater flexibility, clearer actions, and better visibility into what is happening and when.
Here's what's new:
- Top navigation environment switcher: Quickly move between staging and production from anywhere in your dashboard.
- Selective sync: Push or pull only the folders you choose between staging and production, avoiding all-or-nothing syncs.
- Cleaner layout and updated visuals: A streamlined interface with clear separation of actions and status indicators, consistent with the rest of the Hosting Dashboard.
- More intentional staging site deletion: The delete button now lives in your site settings, keeping destructive actions separate from daily workflows.
These updates make plugin and theme development, as well as quality assurance workflows, more efficient. They also reduce the risk of unwanted syncs and give you precise control over your staging and production environments.
Get started today
With the latest enhancements to staging sites, you'll enjoy more flexibility, less clutter, and an overall better hosting experience — all for the same flat rate, starting at just $25/month.
If you're on a Business or Commerce hosting plan, you can start using selective staging site sync and the updated interface today. Just head to your Hosting Dashboard, where you'll also find full documentation and support if you need help getting started.
After trying the new staging site features, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Share your feedback and suggestions in the comments below.
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