Last updated - July 26, 2024
For an ecommerce store owner, there is a multitude of plugins at your disposal, precisely speaking about 60,000 and now the question is what will they pick out of this? To help the business owners from this dilemma, the developers offer them the possibility of using plugins beforehand to know whether they meet their said expectations for the business. This is done with the help of live staging sites and demo sites.
Here I’m trying to explain about live staging and live demo sites, different means to set it up, and the new tool in town that helps you with this; InstaWP.
Without further ado, let’s crack it down one by one!
What are staging and demo sites?
Both serve the same purpose. Developers usually use a staging site to test and leverage their plugins before they put it out for launch. They test the plugins in multiple scenarios that will favor customers through a staging site.
Demo site is a ground set up for WooCommerce store owners, to try and test the plugins and see if they fit their bill. Demo sites usually hold the premium version of the developer’s plugin with every feature attached to it.
Different Ways to Set up a Staging and Demo Site
Now, there are different ways to get themselves a staging site or a demo site. Let’s look at some of them:
- Shared Hosting and Virtual Private Server: Both come under “traditional hosting” methods. Shared hosting is easy to set up but will only have limited resources. Whereas a virtual Private Server brings in better control of the server environment but might require server management skills.
- Cloud Hosting: There are many cloud hosting services, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure, etc. They are reliable, scalable, and flexible, but can be expensive.
- Local by Flywheel: Easy setup for WordPress sites and plugins and the go-to choice for most WordPress developers.
- WordPress Staging Plugin: You can add this plugin to your WordPress backend and start creating a staging site. Once the site is cloned, you can start accessing the website.
How to Create a Live Staging Site & Live Demo Site for Your WordPress Plugin with InstaWP?
If I say you could instantly set up your staging and live demo site with very little help, will you believe it? Yes, with the new toolkit in town, it is just possible.
InstaWP is a WordPress Development Toolkit that helps create WordPress sites with very little put-up time. The created layout becomes the foundation of your ground for testing plugins, themes, or anything that concerns you.
If you are someone whose day starts and ends with WordPress CMS, then InstaWP is your go-to option.
Let’s now see how we create a staging site and live demo site with InstaWP.
Creating a live staging site with InstaWP
- You need to get yourself to the InstaWP website.
- Then, you have to sign up yourself with your email address.
- After logging in, you will be directed to this window.
- Click on, create a staging site and you will land on the next window; with all that you need to set up your new website.
- Once the necessary plugins are added, you are ready to go.
In this article, I will be focusing on a few important features:
PHP Config
In InstaWP, you can change the default configuration and set defined PHP values.
To change the current PHP version to what you would like, you will need to have access to the paid version of InstaWP.
Here’s a sneak peek into what each of the terminologies means:
Courtesy: InstaWP
SFTP/SSH
This definitely helps the developers to streamline your staging website or even the demo site that forms out of it.
Through enabling SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol), a secure transfer is created to move data to and from the live staging website.
Through enabling SSH (Secure Shell), you are getting access to a terminal application that helps you get hold of the backend and helps with website modifications and debugging.
View Creds
These are the login details of the staging site you have created. By clicking the “Magic Login,” you will be directed to the WP Admin Panel of the site.
Map Domain
To help make your website address easier to identify, this feature of InstaWP helps. With the custom domain, it becomes possible to create distinct domains for various departments, product categories, or services, all under the same WordPress installation.
Creating a live demo site with InstaWP
Once you create the live staging site, you can now start creating a template for your live demo site for the plugin.
The template is derived from the live staging site we have created. In the basic unpaid version, you will only have access to one template.
- Now, select the staging website for the template. You need to give a name to the template and a description.
You can turn the toggle on for Instant Template, which will help the customer use the live demo site instantly without having any obstacles. It is available only in the premium version.
Branding (premium feature)
To access these options, the enable sharing toggle needs to be enabled.
Under branding, you can set the logo, a customized mail sent to users concerning the credentials, privacy policy, and the color of the page of the template.
Email Collection (premium feature)
- InstaWP gives you brownie access to get the email data of the users who access your live demo site.
- When you activate this feature, the template window will also have a space where your email address needs to be entered to get access to the live demo site.
- A reply-to-email address will have your user’s inquiry sent to the email address you want, say support desk mail id.
Advanced Options (premium feature)
- In this, you can set the time after which the link to the live demo site will no longer work. Users will be required to log in with another email address to access again.
- They can extend the site time to little further if that toggle is “On”.
- The WP admin can access the live demo site without the need for credentials if the toggle is on and the website URL is already given there.
The pricing of InstaWP starts at $90/yr.
Final Wrap
A live staging site and live demo site are integral parts of your ecommerce business. Be it from the user’s perspective or the developer’s perspective, a good functional site can help deliver the positive prospects of the plugin or theme. So, creating a live staging site and demo site needs as much precision as possible, which solutions like InstaWP match with.
FAQs
- How do I show only categories on my shop page?
To show only categories on your WooCommerce shop page, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the WordPress dashboard.
- Go to Appearance > Customize > WooCommerce > Product Catalog.
- In the “Shop page display” dropdown, select “Show categories”.
- Save your changes.
- Why are my categories not displaying on the shop page?
Double check if the settings are right, whether the products are entered correctly with categories and sub-categories. See if there are any plugins that are restricting you from showcasing the categories on the shop page.
- Can I display subcategories on the shop page?
Yes, you can display sub-categories on the shop page.
- What are the different ways in which you can customize categories on the shop page?
You can use WooCommerce Default Settings, Plugins, and even shortcodes.
- How do I make my staging site live in WordPress?
In order to make your staging site in WordPress live, you must transfer or duplicate the site’s files and database to your live server. There are two ways to accomplish this: manually with an FTP client or by using a migration plugin.
- How do I publish my staging site?
Before publishing your staging site, make sure to update the site URLs in the WordPress database to match the live site’s URL. Make sure all links and media point to the live domain, not the staging environment.
