Staging to Production

[Trapbarn]

Did a fresh WP install with Woocommerce in the staging area and built a fresh version of my site using Storefront because I want to move away from Avada theme. Got the staging site exactly the way I wanted it and got amazing speed results. I tested it thoroughly so then decided to move staging into production. Result was most disappointing and would have taken ages to get sorted. So I had to restore production from a backup.

So my questions are :-
1. Why does staging not come across clean and fresh?
2. If someone had the tools and skills to to move staging across to production could it be done cleanly? And what would it cost?
3. Would it be possible to build the fresh site as a sub-domain and then switch the sub-domain to become the main domain?

 

[fisicx]

it’s because the staging hosting is better than your production hosting.

Better servers, properly configured, locality. Lots of reasons.

 

[Trapbarn]

I don't follow.
I was doing it all from the CP on presumably the same host server

 

[Shopclicks]

Was this staging site built to replace Trapbarn? If it was, it looks like your backup didn't restore properly.

 

[Trapbarn]

Yes!. You are right. I just checked it in another browser and it's not tonked. I guess I need some expertise. It's beyond my basic skill set.

 

[Shopclicks]

The easiest and cheapest way is to install the All In One Migration plugin on both sites > Create a backup using the plugin on the staging site > Copy it over to the plugin files on the original site via Cpanel > From the dashboard on the original site, restore the backup you just added. Depending on the backup file size, you may need the All In One Unlimited Extension (£).

 

[fisicx]

I don't follow.
I was doing it all from the CP on presumably the same host server

Ah. Thought you were using wpstaging or some other service.

Are you sure it wasn’t just a caching issue?

 

[Trapbarn]

The back up file is around 210Mb.
As a top end septuagenarian with limited self-taught WP skills, I'm not exactly 100% confident of managing it myself. This latest incident with Avada further reinforces my desire to get shut of it and go with Storefront.
Willing tpo pay to get the job dome by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[fisicx]

There will be a lot of historical data in that backup. All the versions of every post and product along with all the images and other media you no longer use.

It’s a tiny site, your backup shouldn’t be that big. If you want help, post in the ‘I’m looking for… ‘ forum.

 

[Trapbarn]

Ah. Thought you were using wpstaging or some other service.

Are you sure it wasn’t just a caching issue?

I didn't use a staging plugin. I used the staging process in the control panel.

Subsequently I cleared stack cache, W3C cache and browser cache and it looked alright until Shopclicks alerted me. I then checked it in Tor browser and it looked weird.
I'm loosing patience with it hence the need to go to a clean Storefront edition - which is up and running in Staging.

I'm off for a snooze so will check again tomorrow.

 

[thinkfast]

It’s a tiny site, your backup shouldn’t be that big.

Its big problem with wordpress .... Other ecommerce platform did not use database like this ...... Simply if we post a blog in wordpress then in database there will be two plus rows with status draft, publish and so its taking big space than other. I dont know why wordpress team do not care about this issue.

 

[fisicx]

Its big problem with wordpress .... Other ecommerce platform did not use database like this ...... Simply if we post a blog in wordpress then in database there will be two plus rows with status draft, publish and so its taking big space than other. I dont know why wordpress team do not care about this issue.

It’s because each time you update a post the previous version is saved so you can roll back. They can easily be cleared to reduce the size of the database.

 

[Trapbarn]

The easiest and cheapest way is to install the All In One Migration plugin on both sites > Create a backup using the plugin on the staging site > Copy it over to the plugin files on the original site via Cpanel > From the dashboard on the original site, restore the backup you just added. Depending on the backup file size, you may need the All In One Unlimited Extension (£).

OK, I have installed All in One on both sites and created a backup in staging having asked if to find and replace the stahing domain for the production domain.

Next question is .... where exactly do I locate the staging backup file in the file structure of production.. And I am guessing I would do it with FTP?

 

[fisicx]

Correct. You should find it in your site root folder.

But if you are using the wp staging plugin you really shouldn’t need to do this. It’s a very robust plugin. Your broken site as you describe it looks like a caching issue. Disable all optimisation and caching plugins before setting up the staging version.

 

[ctrlbrk]

It’s because each time you update a post the previous version is saved so you can roll back. They can easily be cleared to reduce the size of the database.

can be also switched off if one is that way inclined!

 

[Trapbarn]

Thanks to you all for your help.
I got the trapbarn site up and running again and received some orders. I will let it run for a few day whilst taking regular backups.
When I have a quiet day I will use All in One to over-write with the backup from staging. Meantime if someone could do a check on trapbarn - to check if its stable, on a different PC, that would be appreciated.

 

[Russ Michaels]

Did a fresh WP install with Woocommerce in the staging area and built a fresh version of my site using Storefront because I want to move away from Avada theme. Got the staging site exactly the way I wanted it and got amazing speed results. I tested it thoroughly so then decided to move staging into production. Result was most disappointing and would have taken ages to get sorted. So I had to restore production from a backup.

So my questions are :-
1. Why does staging not come across clean and fresh?
2. If someone had the tools and skills to to move staging across to production could it be done cleanly? And what would it cost?
3. Would it be possible to build the fresh site as a sub-domain and then switch the sub-domain to become the main domain?

Did you use the hosts staging site option? If so then moving staging back to live should just overwrite the site.

If it's not working for reason, have you tried asking your host why?
Other option is you just use a backup/migration plugin to do the job.
I can recommend all in one wp migration, which will allow you to change the domain on the backup.