How to Set Up a Staging Environment on Shared Hosting

A staging environment is a private copy of your website where you can safely test updates, new plugins, or design changes before pushing them to your live site. Setting one up on dotCanada shared hosting is straightforward using a subdomain.

Step 1: Create a Subdomain

1. Log in to cPanel and go to Domains > Subdomains.
2. Create a subdomain like staging.yourdomain.ca. cPanel will create a folder for it (e.g., public_html/staging).

Step 2: Copy Your Website Files

Use the cPanel File Manager or an FTP client to copy your live site's files into the staging subdomain's folder. Make sure to copy the entire public_html contents (or the relevant subdirectory) into the new location.

Step 3: Create a Staging Database

1. Go to Databases > MySQL Databases in cPanel.
2. Create a new database and user, then assign the user full privileges to the database.
3. Use phpMyAdmin to export your live database and import it into the new one.

Step 4: Update Your Configuration

Update your app's config file (e.g., wp-config.php for WordPress) in the staging folder to point to the new database and the staging URL.

Protect Your Staging Site

It's good practice to password-protect your staging subdomain so it's not publicly accessible. You can do this via cPanel > Files > Directory Privacy.

Need help getting your staging environment configured? Contact our support team - we're always happy to assist.