=== WP STAGING PRO - Backup Duplicator & Migration ===

Author URL: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging
Plugin URL: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging
Contributors: WP-Staging, WPStagingBackup, ReneHermi, lucatume, lucasbustamante, alaasalama, fayyazfayzi
Donate link: https://wp-staging.com/#pricing
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Tags: backup, restore, migration, staging, wordpress backup
Requires at least: 3.6+
Tested up to: 7.1
Stable tag: 6.11.1
Requires PHP: 7.0

Backup & Backup Restore. Migration & Staging – 1-Click Enterprise Backup Plugin, 100% Unit Tested. Keep Your Backups Safe and Secure.

== Description ==

<h3>Staging, Backup, Cloning & Migration of WordPress Sites</h3>
WP STAGING is a professional all in one <strong>backup, duplicator and staging plugin</strong>. Create an exact copy and backup of your website in seconds. Perfect for staging, backup, or development purposes.
(Cloning and backup time depends on the size of your website)
<br /><br />
This backup and staging tool creates a clone of your website into a subfolder or subdomain (Pro) of your main WordPress installation. The cloned site includes an entire copy of your database.
 <br /> <br />
For pushing & migrating plugins and themes to the live site, creating a backup and upload a backup to cloud providers, check out [WP STAGING | PRO](https://wp-staging.com/backup-wordpress "WP STAGING - Backup & Cloning")
<br /><br />
WP STAGING runs all the time-consumptive operations for database and file cloning and backup operations in the background. This tool does <strong>automatically a search & replacement</strong> of all links and paths.
 <br /><br />
This staging and backup plugin can clone your website even if it runs on a weak shared hosting server.
 <br /><br />
<strong>WP STAGING can prevent your website from breaking or going offline due to installing untested plugins!</strong>

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkv52s36Yvg]

== WP STAGING FREE - BACKUP & STAGING FEATURES ==

* Clones the entire production site into a subdirectory like example.com/staging-site.
* Easy to use! Create a clone / backup site by clicking one button
* No Software as a Service - No account needed! All your data stays on your server. Your data belongs to you only.
* No server timeouts on huge websites or small and weak servers
* Very fast - Migration and clone / backup process takes only a few seconds or minutes, depending on the website's size and server I/O power.
* Use the clone as part of your backup strategy
* Only administrators can access the clone / backup website.
* SEO friendly: The clone website is unavailable to search engines due to a custom login prompt and the meta tag no-index.
* The admin bar on the staging / backup website is orange colored and shows when you work on the staging site.
* Extensive logging features
* Supports all popular web servers: Apache, Nginx, Microsoft IIS, LiteSpeed Server
* Every release passes thousands of unit and acceptance tests to make the plugin extremely robust, reliable and fast on an enterprise code quality level
* Fast and professional support team

== WP STAGING | PRO - BACKUP & STAGING FEATURES ==

The backup & cloning features below are Premium. You need WP STAGING | PRO to use those features. [More about WP STAGING | PRO](https://wp-staging.com/backup-wordpress)!

* Migration - Migrate and transfer WordPress to another host or domain
* High Performance - Backup and clone an entire website, even with millions of database rows faster and less resource-intensive than with other plugins
* Push staging website including all plugins, themes, and media files to the production website wth one click
* Clone the backup / clone site to a separate database
* Choose custom directory for backup & cloned site
* Select custom subdomain as destination for backup / clone site like dev.example.com
* Authentication - Define user roles for accessing the clone / backup site only. This can be clients or external developers.
* Multisite Support - Migrate, backup and clone WordPress multisites
* Backup Plans - Schedule recurring multiple backups by hours, time and interval
* Backup Transfer - Download and upload backups to another server for migration and website transfer
* Backup Retention - Select number of backups you want to keep on your server or cloud remote storage provider
* Backup Custom Names: Choose custom backup names to differentiate easily between different backup files
* High Performance Background Processor - Runs backup in the background very efficiently without slowing down your website
* Mail notifications - Be notified if a backup can not be created
* Backup of WordPress multisites
* Backup to Google Drive
* Backup to Amazon S3
* Backup to (s)FTP
* Backup to Dropbox
* Specify custom backup folder destination for backup cloud storage providers
* Priority Support for backup & cloning or if something does not work as expected for you.

== DOCUMENTATION ==

== Backup, Restore & Migration ==

<strong>How to Backup and Restore WordPress</strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/how-to-backup-and-restore-your-wordpress-website/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/how-to-backup-and-restore-your-wordpress-website/ "Backup and Restore WordPress")

<strong>Backup & Transfer WordPress Site to Another Host</strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/how-to-migrate-your-wordpress-site-to-a-new-host/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/how-to-migrate-your-wordpress-site-to-a-new-host/ "Backup and Transfer WordPress to new host")

<strong>All Backup Guides</strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/backup-restore/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/backup-restore/ "All Backup Guides")

<strong>Working with Staging Sites </strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/working-with-wp-staging/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/working-with-wp-staging/ "Working with Staging Sites")

<strong>FAQ for Backup & Cloning</strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/frequently-asked-questions/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/frequently-asked-questions/ "Backup & Cloning FAQ")

<strong>Troubleshooting Backup & Cloning</strong>
[https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/troubleshooting/](https://wp-staging.com/docs/category/troubleshooting/ "Troubleshooting Backup & Cloning")

<strong>Change your workflow of updating themes and plugins:</strong>

1. Use WP STAGING to clone a production website for staging, testing, or backup purposes.
2. Create a backup of your website.
3. Customize the theme, configuration, update or install new plugins.
4. Test everything on your staging site and keep a backup of the original site.
5. If the staging site works 100%, start the migration and copy all updates to your production site!
6. If something does not work as expected, restore the previous backup.

<h3> Can´t I just use my local WordPress development system like xampp / lampp for testing and backup purposes? </h3>

You can always test your website locally, but if your local hardware and software environment is not a 100% exact clone of your production server, there is NO guarantee that every aspect of your local copy works on your production website exactly as you expect it.

There are noticeable differences like the PHP version or the server your website is running under. Still, even such non-obvious settings like the amount of RAM or the CPU performance can lead to unexpected results on your production website.

There are dozens of other reasons why a local test website will never mimic the production site server. That's why a successful local test or backup site is no guarantee that the site will run in the production environment as expected.

That is where WP STAGING shows its strengths... Site cloning, backup, and staging site creation simplified. WordPress cloning on an enterprise-ish level!


== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Why should I use a Backup & Staging Website? =

Plugin updates and theme customizations should be tested on a staging / backup platform before applying them on the production website.
Usually, it's recommended having the staging / backup platform on an identical server like the production server. You can only catch all possible errors during testing with the same hardware and software environment for your test & backup website.

So, before you update a plugin or install a new one, it is highly recommended to check out the modifications on a clone / backup of your production website.
That ensures that any modifications work on your production website without throwing unexpected errors or preventing your site from loading, better known as the "WordPress blank page error."

Testing a plugin update before installing it in a production environment isn't done very often by most users because existing staging solutions are too complex and need a lot of time to create a
an up-to-date copy of your website.

You could be afraid of installing plugins updates because you follow "never touch a running system." You know that untested updates increase the risk of breaking your site.

That's is one of the main reasons WordPress installations are often outdated, not updated at all, and insecure because of this non-update behavior.

<strong> It's time to change this, so there is no easier way than using "WP STAGING" for cloning, backup, and migration of your WordPress website.</strong>

= How to install and set up a staging site / site backup? =
Install WP STAGING backup via the admin dashboard. Go to 'Plugins', click 'Add New' and search the plugins for 'WP STAGING'. Install the plugin with 'Install Now'.
After installation, go to WP STAGING > Staging Sites and create your first staging / backup site

= Is WP STAGING a backup plugin? =
Even though you can use WP STAGING for backup purposes, the free version is not a usual backup plugin per the general definition. WP STAGING creates a clone of your entire website, which you can immediately use for developing and testing.
You can even use it as some kind of backup in case something happens to your production site, but only the WP STAGING | PRO pro version allows you to download the backup to your local computer. There are many other popular backup plugins out there. Still, our goal is to bring the reliability and performance of a backup plugin to a new level.

So instead of offering our backup feature free of charge, we think it's time to provide a full-fledged premium backup solution with enterprise code quality affordable for everyone.

[Video: How we run automated tests on WP STAGING](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf9C9Pgu7Bs)

= What is the difference between WP STAGING backup and other backup plugins? =

----------------------------------------------
Note: WP STAGING | PRO provides more advanced backup functionality compared with the below-mentioned backup plugins. The speed and Performance of WP STAGING's backup feature often exceed even the most prominent and most well-established backup plugins.
We are now adding more advanced backup features to deliver what other existing backup plugins are still missing.
----------------------------------------------

You may have heard about other popular backup plugins like All in one Migration, BackWPUp, BackupWordPress, Simple Backup, WordPress Backup to Dropbox, or similar WordPress backup plugins and now wonder about the difference between WP STAGING and those backup tools.

Other backup plugins usually create a backup of your WordPress filesystem and a database backup that you can use to restore your website if it becomes corrupted or you want to go back in time to a previous state.

The backup files are compressed and can not be executed directly. WP STAGING, on the other hand, creates a full backup of the whole file system and the database in a working state that you can open like your original production website.

Even though WP STAGING's basic version comes with some backup capabilities, its main purpose is to create a clone of your website, which you can work on. It harmonies very well with all the mentioned backup plugins above. If you go with the WP STAGING | PRO version, you will get the backup functionality of the mentioned above backup plugins.

Note, that some free backup plugins are not able to support custom tables. (For instance, the free version of Updraft plus backup plugin). In that case, your backup plugin is not able to create a backup of your staging site when it is executed on the production site.
The reason is that the tables created by WP STAGING are custom tables beginning with another table prefix.
To bypass this limitation and to be able to create a backup of your staging site, you can set up your backup plugin on the staging site and create the backup from that location. That works well with every available WordPress backup plugin.

= I want to backup my local website and copy it to production and another host =
If you want to migrate your local website to an already existing production site, you can use our pro version WP STAGING | PRO or a tool like WP Migrate DB that copies only the database.
WP STAGING is intended to create a staging site with the latest data from your production site or create a backup of it.

= What are the benefits compared to a migration and backup plugin like Duplicator? =
We like the Duplicator plugin. Even though Duplicator is not as fast as WP STAGING for creating a backup,  it's still is a great tool for migrating from a development site to production one or from production site to development one. Overall it's a good tool to create a backup of your WordPress website.
The downside is that before you can even create an export or backup file with Duplicator, a lot of adjustments, manual interventions, and requirements are needed before you can start the backup process.
The backup plugin Duplicator also needs some skills to be able to create a backup and development/staging site. In contrast, WP STAGING does not need more than a click from you to create a backup or staging site.
Duplicator is best placed to be a tool for the first-time creation of your production site. That is something where it is convenient and powerful.

If you have created a local or web-hosted development site and you need to migrate that site the first time to your production domain, you do nothing wrong by using
the Duplicator plugin! If you need all your latest production data like posts, updated plugins, theme data, and styles in a testing environment or want to create a quick backup before testing out something, then we recommend using WP STAGING instead!

If speed, performance, and code quality are a matter for you as well, give WP STAGING a try.

= I can not log in to the staging / backup site =
If you are using a security plugin like Wordfence, iThemes Security, All In One WP Security & Firewall, or a plugin that hides the WordPress default login URL, make sure that you have installed the latest version of WP STAGING to access your cloned backup site.
Suppose you can still not log in to your staging / backup site. In that case, you can go to WP STAGING > settings and disable there the WP STAGING extra authentication. Your admin dashboard will still be protected and not accessible to public users.

= Can I activate permalinks on the staging / backup site? =

Permalinks are disabled on the staging / backup site after first time cloning / backup creation
[Read here](https://wp-staging.com/docs/activate-permalinks-staging-site/ "activate permalinks on staging site") how to activate permalinks on the staging site.

= How to use a Backup file to Migrate WordPress Backup to another Host or Domain
The pro version of WP STAGING can backup your whole WordPress website. (In the future, we are implementing a basic free version of our sophisticated backup feature into this free version as well)
With this backup function, you can backup and copy your entire WordPress website to another domain, new host, or new server very easily, and often faster and more reliable than with any other existing backup plugins.
Have a look at [https://wp-staging.com/docs/how-to-migrate-your-wordpress-site-to-a-new-host/](this article), that introduces the backup feature.

= Is There a Translation of WP STAGING in my Language? =

We have translated WP STAGING into five languages nearly completely:

English: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress Plugin. Backup & Migrate WordPress websites.](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
French: [Plugin WordPress de sauvegarde et de duplication WP STAGING. Sauvegarder et migrer les sites Web WordPress.](https://fr.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
German: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress Plugin. Migrate WordPress Webseiten.](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Spanish: [WP STAGING Complemento de copia de seguridad y duplicador de WordPress. Copia de seguridad y migración de sitios web de WordPress.](https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)

The following languages have been partially translated. You can help us with the translation:

Croatian: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress dodatak. Izradite sigurnosnu kopiju i migrirajte WordPress web stranice.](https://hr.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Dutch: [WP STAGING Back-up & Duplicator WordPress-plug-in. Back-up en migratie van WordPress-websites.](https://nl.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Finnish: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress-laajennus. Varmuuskopioi ja siirrä WordPress-verkkosivustoja.](https://fi.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Greek: [WP STAGING Πρόσθετο WordPress Backup & Duplicator. Δημιουργία αντιγράφων ασφαλείας και μετεγκατάσταση ιστοσελίδων WordPress.](https://el.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Hungarian: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress beépülő modul. WordPress-webhelyek biztonsági mentése és migrálása.](https://hu.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Indonesian: [WP Staging Backup & Duplikator Plugin WordPress. Cadangkan & Migrasi situs web WordPress.](https://id.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Italian: [WP STAGING Plugin WordPress per backup e duplicatori. Backup e migrazione di siti Web WordPress.](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Persian: [WP STAGING پشتیبان گیری و افزونه وردپرس Duplicator. پشتیبان گیری و مهاجرت از وب سایت های وردپرسی.](https://fa.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Polish: [WP STAGING Wtyczka WordPress do tworzenia kopii zapasowych i powielania. Twórz kopie zapasowe i migruj witryny WordPress.](https://pl.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Portuguese (Brazil): [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicador Plugin WordPress. Backup e migração de sites WordPress.](https://br.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Russian: [Плагин WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator для WordPress. Резервное копирование и перенос сайтов WordPress.](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Turkish: [WP STAGING Yedekleme ve Çoğaltıcı WordPress Eklentisi. WordPress web sitelerini yedekleyin ve taşıyın.](https://tr.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)
Vietnamese: [WP STAGING Backup & Duplicator WordPress Plugin. Sao lưu và di chuyển các trang web WordPress.](https://vi.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-staging/)

= Can I give you some feedback for WP STAGING Backup & Cloning? =
This plugin has been created in thousands of hours and works even with the smallest shared web hosting package.
We also use an enterprise-level approved testing coding environment to ensure that the cloning and backup process runs rock-solid on your system.
If you are a developer, you will probably like to hear that we use Codeception and PHPUnit for our backup software.

As there are infinite variations of possible server constellations, it still can happen that something does not work for you 100%. In that case,
please open a [support request](https://wp-staging.com/support/ "Support Request") and describe your issue.

== WP STAGING BACKUP & CLONING TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION ==

* Works on latest version of WordPress
* Minimum Supported WordPress Version 3.8
* Cloning and Backup work on all webhosts
* No extra libraries required
* Backup & cloning supports huge websites
* Custom backup format is much faster and smaller than any tar or zip compression
* Backup & cloning works in low memory & shared hosting environments

== SUPPORT ==
[https://wp-staging.com/backup-wordpress](https://wp-staging.com/backup-wordpress "https://wp-staging.com/backup-wordpress")

== Installation ==
1. Download the backup & clone plugin "wp-staging-pro.zip" from your account or the email we've sent to you.
2. Upload and install the backup plugin via the WordPress plugin backend wp-admin > plugins > add new > uploads
3. Activate the backup plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.
4. Go to: Start Plugins -> Staging

== Screenshots ==

1. Create new WordPress staging / backup site
2. Select name for staging / backup site
3. Select folders to include in staging / backup site
4. Cloning / backup processing
5. Listed staging / backup sites
5. Listed staging / backup sites
6. Open, edit & delete staging / backup sites
7. Login to staging / backup site
4. Demo of a staging / backup site

== Changelog ==

= 6.11.1 =
* New: Show backup prompt before updating plugins, themes, or WordPress core. The recovery backup then runs in the background, and further updates queue behind it instead of asking again. #4028
* Enh: Allow the free version to back up other folders in the WordPress root directory. #5532
* Enh: Log the source and the destination table name while copying database tables, so the clone log no longer reads as if it copies staging tables. #5536
* Enh: Record a generic analytics event when an upgrade CTA is clicked, so the plugin side of the upgrade funnel can be compared with the website arrivals it produces. #5640
* Enh: Record a stable error code alongside the translated message so failure causes can be counted reliably. #5510
* Enh: Record whether a site still has WP STAGING, by noting in the anonymous usage data when the plugin is switched on or off, together with the reason given when switching it off. #5586
* Enh: Show the selected table count against the site prefix total when creating a staging site, so a plugin-heavy site no longer looks like it copies every database table. #5536
* Enh: Show the task-selector first run to every new single-site WP STAGING Free installation. #5646
* Fix: A backup request left over from a staging site that never finished no longer blocks the backup offer on the next staging site you create. #5618
* Fix: A backup schedule saved during the very minute it is set for now waits for its next occurrence, instead of being registered for a time that has just passed. #5617
* Fix: A backup that was still waiting or running when the first-run setup finished now starts and is reported as completed. #5577
* Fix: Cancel the backup scheduled after a staging site when that staging site creation is cancelled. #5737
* Fix: Convert a raw byte count to megabytes so the backup speed index is no longer always zero. #5590
* Fix: Drop the plugin dependencies from the shipped autoload classmap, which listed them at paths the build deletes. #5693
* Fix: Fail the restore when a database table rename fails, instead of reporting success on a half-swapped database. #5756
* Fix: Harden Classic staging row-exclusion filter values before SQL use. #5790
* Fix: Hide the "Create a Staging Site" onboarding card and post-backup offer on WordPress.com-hosted sites, which do not support staging. #5709
* Fix: Leave the hosting provider's own must-use plugin files out of the staging site when creating, updating and resetting it. #5643
* Fix: Pass a string to esc_attr in the onboarding capability icon. #5562
* Fix: Preserve unrelated subsite tables and user metadata during network site restores. (Pro) #5653
* Fix: Prevent an error when opening Push Changes with legacy settings. (Pro) #5829
* Fix: Provision a fresh test environment again when the WordPress template is a mounted folder. #5802
* Fix: Push summary now reflects the configured file-size limit instead of always showing 8 MB. #5560
* Fix: Refuse a second start that arrives while another request is already initializing a job, instead of letting both overwrite each other. #5516
* Fix: Reject non-stdClass serialized objects in the Pro search-replace routine to prevent PHP object injection, and add a sniff requiring an allowed_classes option on unserialize(). #5668
* Fix: Report a temporary or backup table that could not be dropped during cleanup, instead of logging it as deleted. #5756
* Fix: Report smart exclusions as switched off in WP Staging Free, where they never run, instead of on with nothing excluded. #5635
* Fix: Restore each multisite subsite with its own URLs instead of always the main site. #5633
* Fix: Restore the light icon when dark mode requests a dark variant that does not exist. #5739
* Fix: Retry a table drop that a lock blocked, and give the lock a bounded wait instead of holding the request open. #5756
* Fix: Scheduled backups are now included in the usage statistics, which previously only counted backups started by hand. #5507
* Fix: Show a notice instead of a critical error when the selected backup items contain no files. #5515
* Fix: Show the backup creation button in the Next-Gen staging site creation process modal and make the Pro Next-Gen engine release a queued backup once the staging site is created. #5776
* Fix: Skip the commit-lookup guardrail when the API does not answer, rather than failing it. #5673
* Fix: Stop a restore before it imports the database when tables of an earlier restore could not be removed. #5756
* Fix: Stop emitting a deprecation notice on PHP 8.4 and 8.5 for parameters that accept null. #5758
* Fix: Stop renaming a backup created on Windows from reporting it as damaged. #5768
* Fix: Stop sending Remote Sync analytics events before the job finishes, which left most syncs recorded without an outcome. #5504
* Fix: Stop the Network Admin staging page from getting stuck on unresolved analytics consent. #5628
* Fix: Stop the release publish phases from losing a successful prepare run. #5779
* Fix: Type the database rows WordPress 7.1 now describes precisely, so static analysis passes again. #5754
* Fix: Write one line terminator in the backup format on every platform, so a backup created on Windows matches the one created on Linux. #5768
* Dev: Add a shutdown-worktree skill that stops the containers before removing the folder. #5798
* Dev: Add the 2026-08-14 reading of the free_onboarding_v1 experiment with a D1 cut that matures before the 7-day windows close, and make the reading a one-command daily job. #5609
* Dev: Cancel a Fast tests run when a newer push supersedes it, and keep PHP 8.0 and 8.1 for the full matrix. #5786
* Dev: Fold the four cheap fast-test jobs into a single static_checks job. #5792
* Dev: Give the Playwright E2E jobs enough time to finish when the runner has to pull its Docker images first. #5824
* Dev: Give the Windows unit tests back the time they need to finish. #5806
* Dev: Keep the deploy API mu-plugin only in the wp-staging.com repo, so a copy carrying the object-cache flush that broke the 6.11.0 release cannot be uploaded to production again. #5741
* Dev: Move the skills to .agents so every agent can read them, not only Claude. #5733
* Dev: Raise the release pre-flight floor for the deploy API to 1.4.0, so a production rollback to a mu-plugin without the changelog-anchor guard blocks the release instead of corrupting the changelog page. #5799
* Dev: Raise the self-hosted GitHub Actions fleet on xsimulator.net from eight runners to twelve. #5789
* Dev: Say what make tests_guardrails checks, and cover the Makefile baseline comparison with its own test. #5780
* Dev: Stop running environment-independent e2e tests once per environment, and split the longest pro jobs. #5833
* Dev: Work through the classes the wpfree sieves deferred, and drop the transient users. #5703

WP STAGING | PRO Backup & Cloning | Full Changelog:
[https://wp-staging.com/wp-staging-pro-changelog/](https://wp-staging.com/wp-staging-pro-changelog/)

== Upgrade Notice ==
Compatible up to WordPress 7.0.
Many improvements for reliability and bug fixes. Please update to the latest version!
