How To Set Up An Avada Staging Site

Last Update: February 25, 2026

A Staging site is a clone of a live (production) site. It’s usually not accessible to the public; rather, it tests updates and changes before deploying to the live site. Having a staging site is an important practice that lets you experiment with redesigns and updates to your site without affecting the live site.

You may have heard of the terms “staging site” and “staging environment.” Staging sites are commonly offered by hosting companies; essentially, they automate the creation of a staging site and push changes back to the live site. You can also create a staging site manually. This involves creating a sub-domain on your hosting account, manually cloning your existing site to it, and then back to the live site. This requires some knowledge of server setups, etc, but it should not be too difficult for an experienced WordPress user.

Finally, you could also use a local installation as a staging environment. It is still just a copy of a live site that can be updated or changed without affecting the live site. You could then use a plugin to transfer it back to the live domain or move it back manually.

Read on to discover all you need to know about creating a staging site for your Avada website, and watch the video below to see how setting up a staging site works with Avada and SiteGround hosting.

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Benefits & Drawbacks Of A Staging Site

A staging site gives you a safe, private copy of your live website where you can test updates, design changes, new plugins, or configuration adjustments without affecting visitors. It allows you to experiment, troubleshoot, and refine your site with confidence, knowing that any issues can be resolved before pushing changes live.

Using a staging environment reduces risk, prevents downtime, and helps maintain a smooth, professional experience for your users. When managed properly, the benefits of a staging site typically far outweigh the drawbacks, especially for business-critical or frequently updated websites.

Benefits

  • Provides a safe environment to test updates, new plugins, and design changes without affecting your live website.
  • Reduces the risk of downtime or broken functionality reaching visitors.
  • Allows you to troubleshoot issues before deploying fixes publicly.
  • Enables experimentation with layouts, features, and performance settings.
  • Improves workflow for developers and teams collaborating on a project.
  • Helps ensure compatibility between WordPress, themes, and plugins before updating live.

Drawbacks (Kind of)

  • Requires additional hosting resources or costs, depending on your provider.
  • It can create version mismatches if changes are made on staging but not properly pushed to the live site.
  • It requires careful syncing of the database and files to avoid overwriting important data.
  • Adds an extra step to the deployment process, potentially slowing rapid changes.

Staging Sites and Avada Licensing

According to the Envato licensing terms and conditions, you need a license per top-level domain install. If you have a valid Avada license, you can set up a Staging site for each license without the need for an additional license for the Staging site.

If the subdomain you are working on matches one of the patterns in our licensing FAQ, our system will automatically register it as a staging site. Domains that don’t match any of these patterns currently won’t qualify as staging sites. Please see here for the valid staging patterns.

Hosted Staging Environment

Some hosting companies offer a “1-Click-Staging-Service”. This is typically an automated process: you click a button to duplicate the site, then click another button once you have worked on it to push the changes live. There is a lot of variance in how hosting companies implement this feature, and on some hosts, it’s a manual process, usually only available on higher-level plans. Check with your hosting company to see if they offer this feature.

This is a great service for beginners, as it doesn’t require you to move sites manually and is generally much quicker and easier. Below are a few links to hosting companies offering staging services in some form or another.

WordPress Staging Site Plugins

Staging sites can also be created using WordPress plugins. There are dedicated premium staging plugins, free staging plugins, and migration and transfer plugins that can also easily create a duplicate site.

Please read the How to Migrate your Site with Duplicator and How to Migrate your Site with All-In-One WP Migration help files for more information on that process.

Localhost Staging Environment

You can also easily set up a localhost staging environment. To do this, you need some local WordPress installation (see these How to Set Up a Local WordPress Installation With XAMPP or MAMP: How to Set Up a Local WordPress Installation on Your Mac articles for more info.)

Once you have a local installation set up, you can use a migration/backup plugin like Duplicator or All-In-One WP Migration to transfer your live site to your computer, and then move it back again, once you have made your changes. This is a bit more of a manual process than using a staging service, but this should not cause any issues for an experienced WordPress user.

Resources

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