The actions below are specifically for WordPress websites. You can use our WP Toolkit feature to copy or clone your existing WordPress website. This will create an exact duplicate of your site and place it in a subfolder of your choice on our hosting. You can then access the cloned site and make changes or perform testing without affecting the live site.

Cloning your WordPress website can be beneficial for several reasons:

1. Testing and Development: Cloning allows you to create a duplicate of your live website in a safe environment where you can test new features, plugins, or updates without affecting the live site.
2. Backup and Recovery: Having a clone of your site can serve as a backup. If anything goes wrong with the live site, you can easily restore it using the clone.
3. Migration: If you're moving your website to a new hosting provider or domain, cloning is a simple way to transfer your site, ensuring you don’t lose any data or configurations in the process.
4. Staging Environment: A cloned version can serve as a staging site where you can experiment with design changes, theme modifications, or new content before making it live on the production site.
5. Site Duplication: If you want to create a similar website for another project or client (e.g., a similar theme or setup), cloning can save you time and effort, as it copies the structure and content.
6. Troubleshooting: If your live site is having issues, cloning the website allows you to troubleshoot and debug in a duplicate environment, isolating the issue without disrupting the live site.
7. Security: If you suspect your website has been compromised, cloning it can help preserve a clean version of your site to analyze and restore from, while you work to secure the live site.

To create a staging environment using the Plesk WordPress Toolkit, please follow these steps:

Log in to your 1st Domains account:

• Navigate to https://www.1stdomains.co.nz/client/login.php
• Enter your Account ID and Password, then click "Login".

Access the Web Hosting Control Panel:

• On the 'Account Manager' page, click on 'Manage Domains & Services'.
• Select the domain name you wish to manage from the list.
• Under the 'Domain Name Services' section, click the 'Web Hosting Control Panel' link to log in to the Plesk Control Panel.

Navigate to the WordPress Toolkit:

• Once in the Plesk Control Panel, Navigate to the WP Toolkit by clicking on WordPress in the left hand Menu. 

Create a Staging Environment:

• In the WordPress Toolkit, You should see your existing WordPress install. Click on the "Clone" link.
• You will be prompted to choose a destination folder for the cloned site. Enter the subdirectory where you want the staging environment to be created. Staging is the default folder and already entered in the text field. You can choose your own destination folder by editing that section.
• Click 'Start' to begin the cloning process. Plesk will create a copy of your WordPress site in the specified location.

Access and Manage the Staging Environment:

• Once the cloning process is complete, you can access the staging environment using the URL and the subdirectory you specified. For example the URL would be https://yourdomainnamehere.co.nz/staging/
• You can now make changes and test updates in the staging environment without affecting your live site.

By cloning your website, you ensure that you can work more efficiently, protect your data, and minimize the risk of downtime or errors.