Setting Up Staging Environment

Setting up a staging environment for Booknetic allows you to safely test updates, customizations, and configurations without affecting your live website. This guide will walk you through the recommended steps for creating a staging environment and ensuring Booknetic functions correctly within it.

What is a Staging Environment?

A staging environment is a clone of your live website used for testing changes before deploying them to production. It allows you to:

• Test plugin updates, including Booknetic updates.
• Experiment with new settings or customizations.
• Identify potential conflicts with other plugins or your theme.
• Ensure smooth operation without risking your live booking system.

Step 1: Create a Staging Site

Most hosting providers offer one-click staging site creation. Check your hosting dashboard for options like "Create Staging Site." If you prefer to set up a new WordPress site from scratch on a staging subdomain, follow these steps:

1. Create a Subdomain: Access your hosting control panel and navigate to the domain management section. The subdomains that can be used are “test”, “staging”.
2. Install WordPress: Go to the website application section of your hosting dashboard, select WordPress, and choose the subdomain you just created as the installation location. Follow the prompts to complete the WordPress installation.

This method allows you to develop on a completely clean WordPress installation, ensuring that your tests and developments do not interfere with your live site.

Step 2: Install and Activate Booknetic

For setting up the Booknetic on your new WordPress site, you can refer to the Booknetic Installation Guide. Aside from that, when you set up Booknetic for the staging site, make sure that you enable the “is this a staging website?” option:

Once your staging site is set up, to double check that everything is alright, ensure Booknetic is properly installed and activated:

• Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
• Ensure Booknetic is active on the staging site.

Step 3: Update URLs for Staging

Since WordPress stores URLs in the database, you’ll need to update them to match your staging domain. This is especially important for Booknetic’s booking forms and assets.

You can update URLs using:

• A plugin to swap live URLs with staging URLs.
• Direct database edits if you're comfortable with phpMyAdmin or similar tools.

Example:

Replace https://yoursite.com with https://staging.yoursite.com

Step 4: Disable Notifications (Optional)

To avoid sending real booking confirmation emails to customers from your staging site, it’s recommended to disable notifications in Booknetic:

1. Go to Booknetic > Workflows.
2. Disable all of your Workflows.

This step helps prevent confusion for your real customers.

Step 5: Test Booknetic Functionality

Once your staging site is fully set up, go through the following checklist:

• Load your booking form and ensure it works correctly.
• Create test bookings to verify email notifications (if enabled) and calendar sync.
• Test any custom workflows, payment integrations, or addons you rely on.