Staging is the process of maintaining one or more test version(s) of a website in order to evaluate whether new code, upgrades, or design changes are working properly before installing them live in production.
A typical staging progression might include DEV, QA, UAT and PROD platforms.
- DEV is often duplicated on individual developer's local machines
- QA is usually a server-based install that emulates the production environment, which the development team uses to validate their work in a real-world environment
- UAT is usually a server that closely duplicates the production environment, and allows the client or project owner to test the new site, and ultimately approve it for release to production
- PROD is the production or live website
Wordpress has no built-in support for automated staging, and traditional staged release processes in a wordpress environment, where they exist, are currently created by individual development teams to meet specific project needs.
