How to Safely Set Up a Staging Site for Your Membership Platform

Starting a membership site can be a great way to share exclusive content, build a community, and generate recurring revenue. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to safely set up a staging site for your membership site, as well as provide tips on protecting your site from irreversible changes. So, let’s get started on how to start a membership site!

Setting Up a Staging Site for Your Membership Site

A staging site or development site is a non-public version of your live membership site where you can test new features before releasing them. Here’s how you can set up a staging site for your membership site:

1. Be Extra Cautious: When setting up a staging site for a transactional ecommerce site like a membership site, it’s important to be extra cautious. You don’t want your staging site to cause any issues on your live site.

2. Follow the Setup Guide: If you already have a staging site or are considering setting one up, make sure to follow the setup guide provided by your membership site platform. The guide will outline the best practices to ensure your staging site doesn’t cause any worst-case scenarios, such as canceling real member subscriptions or overwriting live site data.

3. Test New Features: Once your staging site is set up properly, you can use it to add and test new features before releasing them on your live site. This allows you to ensure everything is working correctly and avoid any potential issues for your members.

Protecting Your Membership Site from Irreversible Changes

When making changes to your membership site, it’s important to take steps to protect it from irreversible changes. Here are some tips to help you do that:

1. Disconnect from Payment Gateway: If you have a staging site connected to your payment gateway, make sure to disconnect it before making any changes. This will prevent any real subscriptions from being canceled or members from being affected.

2. Keep Changes Limited to Staging Environment: When making changes to users, members, and membership levels, make sure to keep them limited to the staging environment. Double-check that your changes won’t affect the live site, such as canceling real subscriptions or expiring real members.

3. Be Mindful of URL Changes: If you change the URL of your membership site, whether it’s for staging or switching to a different domain, be aware that it can have implications for your site’s functionality. Some plugins, like Paid Memberships Pro, have features in place to detect URL changes and disable certain services to prevent any issues.

4. Reenable Services: If you see a warning message indicating a URL change detected, your site’s services may be temporarily disabled. In this case, you can reenable the services by following the instructions provided by your membership site platform.

Conclusion

Setting up a staging site and taking precautions to protect your membership site from irreversible changes are crucial steps in starting a membership site. By following the guidelines outlined in this guide, you can safely test new features, avoid any issues with your live site, and provide a seamless experience for your members. So, what are you waiting for? Start your journey to a successful membership site today!

Remember, if you need any assistance in setting up your membership site, https://www.scrollreads.com/ is here to help!