The situation is one we've all experienced before, if you develop WordPress websites.
You get a client and start working on their site. Now maybe you do your work on your own local work environment – like many of my friends. If so, make sure you check out Desktop Server by ServerPress. But I don't work that way.
Now, before you think I'm cowboy coding, hold your horses. I do develop directly on a server, but not on the client's account. Instead, because I host my sites with WP Engine, I use one of the sites in my package to do development. This way I know exactly what's going on, while also being able to work from anywhere on any computer.
My Usual Process
So my usual process goes like this:
- Build the site.
- Show it to a client.
- Make any tweaks.
- Then deploy it to their site.
Now deploying to their site is normally not an impossible task, but it takes a bit of work. Move files over via SFTP and then use something like WP Migrate DB Pro.
But Wait! – it gets even easier
But today it dawned on me to ask a question I had never thought to ask before. To explain it, I have to explain another feature that I use often.
In the WP Engine world, every site you build also has a secondary site available to you – calling a “staging site.” This site functions as a duplicate of your original site for a lot of different reasons (testing plugins, testing themes, testing integrations – ok, maybe it's just awesome for testing!).
They have a one-click button to duplicate your site from live to staging. And then they have another one-click button to move it from staging (all the changes you've made) to production.
Those two buttons are awesome!
So today it dawned on me that the ability to move one site to another is already in their specialized domain. So might it also be the case that I could ask them to copy a site from my account into the account of my client's?
And the answer was yes.
Migrating sites from one account to another!
Now, to make sure I'm not overselling it, I do want to highlight that I had to submit a ticket for this. It's not a third button that says “Move this site to another account” – but with all the brains they have over there….you know it's just a matter of time.
But the request is simple enough – asking one of my sites to be replicated over to another account's sites. Instead of me taking time with FTP and other programs, their team will do it for me! That's awesome.
Either way, what makes this whole thing delightful is how I found out about it.
I had the question in my head. And I didn't want to bother any of my friends at WP Engine – I knew they were all busy working hard.
So I thought I would head over to the support section and look for some articles. But when I moved up to that area, I saw their new “Live Chat” area – which I hadn't used before.
I clicked on it, and was immediately connected to an agent (like the image here).
They don't yet have a way for me to see old chat transcripts or I would have shown you the actual one I had. But it was awesome. I asked my question and was given my answer – along with a link to the form to submit my request.
Truly and wonderfully delightful!
Have you checked out WP Engine?
As you know, I host my site with WP Engine. I also have a banner (down below) that tells you how great they've been for me.
What I haven't put below, because it's only for a limited time, is a special they're running. And it's good from Dec 15-31 – so you'll have more than enough time to check it out.
Use this code: HappyNewHost14 and you'll get 30% off when you purchase the annual plan.
Of course, if you're not interested in using WP Engine, you may want to check out this new company I've just heard about that is looking to do some magical staging stuff too!