Can't use WPEngines staging because we don't have a second install…

[d20games]

I’ve been trying to use WP engine’s staging ability, but because the plugins think it is a new install, I run into problems with the license. Any idea how to handle this?

[Julie Kuehl]

Hello d20games,

Shhhh… don’t tell. But if you download the plugin and install it on the staging site, it will work just fine. Even without the license key. What it won’t do is update automatically. You’ll have to repeat the upload process to do that. It’s your choice, depending on your workflow, whether you want your license tied to your staging or live setup.

— Julie

[d20games]

So here is the problem. The whole idea of the staging site is to do those upgrades, see if they work, and then transfer that version of the site over to be the live site. So how would that work under this scenario?
1)I would need the source for downloads for the latest (ie upgrade) versions of the plugin,
2)I would install them without the license codes.
3)I would see if everything worked
4)then I would move the staged version of the site to replace the live version
5)Go in and re-install the Keys?
This is a pretty frustrating way to have this work, enough to frankly make it too much of a hassle to do. If I use a multi-site version of the plugin, does that have a single key, or multiple keys? (that would solve the problem, although be an expensive/stupid way to do it)

Also, if I was (as I am) using the Eventbrite plugin, do I run into problems with multiple instances of the same wordpress site trying to validate and communicate with eventbrite?

[Julie Kuehl]

If the staging site is where you want to install and test the latest versions, then I would leave the license key attached to that site. Once you verify that everything’s working to your satisfaction, then you can push to live and have that install be the one without the license. That would prevent accidentally auto-updating on the live site – and that could be a good thing!

As far as the Eventbrite plugin goes, as long as you don’t have people trying to purchase tickets off the staging site you’ll be fine. I would think you’d want to restrict access to the staging site anyway.

Does that answer your questions?

— Julie

[d20games]

This reply is private.

[Julie Kuehl]

Hi d20games,

At the top of this page there’s a menu item called “Account Central”. Choose the License Key option and find your site URL and click the link to “Disconnect now”. Then take your license key and add it to the new site and you should be golden.

Let me know if that gives you problems.

— Julie

[d20games]

Julie,

This did end up causing a problem. When I connected the licences to the staging site and then went and did a deployment from staging to live, the event pro calendar widget (which I previously had modified and was in the appropriate theme folder) ceased to work at all. In fact, when I rolled back to an earlier functioning version of the site, the pro calendar widget continued not to function. Even disconnecting the licence from the staging site and returning it to the main site has not restored the functionality. I’ve had to add the list widget in its place.

Please help.

Ben

[Julie Kuehl]

So sorry this isn’t working smoothly for you. We’ve got two things happening here, so let’s sort them out. First is that you disconnected and moved the license key. Second, you deployed to the live environment. My gut says the problem isn’t the license key, but something with the deployment, but let’s check it out.

So my first question is, does the widget still work on the staging site like you want it to? And is the license connected to either site at this point?

— Julie

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