Staging your website in Plesk allows you to safely test updates, new plugins, or design changes without impacting the live version. Here’s how to set up a staging environment in Plesk by copying your website and its database.

---

Step 1: Log in to Plesk

1. Log in to your Plesk control panel.

---

Step 2: Access Websites & Domains

1. In the Websites & Domains section, locate the domain you want to create a staging site for.
2. Click on the domain name to access its dashboard.

---

Step 3: Start the Copy Process

1. In the domain’s dashboard, look for the Website Copying option.
2. Click on Website Copying to open the copy setup options.

---

Step 4: Configure Copy Settings

1. On the Copy Files page, locate the Copy Destination section.
2. Select Website in Plesk as the destination.
3. Under Site name, choose the staging domain (for example, staging.yourdomain.com) or create a new subdomain specifically for the staging environment.
4. In the What to do with existing files section, specify how Plesk should handle any files that already exist on the destination domain.
5. Click OK to start copying the files to the staging location.

---

Step 5: Copy the Database (If Applicable)

If your website uses a database, you’ll need to copy it to the staging environment:

1. In the left sidebar, go to Databases.
2. Locate the database associated with the website and click Copy.

3. On the Copy Database page, set the Destination database server to localhost:3306.
4. Under Destination database, select Create database with name and enter a name for the staging database.
5. Check the Create a full copy option to ensure a complete database copy.
6. Click OK to finalize the database copying process.

---

Step 6: Access the Staging Environment

1. Once the copy process is complete, access the staging site by visiting the staging domain.
2. Make any updates, test new features, or try design changes on the staging site without affecting the live version.

---

Step 7: Sync Changes to the Live Site (When Ready)

Once you’ve tested changes on the staging site and are satisfied with the results, you can synchronize them with the live site:

1. Go to Website Copying in the Plesk dashboard for the staging site.
2. Choose the live site as the Copy Destination and confirm the synchronization.

---

By following these steps, you can confidently use a staging environment in Plesk to ensure your live website remains stable and unaffected while you implement new changes.