Hi there Herco

Thank you for your message.

With StageIt Enterprise you can select which content and data you want to sync. The default is to sync everything - all files / folders and data, but you can exclude specific data tables or specific folders from the sync if needed, so you don't overwrite data and files on the live site.

I hope that helps?

Sincerely - Barnaby Dixon

Good morning Cor,

Thank you for your message and very kind words!

The tables you need to exclude will depend on your system. You'll find that in StageIt Enterprise, the tables you can exclude are grouped by extension, so it's a case of checking through per extension, to see which ones might be continually updated on the frontend. With community, that would probably mean the Joomla Users tables, as well as most Community tables.

If you also ensure backups are enabled, then if you *do* need to restore a backup for any reason, then one will be available. Just also make sure there's plenty of space for the backup to be built and you'll be fine.

I hope that helps! Sincerely, Barnaby Dixon

Good morning Josh

Thank you for your message. User Permissions were added in version 2.1.3, released on 22nd May - if you download the latest version you can then set permissions in System > Global Config > Permissions > StageIt.

All the best! Barnaby

Hi Amanda,

Thank you for your message. The way to do this is go to the live site admin > StageIt and click Redeploy Staging Environment. This will completely reset your staging environment to match the live site.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi there,

Thank you for your message. This sounds like a htaccess misconfiguration. Please ensure /stageit/.htaccess is enabled, and you might need to also change #RewriteBase / to:

RewriteBase /stageit/

(removing the initial # if needed)

That should resolve any SEO errors like the one you mentioned, but if not please send me a login and I will take a look for you

All the best,

Hi Amanda,

Thank you for your message. Yes that's actually the exact situation StageIt was created for. You can set up the new system exactly as you want while the live site stays 'live' and then push the changes to the live site when you have approved them.

All the best! Barnaby

Hi there Carlos,

Thanks for your message. The Staging environment needs to be on the same server as your live site, as it runs 100s of calculations to ensure the staging sync goes correctly; it's just not practical to have the staging environment on a different server.

I hope that helps! Sincerely, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Evert,

You'd need StageIt Enterprise. This will allow you to exclude content and data from the sync, so that new content on the live site won't be overwritten.

I hope that helps! Barnaby Dixon

Hi Danny

Thank you for your message - could it be a disk space issue? If not please send me a login and I will see what I can do for you

Thanks & all the best, Barnaby

It completed, I checked the SQL process but it took 24 Hours. Is that normal to deploy to the live environment? I have a dedicated server.

Also I thought that syncing to the live server would update the database but it appears to have overwritten it? I use Jomsocial and people are consistently adding updates, hence the staging server but now it basically recreated the staging environment.

Is that expected behavior or is there some additional settings that need to be set?

Hi Danny,

It normally wouldn't take that long, no... syncing would normally take moments, so I would guess something's got stuck there (or you have an incredibly large table?)

With StageIt Enterprise you can exclude specific data tables files and folders when running the sync, so you can avoid overriding fresh data on the live site if needed.

Sincerely, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Danny,

You're welcome to buy once and use it on all your sites and servers.

Hope that helps! Barnaby

I should add that everything works okay if I use the alias "home"... www.example.com/stageit/home/
But www.example.com/stageit/ gives me the problem.

Solution was to clear the Gantry 5 cache, and it's all working!

(Solution added here for other users' benefit - after email support)

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your message.

StageIt will still process your excluded folders, i.e. when running the analysis pre-sync it will check your full system. But it won't actually sync any excluded folders. So even if they're coming up on your screen during the sync, they won't be affected, so long as they are excluded in the config.

However - it is worth reopening the config to double check your settings actually saved, and if you have a cache enabled, it's worth purging it to ensure any changes have actually taken effect.

I hope that helps! Sincerely, Barnaby

Hi Marc

Thanks for your great suggestion!

Great idea and I will add it to a future edition of StageIt Enterprise

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Pete and Molly,

Thank you for your very kind words! It was an absolute pleasure working with you.

Have a wonderful week! Barnaby

Hi there Paul

Thank you for getting in touch.

This may be a glitch. Could you try re-downloading StageIt and then reinstall it on your live site? Then preferably delete the /stageit/ folder before redeploying the staging environment.

Hopefully that solves it - but if not please send me a login to the live site and I will check out what is happening here for you

Thanks & all the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Barnaby

That seemed to work. After deleting the stageit folder and reinstalling the StageIT component, everything appears to be working now.

Thanks again for your support.

Paul

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your question.

This is a browser cache issue (not Joomla cache). The javascript files have changed but their paths are the same. Your browser has the old versions cached, and hasn't realised that the javascript files have changed.

If you clear your browser cache, or open a new private browser window, it should all work well for you

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Dear Barnaby,
i´m sorry to inform you, that this is not the solution. I´ve checked it on different computers (which i never used before), with different browsers and even in private mode. The described phenomen appears only, when i have a staging environment running. When I remove the staging system (StageIt is already installed) then the buttons are working fine. After building the staging environment, then in both systems the buttons are not working.
In my opinion it´s definitly no caching problem. Sorry. Do you have another idea?

Best regardss
Martin

Strange! Thanks for the update.

I have another possible solution...

Please ensure that the htaccess in StageIt is enabled. You might need to rename /stageit/htaccess.txt to /stageit/.htaccess

Also you might need to change the RewriteBase.

If you open the htaccess file, and find the line

#RewriteBase /

And change this to

RewriteBase /stageit/

(removing the initial #) it should help

Please let me know how it goes...

All the best, Barnaby

Hi Barnaby,

thank you for your quick reply. The changes in the .htaccess does not match at all. Sorry.

Another strange behaviour i´ve found out: In frontend-editing everything is ok - in both environments, in backend the bug still appears.

I wish you a happy new year!!!!
Martin

Hi Martin,

Happy New Year!

Thank you for the update. I am not sure what the problem is in this case. Could you send me a login to the staging environment and I will check it out for you? If you click Reply to Email rather than replying to the comment, you can send me a login securely.

Thanks & all the best,

Barnaby

Hi Barnaby,

thanks for your great support. Indeed - it´s a conflict between StageIT and Yootheme´s Widgetkit. Switching off the StageIt-Plugin solved the problem!

Thank you very much!!!!!

Hi Frank,

Actually thank you for bringing that to my attention. I haven't updated that in a while - the version is now 2.0.17

I don't keep changelogs, but every time the major number (1.0.0 or 2.0.0) changes, it denotes a major change, such as a major difference or improvement to functionality. Minor numbers such as 2.0.1 to 2.0.2 means a small bug fix or improvement say to maintain compatibility with the latest version of Joomla. And intermediate numbers like 1.5 to 1.6 means a fairly significant improvement to efficiency or the underlying core, but not one that changes the user perception or overriding functionality.

I hope that helps!

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi there Morgan

Thank you for your question. The staging environment sits in a subdirectory on the live server. I haven't found a reliable, fast way to sync two remote servers, so the two environments have to be on the same server.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi

this was the solution I also looking for..hmm pity it didnt work that way...rgds

Hello Niccolo,

Thank you for your question.

In the configuration you can exclude specific data tables from the sync. I would recommend you exclude any tables that are being actively updated in the live environment, such as the user table.

You can then sync as normal, and the sync will update all live tables except for the ones selected.

I also recommend ensuring that backups are turned on in the configuration, so that if any data is unintentionally lost it can be restored.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Thank you, that's great!
Could you just calrify if Stage It is going to create a separate database for testing or just new tables in the existing database?

I want to understand how exactly the site cloning process is handled.
Thank you

Hi Niccolo,

StageIt uses the same database but creates new tables with the prefix stg_ .

There is more information on the full staging process, including quite extensive details on how it all works, in the User Guide. Hopefully that helps clarify the process, but if you have any further questions just ask :-)

All the best, Barnaby

Thank you,
I read the user guide but there is some info I need which is missing.
PSecifically I'd like to know how stageit handles the newly created db tables after syncing to the live site.

It overwrites the the live site tables with stageit's tables and then delete the ones created by stageit?

Thanks

Hi Niccolo,

During sync:

- The live site tables are saved to a backup
- The live site tables are removed
- The staging tables are copied and use the live site table prefix
- The staging tables are not removed or changed during the sync, only the live tables.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

The error here isn't being sent by StageIt, as StageIt doesn't use the $HTTP_RAW_POST_DATA variable.

My guess is that you have a third party extension that's using this variable. StageIt has error reporting turned up for its processes, so this could be highlighting an error that's otherwise hidden on your system.

Does the error appear anywhere else on the system? Or does StageIt state that Ajax is unavailable? If so, click the warning for Ajax, and it should show more detail on this issue...

If that doesn't help please send me a login and I'll track down what's happening for you.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello Barnaby,
Thank you. System information within StageIt is all in green. I don't know which extension might be causing this. I sent you access data by email, could be great if you could poke around.
Thanks,
Agata

Hi Lynne,

Thank you for your question.

You shouldn't experience any conflicts or problems at all when using StageIt. The staging environment is completely separated from the live site programmatically. I have not had any conflict issues reported like this.

If you do use StageIt and find some issues at all, just let me know and I'll ensure StageIt works for your specific needs.

I hope that helps

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello,

Thank you for your questions.

To offer a demo that works with any level of realistic use I'd have to enable things like template and extension installation so you can see the transfer from the staging to the live site. I tried this in the past, and unfortunately it was completely abused and people installed viruses and tried to set up all kinds of unwelcome things. So I've had to disable the demos completely I'm afraid.

There is a video further up on this page that shows how the software works, and will give you a very good idea of what it does, and how it does it.

You can also download the full User Guide from: https://www.php-web-design.com/stageit.pdf

The subscription is for updates as well as support. I'm always happy to answer a question or two after support has expired. And yes you can always ask me to do extra work for an hourly rate. I haven't had many questions after the first month or so of use - the software is very easy to use so once you've got it, you've got it :-)

I do offer a full money back guarantee on all my software, and full 100% satisfaction is guaranteed.

I hope that helps! All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi there Rod,

Thank you for your question. I am not aware of any conflicts between Fabrik and StageIt, but this sounds like something in StageIt is breaking the Fabrik plugin.

It's actually Joomla calling the Fabrik plugin (this is a system plugin) but it's strange that it would break on the StageIt component page and nowhere else. I can't think of anything that would break the plugin - the StageIt component is very standard Joomla code.

Could you send me the exact copy of the Fabrik system plugin you are using and I will try to replicate the problem? You can just reply to this email with an attachment.

Thanks & all the best,

Barnaby Dixon

Thank you for your amazing feedback!

Have a great day!

Barnaby Dixon

Hello Florian,

Yes correct I would update in the staging site, and then sync with Live.

If you update the live site, it won't affect the staging environment. You would need to update the live site, and then redeploy the staging site - this will completely reset your Staging environment to match the live system.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

To preserve the registrations and changes on the Live site, you would need the Enterprise Edition of StageIt. You can then select which data to sync. You can, for example, select to exclude the user data table from the sync - so that the live system is not overridden.

I hope that helps. All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello Andreas,

The sync uses file comparison to compare the staging environment with the live environment, and updates file changes as needed. It's extremely unusual that a file change wouldn't be detected, but it would happen where the change is just a byte or two in the file (e.g. 1 or 2 different letters in a text file). If this happens, please change StageIt > Configuration > Force Refresh to Yes, and it will ensure that all files are synced correctly.

When first deploying the staging environment, the staging will ensure that all core Joomla files and folders are included, but not additional files or folders (as StageIt doesn't know what they are, or if they are needed for the staging environment). When running the initial deploy, if there are additional files or folders you'd like in the staging environment, please copy them manually using FTP to /stageit/ . When syncing, however, all contents of /stageit/ are automatically synced with the live system

I hope that helps. All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Thank you Graham, I'm so glad it's useful for you!

Have a great day

Barnaby Dixon

One more thing, if we were to use it only in the development stage, can StageIt be safely disengaged from the live site?

Hi there

The staging environment is an exact clone of the live site. It copies all existing functionality, content and data and should look and feel exactly as your live site.

If you have other extensions handling versioning, they should work well with StageIt but you will need to be careful with the work flow.

What I'd suggest is: create, edit, delete all content in the staging environment, and handle your versioning there too. Then when changes are approved, push the changes to the live site.

At the moment yes, StageIt requires that the live and staging are on the same server, since they use the same database (but different tables). This also helps ensure that any changes in the staging will work on the live, since the server environment is identical.

In answer to your final question, you can remove StageIt at any time, simply uninstall. Your live site will continue to work as normal.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Justyne,

Absolutely. The easiest way is with a .htaccess password. If you create one, and adjust the /stageit/.htaccess file accordingly it should do the trick

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi there,

StageIt is built to work on a single server and use a single database. That's the best way for it to keep sync times as low as possible, and to ensure the target environment is exactly identical to the original, to avoid sync problems.

That said, you're the second person to have asked about something like this so I'm thinking it through and will develop a solution. Watch this space!

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello,

Sure - please purchase as normal.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Are you planning to support Joomla 2.5? We are unable to update it soon.

Sorry, Joomla 2.5 is not supported, and I do not plan to support it. The reason is that it's been deprecated for quite some time now, and it StageIt uses several libraries that Joomla 2.5 doesn't have available.

I would recommend upgrading to Joomla 3, which is very easy to do if you use MigrateMe Plus.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi there

Thank you for your great comments. Yes, I am actively developing this when I have time.

Regarding points 1 & 2, I actually had this as part of the development map when I initially started work on StageIt. I didn't build in this functionality in the end, basically because so much in Joomla is interdependant, so it gets relatively complex. For example, say you change an article category in the staging environment - and forget that the category exists on the live system but isn't published. Suddenly your article becomes unpublished, and it's not immediately obvious why. And then - after making some, but not all, changes live - you then go and make further changes, so the staging environment becomes more and more detached from the live site, but it's not clear what changes need to be applied, or how to revert the staging environment to the live. So it's quite complex and I haven't been able to come up with a concise, easy to understand solution as yet - but I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Point 3: yes, every time you sync to live, StageIt can take a backup of your live system (this is optional in the configuration). You can then restore any backup from any sync point.

Point 4: Unfortunately at this point I haven't made enough from StageIt to offer any discounts, so it's standard pricing I'm afraid - just need to cover my development costs

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hello Philippe,

Thank you for your question.

MightySites overrides the default configuration.php file, which is needed to run StageIt.

You can use MightySites with StageIt as follows:

0. Run StageIt as normal from within your main, live admin area.

1. Edit /stageit/components/com_mightysites/configuration/configuration__com.php to ensure that the db_prefix is 'stg_xxxx_' where xxxx_ is your original prefix

2. Copy /stageit/components/com_mightsites/configuration/configuration__com.php and call it configuration__stageit_com.php

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for any additional configuration files created by MightySites, which would be in the same directory. Respect the naming convention (call it the same name, with _stageit_com.php at the end) and it should work.

4. Enter into the staging admin site and go to the mightytext component to update all database entries to use the prefix stg_

5. When you Go Live, you need to do the reverse of these changes, so you update your live configuration_.php files to make the db_prefix just 'xxxx_' (your original prefix)

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

i use xampp

Are you sure it's paused?

Did you get an error message? Normally if the deployment hits a problem, it will give you an error message

But if it's just going slow, maybe it's because you have some very large files, or because your server is very slow

All the best,

Barnaby Dixon

yes,its paused,no error message, i use quickstart, maybe file too large, can this solved?

i tried several times,failed,my server is localhost.

i found that in clean joomla its working , but in quickstart its paused, how to solve.

Hello

Quickstart often has lots of unauthorised code and non-standard Joomla core. I can't support any version of Joomla that is not from the standard Joomla download at http://www.joomla.org/download.html because it's impossible to know what is included that isn't standard (and might not be good)

My suggestion: use the standard Joomla package.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

And i have one other problem
i can't open the content articles in the staging environment. At the live environments it no problem. I use the same user.
Attached one screen from the error message.
http://prntscr.com/9u7n99

Hi Markus

Thank you for getting in touch. I can't tell from the image or your description what the problem might be. It's not a problem I know about with StageIt. My best guess is there is a third party extension that's not working correctly, maybe a plugin. I can't think of a good reason why you would be having these problems - at least, why they'd be caused by StageIt. Please send me a login and I can investigate for you?

Thanks & all the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Joris,

Thank you for getting in touch. Yes, you can use it on all your different sites.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon

Hi Julius,

Thank you for getting in touch! It's great to hear from happy users of Migrate Me Plus!

In answer to your questions: 1) After setting up the staging environment, open the staged administrator area, go to StageIt and change the configuration. Then exclude the folders and database tables that relate to the Users, AcyMailing, EasyBlog, EasyDiscuss etc. before you do the sync. This will avoid any unexpected overwrites to changes on the live system. StageIt also creates a full backup by default before running the sync, with an easy one click restore function, so if you missed something in the configuration, or just want to roll back the Sync, it's very easy to do.

2) The staging copy uses a completely default Joomla robots.txt, so to prevent spiders from reading it, you will need to change the top of the robots.txt to read
User-agent: *
Disallow: /

3) Yes absolutely, the staged environment is completely separate from the live environment. You can use the inbuilt Joomla functionality to require a login to view the staged area, as well as add a htaccess file if you wish to prevent access from non-approved IP addresses

I hope that all helps! Please do ask if you have any other questions.

All the best, Barnaby Dixon