plugins - How to create a WordPress sandbox on a live server for website development?

I have a live WordPress site with a coming soon page template currently active. How can I develop the website on a sandbox and then upload all changes to the live site? The sandbox has to be on the same live server, not through local development.

I have a live WordPress site with a coming soon page template currently active. How can I develop the website on a sandbox and then upload all changes to the live site? The sandbox has to be on the same live server, not through local development.

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Share Improve this question asked Jan 22, 2016 at 14:54 jdogdvrjdogdvr 11922 silver badges44 bronze badges 3

• Too many variables... what kind of server? What kind of access do you have to the server? Where do you want the sandbox? And... why would you want this at all? You are putting probably buggy, probably unstable, and potentially insecure code on a production server. Don't do that. – s_ha_dum Commented Jan 22, 2016 at 15:10
• I have the wp-admin access but I don't have cpanel access. The server is through shared hosting. – jdogdvr Commented Jan 22, 2016 at 15:19
• with that access it seems you're going to be plumb out of luck @jdogdvr. To create new WordPress you ideally need cPanel or at least FTP and MySQL access. – Joshua Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 3:24

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I have the wp-admin access but I don't have cpanel access. The server is through shared hosting.

You can't in any meaningful way put up a "sandbox" given those conditions. You have no way to isolate the code, and you need to isolate the code somehow. As I wrote in a comment, you are putting probably buggy, probably unstable, and potentially insecure code on a production server. You need to isolate-- "sandbox"-- the code where it can't effect anything outside of itself and that means a subdomain, a seperated domain, an independent database, and probably other precautions as well. If you are asking "how" you don't have the knowledge to do this safely.

Pay for another hosting package or develop locally.