How to Deploy a Demo to Sandbox after WordPress Plugin Development

Deploying a demo of your WordPress plugin to a sandbox environment after creation is a very useful move in the WordPress plugin development process. It allows testing the plugin in a controlled setting, identifying potential issues, and showcasing plugin functionality to potential customers.

A sandbox site is a safe and isolated platform where real-world scenarios can be simulated without affecting live sites. This ensures that your plugin is ready for public release while providing an interactive space for demonstration and feedback.

What is a Plugin Demo?

A WordPress plugin is a package of files and resources (PHP, CSS, JS, and images) that can be added to your WordPress website to extend its core functionality or add new functionality. After WordPress plugin development, it is advisable to move it from development to demo. 

A plugin demo is a unique and strategic way to promote your WordPress plugin effectively, convert potential customers, and achieve greater success in the competitive plugin market.

It serves as a live environment where users can experience the functionality and features of a WordPress plugin without needing to install it on their own site. 

A demo is mostly hosted on a sandbox site or staging environment, where its capabilities are showcased in a controlled and interactive setting.

Here’s the landing page of a WS From Pro demo powered by InstaWP:

See a few live plugin demo examples here →

Why Does a Plugin Demo Matter?

A plugin demo allows users to familiarize themselves with the features and functionalities of a plugin before integrating it into their live site.

Plugin demos also act as marketing strategies for your plugins as a developer because they effectively engage your target users, clear uncertainty and doubts about your plugin, and reduce any hesitation about committing to implementing it on their live sites.

A plugin demo also provides transparency and builds trust with potential users, as it shows your confidence in your product.

It also educates and guides users on making the most of your plugin, ensuring understanding and adequately addressing needs.

Why You Should Set up an Admin Demo for Prospective Customers

Setting up an admin demo for prospective users enables them to try your product safely and risk-free before committing to it.

It gives users the opportunity to explore the features and capabilities on their own, gaining firsthand experience of how the product works and how it can solve their problems.

This can be done by providing a controlled or isolated environment for the customer to explore the product features and learn about the product at their own pace.

Demo Pre-Deployment Checklist for WordPress Plugin Developers

Having a simple pre-development checklist for your WordPress plugin is another essential part of your WordPress plugin development process. A checklist will help WordPress developers to perform a smooth plugin launch.

1. Test Plugins Before Deployment: Testing will help you avoid issues like performance problems, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues. You ought to perform plugin tests in a sandbox environment.
2. Compatibility of the plugin (and its dependencies) with the Demo Environment: When you move the plugin and its dependencies to the demo environment, you want to ensure their compatibility with the requirements, including PHP compatibility checks, the WordPress core compatibility test, the ability to declare dependencies correctly, etc.

Deploying your Plugin to a Sandbox Environment

Launching a sandbox environment for a WordPress plugin allows developers to test virtually every design, code, etc., before putting it live. Let’s see how you can deploy a demo of your WordPress plugin after development to the InstaWP sandbox environment.

1. Create a Staging Site with your plugin and its dependencies

Step 1: Create an InstaWP Account

Start by first creating a free InstaWP account. Click here to get started. Then verify your registration and log into your dashboard. You can create a new WordPress sandbox site to set up your plugin demo.

2. Create Your WordPress Plugin Demo Sandbox Site

To create your first sandbox staging website for your WordPress plugin development, go to Staging > Add New +.

InstaWP’s one-click WordPress installer allows you to select the WordPress version and type of site installation you will be using (default, multisite, WooCommerce, or Devstack). Make your choice and click the Next Step button.

The next step allows you to preselect some of the WordPress plugins you may want to test alongside your development. Make your selection and click the Create Site button.

InstaWP will create a WordPress plugin demo sandbox site for you within seconds and provide you with the login credentials and a Magic Login button to access the WP Admin dashboard. 

3. Upload Your Plugin to the Demo Site

With your demo sandbox all set up, you can now upload your WordPress plugin from the development environment.

Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin. Use the uploader to select and upload your plugin. Then, activate the plugin when the upload is complete. 

Note: You can directly install the plugin from your staging site’s settings in InstaWP.

Step 4: Configure The Demo Site

You can proceed with configuring your plugin and its dependencies and adding dummy content to the demo site if needed. You should allow potential customers to tweak the demo site to their needs.

4. Convert your Demo Site to a Shared Template

After configuring the demo site with your plugin in InstaWP, the next step is to convert it into a template.

InstaWP allows developers to create and save a site as a shared template. Creating a shared template gives you a link to copy and share with your potential users.

InstaWP shared template feature allows potential customers to create a duplicate sandbox site with your WordPress plugin pre-installed, including all your settings and configuration. They can then use the demo site to test and explore the capabilities of your plugin.

To convert your WordPress plugin demo into a shared template, click the Save as Template icon adjacent to your sandbox site. 

Give your template a unique name from the popup and add a short description. Then, mark your template as Shared and click on the Save button.

To copy the link to this template, go to the Templates page > Shared tab and click on Shared (written next to your template’s name). The link will be automatically copied to your clipboard. You can then share the link with your potential customers and allow them to use it to spin demo WordPress sites to check out your WordPress plugin.

How to Run Tests on Your Plugin in the Sandbox

Running tests on your product plugins during the WordPress plugin development process helps developers validate their products and address potential issues before releasing them to the public.

Tools like InstaWP can provide developers with a feature-rich sandbox environment to test their WordPress plugins during the WordPress plugin development phase.

While using InstaWP, there are various ways you can test your plugins and themes in the WordPress sandbox, including:

1. Functional and Non-functional testing

On one side of the coin is functional testing. Functional testing involves testing your plugin features, their interaction with each other, and their UI/UX.

At the other end of the coin is non-functional testing. Non-functional testing aids in evaluating how well the plugin performs under different conditions, including usability, effect on performance, security, etc.

You can use tools like Google Page Speed Insights for performance checks, WP Scan for vulnerabilities, etc. However, InstaWP comes with a built-in vulnerability checker and Google page speed insight tool that you can use to test your plugin.

2. Browser and Device Compatibility testing

WordPress sites must be responsive across all screen sizes for seamless user experience and SEO. It is, therefore, important to confirm that your plugin will not affect a website’s responsiveness; otherwise, users will reject its usage.

You can manually test your plugin on various devices or use tools dedicated to this, such as SmartBear, Comparium, and Browserling. Although they have the same primary goals, each offers different features and results.

Optimizing the Deployment Process

Optimizing your WordPress plugin deployment to a demo process involves several strategic steps to ensure efficiency, reliability, and a positive user experience. 

Here are some key strategies: 

1. Use automation deployment tools like GitHub, etc.
2. Create a dedicated demo environment.
3. Pre-configure the demo environment with dummy content
4. Optimize the demo site performance for speed using caching, fewer plugins, and optimized images.
5. Create concise and simplified documentation and tutorials for prospective users.
6. Use tools to monitor site performance and user interactions for better iterations.
7. Use a system to gather feedback to help you identify areas for improvement.

Key Benefits of using a Sandbox for Plugin demo

Using a sandbox for a WordPress plugin demo offers several key benefits, including:

1. It provides a safe testing environment
2. It gives room for risk-free experimentation
3. It allows for simulating and evaluating your plugin performance on a live site
4. It allows developers to test the plugin’s compatibility with other themes and plugins to prevent conflicts on live sites.
5. It serves as a controlled setting for learning and training potential users.
6. It can be used to receive feedback on plugin functionality and usability from testers for improvement.
7. It can be used for version control by testing different plugin versions.

Best Practices for Deploying WordPress Plugins to Sandboxes

1. Set up a Sandbox Environment: Use InstaWP to create a staging site that mirrors real-life scenarios to test your plugin effectively.
2. Minimize Plugin Size: Start by minimizing your plugin size during the WordPress plugin development stage because a large plugin that contains more scripts and stylesheets can slow down a WordPress site’s page speed. Therefore, it is important to minimize codes and include only necessary scripts and stylesheets for the fast-loading of the website.
3. Optimize Database Queries: Optimize your database queries, as poorly optimized queries can also increase page loading times, high server resource usage, and even site crashes.
4. Use Minified Code: Code minification removes unnecessary characters and whitespace from your code, reducing its size and making it faster to load. By using code minification in your plugin, you can ensure that it won’t add unnecessary load to the site.
5. Use Professional Development Tools: Professional development tools such as a code editor, database editor, debugging tools, and a version control system can significantly improve your plugin development process. These tools can help you write cleaner and more efficient code, collaborate with other developers, and track changes to your code.
6. Test Your Plugin Performance: Before releasing your plugin, it’s essential to test its performance thoroughly. GTmetrix, Pingdom, or Google’s PageSpeed are performance analysis tools that provide insights into how your plugin impacts your site’s performance. This will help you identify any performance issues and optimize your plugin for better performance.

Conclusion

Using a WordPress sandbox for demos after WordPress plugin development is a great way to simulate a real-life scenario for prospective customers to effectively test-run your plugin and provide feedback for improvement before pushing it to live. 

InstaWP is a secure and user-friendly interface you can use to ensure your plugin users enjoy a smooth testing experience. Try InstaWP today.