Staging & Development Sites
Use WP ULike Pro on local and staging URLs without consuming a production activation slot.
Staging sites let you experiment with WP ULike Pro before pushing changes live. Normally, each WordPress installation needs a license activation — but recognized development domains do not count toward your site limit.
What domains qualify?
The domain must match one of these patterns (replace example with your site name where noted):
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
localhost | localhost, localhost:8080 |
Private IP ranges | 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16 |
*.dev | mysite.dev |
*.local | example.local, wp.local |
dev.* | dev.example.com |
staging.* | staging.example.com |
If your staging URL does not match the list above, it counts as a normal activation. You will need an additional license (or a higher-tier plan), or you can temporarily move your license between live and staging sites.
Activate Pro on staging
- Install both WP ULike and WP ULike Pro on the staging site.
- Go to WP ULike → License and activate with the same key you use on production.
- On a qualifying domain, activation succeeds without using a production slot.
Test Display Automation, new templates, and statistics here before deploying to live.
Move license between live and staging
If your staging domain is not on the allowed list:
- Deactivate the license on your live site (WP ULike → License).
- Activate on staging while you work.
- Deactivate on staging when finished.
- Activate again on your live site.
You can also manage connected URLs from My Account → Connected sites.
Clone a site to staging
When you copy a database to a new URL:
- License status may show Site inactive until you reactivate for the new address
- Run Refresh License after reactivation
- Export settings from Help → Export settings before cloning; import on staging to mirror production rules
See Backup and Restore Settings.
Subdomains on live domains
blog.example.com and shop.example.com are separate activations from example.com unless they match dev.* or staging.* patterns.
Plan activations before launching multi-subdomain setups. Details: Manage License Activations.
Related: Activate Your License · License Troubleshooting
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