Founder
Building WordPress infrastructure tools since 2015
About René Hermenau
I'm René Hermenau, founder of WP STAGING. I've been developing WordPress infrastructure software since 2013, building WP STAGING since 2015, and publishing code on GitHub since 2011.
WP STAGING started as a developer project to solve a problem I kept running into during client work: cloning and migrating WordPress sites safely without breaking serialized data, file paths, media references, or database relationships.
Today, WP STAGING is built and maintained by a team of more than 10 people. The free plugin is used on 100,000+ active WordPress installations, and WP STAGING Pro powers backup, migration, staging, and deployment workflows for agencies, hosting providers, ecommerce stores, and professional WordPress teams.
I'm still hands-on with the codebase, architecture, and technical direction of the product. Much of my work focuses on reliable database exports, memory-efficient processing on large WordPress sites, safe restore workflows, staging-to-production deployments, and reducing the risk of partially written files or database tables during migrations.
On this author page, you'll find technical articles, documentation, and product guides I have written, reviewed, or helped shape with the WP STAGING team.
When you touch code, leave it 10% better than before and write a test.
If you're stuck on a WP STAGING question, start with the documentation. If you hit a bug, file it on GitHub. Our team reads everything that lands there.
Areas of expertise
WordPress backups and restore workflows
WordPress staging sites and cloning
WordPress migrations and site transfers
WordPress database structure and serialized data
Remote Sync and server-to-server WordPress transfers
WP STAGING CLI and local Docker-based WordPress development
Plugin architecture, large-site performance, and safe deployment workflows
At a glance
Role: Founder of WP STAGING
Focus: WordPress backups, staging, migrations, database handling, plugin architecture, and deployment safety
Experience: Developing WordPress infrastructure software since 2013 and building WP STAGING since 2015
Code: github.com/rene-hermenau
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This article has been updated! Please use the link below instead: https://wp-staging.com/docs/cloning-a-staging-site-testing-push-method/ If you like to create a clone of a WordPress staging site that you’ve created earlier…
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Did you install the X Theme by theme.co and got the message “Record not found” after installing the demo content or activating the slider revolution plugin? A bug causes…
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How can I view the staging site without being logged in? Do you ask yourself the question:“I want to show the client the site without having them log…
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Do you try to activate a license key and get one of the curl errors below? cURL error 35: Unknown SSL protocol error in connection to wp-staging.com:443 or…
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Sometimes even the best plugin wants to be uninstalled! So, if you like to uninstall WP STAGING and remove all its data and settings completely, just follow the…
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It is absolutely okay to have multiple staging sites under a single domain name. For example, if a few people have divergent ideas and you want to test…
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If you use the WordFence security plugin and WP STAGING can not successfully finish the cloning process, or is not able to start it at all, failing with…
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In very rare cases, it’s possible that due to a plugin conflict on the staging or live site, you get a blank page after running the pushing process…
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As default, WP STAGING sets its performance settings to low values to make sure the cloning process runs without an interruption on all available servers. If the cloning…
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Sometimes you notice unused tables in your database which begin with the prefix wpstg_. You also may find tables prefixed with the string wpstgbak_ You can safely delete…
Clone, stage, and back up WordPress sites in seconds. Built and maintained by Rene Hermenau and team.
