How to use WP Staging | Restore. A Stand-Alone WordPress Installer and Backup Restore Tool

The WP Staging | Restore script is a standalone tool designed for WP Staging Pro license owners. It functions independently of WordPress and can extract and restore backups and install WordPress on a new blank server.

This tool can help you migrate a website to another server or unpack and extract WP Staging backup files to a location of your choice to help you restore particular files or data from it without fixing a whole WordPress website.

Video: How to use the WP Staging Restore Script

Download and Upload the Restore Script

Go to your WordPress dashboard, find WP Staging Pro, and click the ‘Backup & Migration’ tab.

Backup and Migration Tab in WP Staging

Next, click on the “Download Now” button.

Download Now Option in WP Staging

Click the “Download WP Staging | Restore” button to download the wpstg-restore.php file.

Download Stand Alone Restore Script

Once downloaded, go to the File Manager in your hosting control panel. Then, navigate to the main directory of your WordPress installation, where you want to use the script, usually named public_html or www.

public_html

Find the ‘Upload’ option in the File Manager’s menu and click on it.

Upload File Button in cPanel

Select the wpstg-restore.php file from your computer and start the upload process. Wait for the upload to complete before proceeding.

File Successfully Uploaded

Run and Use the Restore Script

Open a web browser and navigate to https://yourdomain.com/wpstg-restore.php (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name).

WP Staging Stand Alone Restore and WordPress Installer

The script will prompt you to enter the full name of the backup file you wish to restore. Input the backup file’s name accurately, including its extension (for example, example.com.20240405-110721_c1d442862ad1.wpstg).

Tip: These backup file names are usually very long, so you can click with right mouse button on the file and then select the “rename” command. This will give you the option to press Ctrl+C to copy the file name. After that you can use Ctrl+V to paste the name into the WP Staging | Restore form field. Don’t rename the backup file name, and keep it as it is!

  • After entering the name, click on the “Verify” button.

The script will then search for the backup file in the following locations:

  • The root directory of your WordPress site.
  • The default WP Staging backup directory, usually wp-content/uploads/wp-staging/backups/.
Enter the full backup file name

Install WordPress Core (optional)

If WordPress does not exist in that location and you want to install it, you can use the “Install WordPress Core” option. Select the latest version of WordPress and click on the “Install WordPress Core” button.

Install WordPress Core Files

Now fill out your database details, including Database Server, Database Name, Database User, Database Password, and Table Prefix. If you want to add a custom port, fill out the port field; otherwise, leave it blank. If your database uses an SSL connection, check the checkbox for SSL and then click on “Submit.”

Enter Database detils setting

Next, enter your WordPress site details, including Site Title, Admin User, Admin Email, and Admin Password. Once done, click on the “Submit” button.

WordPress Setting

Extract Backup or Restore WordPress Process

Now that WordPress is installed, you’ll see two buttons. If you only want to view or extract your backup file, click the “Extract Backup” button. If you’re ready to restore your WordPress website backup, click the “Restore Backup” button. So, I’ll click on the “Extract Backup” button for now.

Extract Backup and Restore Backup Button

You’ll first see a dropdown menu in the “Extract Backup” option. Choose the file you want to extract from this dropdown.

Next, you’ll notice an input field where you can enter the directory path. If you want to overwrite the existing directory, check the “Overwrite directory” checkbox.

WP Staging stores the SQL database data in a slightly modified format where placeholders replace all prefixes. (This is required for technical and migration reasons)

So, if you want to normalize the database file and convert all of these placeholders into regular table prefixes, activate the option “Normalize database file” checkbox. (This option will slow down the extraction process, but it allows you to restore the SQL file with phpmyadmin or adminer later on)

Once you’ve made your choice, click the “Extract” button.

Select Directory Path

A popup box will now appear. Click on the “Yes” button to proceed to the next steps.

Confirm modal

You’ll see a success message confirming that your files have been successfully extracted. Next, click on “View Backup.”

View Backup Details

If you want to view a specific file, such as plugin files, enter “plugin” in the input field and click the “Search” button. You can also select filters to refine your search further.

Search Backup Files

Next, click on “Restore Backup.”

Restore Backup Option

Now, you can see the available content. The available contents section provides options like Media Library, Themes, Plugins, Other Files in wp-content, and Database File.

If you want to restore only, check the “Restore” checkbox. If you want to restore and overwrite, check both the “Restore” and “Overwrite” checkboxes. Make sure to uncheck the “Overwrite” checkbox if you don’t want to overwrite any existing files. Once you’ve made your selections, click the “Restore” button.

Restore Backup

A popup box will now appear. Click the “Yes” button to proceed with the backup restoration process.

Click on Yes Button

You’ll see a success message confirming that your backup has been restored. Next, click on the site URL.

Backup Successfully Restored

Logout from the Restore Script

After completing the restoration process, click on the “Logout” button for website security.

Logout Stand Alone Restore Script

Check the checkbox for “wpstg-restore.php” to remove it, then click on the “Logout” button.

Check the Checkbox and click logout button

Now that you’ve successfully logged out, click the “Close” button.

Stand Alone Restore Script Successfully terminated

Updated on September 17, 2024