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Actionable tips and updates to help you ship plugins, themes, and client sites faster
5 min readHow to test for a WordPress plugin conflict without getting a false result
Deactivating plugins one at a time finds the culprit only if deactivation is a clean undo, and it usually is not. Here is how to bisect properly, and the four cases where the standard method quietly lies to you.
9 min readWhat is a WordPress sandbox? The complete guide
A WordPress sandbox is an isolated test site you can break without affecting production. Learn which kind to use, what it can prove, and where the boundary is.
8 min readHow to test that a WordPress backup actually restores
Restoring onto your staging site proves you can overwrite a working WordPress. It does not prove you can recover from an empty one. Here is a restore test that fails when it should.
7 min readHow to build a WordPress plugin demo site visitors cannot take apart
A shared demo admin with a login in the footer is also a download page for your premium plugin. Here is how to give every visitor their own copy instead, with the installer and file editor switched off.
6 min readHow to test your site on WordPress 7.1 before you update
The change most likely to break your site in WordPress 7.1 is in wp-admin, not on the front end. Loading your homepage on a copy proves nothing. Here is what to click instead.
7 min readHow to test a WordPress plugin on multisite
Network activation and per-site activation are two different products, and most multisite plugin bugs live in the gap between them. Here is the routine, the four states worth testing, and the three places the bugs actually hide.
6 min readTesting on PHP 7.4 in 2026 (because clients still run it)
PHP 7.4 died in 2022 and is still the minimum WordPress 7.0 accepts. If you ship a plugin or maintain inherited sites, you owe someone a test on it. Here is how to run one without keeping a 7.4 machine around.
6 min readWhere does wp_mail actually go on a test site?
On a staging or sandbox copy, WordPress email lands in one of three places: nowhere at all, a real customer's inbox, or a capture log. Two of those are a problem.
6 min readA reproducible WordPress environment is two files, not one
A Blueprint reproduces your WordPress setup. It does not reproduce the stack underneath it. Here is what each format actually pins, and what to do about the part it leaves out.