cPanel - Domains & Website Setup - How to create a staging website

In general, cPanel does not offer an easy to set up staging site option. This can be done manually by setting up a subdomain or subdirectory and manually adding a copy of the main site files or installing the CMS.  
 
The simpler option is using Softaculous to create a staging site which often automates many of these manual steps.  
 
Softaculous allow you to install and use a multitude of CMSs, WordPress being the most popular., as well as create staging sites easily. Here are the general steps for creating a staging website for a WordPress site in your cPanel hosting.  
 
1. Locate the WordPress manager bySoftaculous option under the Software section

2. Access the WordPress manager by Softaculous, and in here you can view all the WordPress instances installed on the cPanel.

3. Click on the dropdown next to the website you want to set up a staging site of.

4. On the overview page, at the bottom, you will have an option called Staging.

5. Once clicked,  a new page will appear which will allow you to create a staging site.

Make sure that you create the staging site in a different directory then were the main website is set up, by renaming the “In Directory” field. You can also give it a different site name to easily differentiate between them.

6. Press the Create staging button and let the installer run.

Once done, you can return to the main WordPress management page and you will be able to access and manage the new staging site as a normal site.  

Once you’re happy with the changes done to the staging site, you can use the Push to Live button to update the main website.