# Staging

URL: https://xodia.ai/glossary/staging
Description: Staging explained: what it is, why it matters and how Xodia uses it, with links to the Xodia features and guides that cover it.
Last updated: 2026-11-08

Staging is a copy of a website where changes are checked before they go live, usually built from a separate branch and kept away from visitors and search engines.

Updated November 8, 2026

## What it is

A staging site runs the same code and settings as production, so problems show up there first. Teams use it to review design and content, test forms and integrations, and get sign-off.

A staging site should be kept out of search, for example with noindex, so it never competes with the real one. When staging looks right, the same code is promoted to production, rather than making the changes a second time.

## In Xodia

In Xodia, a site on Xodia hosting with a custom domain has a staging address built in: its xodia.site Preview, kept out of search. Tick the Preview in the Publish menu, check the update there, then update your domain. A branch can be your staging too: push changes to it, review them in its live preview and your host's preview deployment, then deploy by merging into the live branch.

Free works on the main branch; paid plans add branches and pull requests, so you can keep a staging branch alongside live.

## Read more

- [The Preview on Xodia hosting](https://xodia.ai/product/hosting#preview)
- [Git and publishing](https://xodia.ai/product/git-and-publishing)
- [Pricing](https://xodia.ai/pricing)

## Related terms

- [Branch preview A branch preview is a running copy of a website from one git branch, so work on that branch can be seen and tested without changing the live site.](https://xodia.ai/glossary/branch-preview)
- [Preview deployment A preview deployment is a temporary, private copy of a website built from a branch or pull request, so changes can be checked at a real address before they go live.](https://xodia.ai/glossary/preview-deployment)
- [Restore point A restore point is a saved state of a website you can go back to in one step if a later change goes wrong.](https://xodia.ai/glossary/restore-point)

[See every term in the glossary](https://xodia.ai/glossary)

Glossary