Publish your WordPress site as a live, self-destructing demo straight from wp-admin — no exporting, downloading and re-uploading a backup by hand.
ZipArchive extension enabledIn wp-admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for TryDemoWP, then install and activate it. You can also upload the plugin zip under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
The plugin authenticates with a connect token, which is bound to exactly one site in your dashboard.
The screen then names the TryDemoWP site you are connected to. To point this install at a different site, generate a token from that site and reconnect. Revoking a token in the dashboard immediately stops any install using it.
Press Take snapshot, optionally giving it a label. The plugin works in roughly 20-second slices and saves its position after every one, so it never depends on a single long-running request and a low PHP time limit will not break it. You will see it move through:
wp-content directory.tdw snapshot on your own serverThe snapshot stays on your site. Nothing has been sent to TryDemoWP yet.
Each snapshot in the list has a Make livebutton. Pressing it uploads that snapshot — resumably, so a dropped connection continues from the byte it reached — and TryDemoWP builds your demo from it and reports the live URL.
Because your snapshots stay on your own server, going back is just making an older one live again. No re-export, and nothing to keep in a folder somewhere.
You do not have to keep the browser tab open for either step. Work continues in the background via WP-Cron and picks up where it left off when you return to the screen. If WP-Cron is disabled on your site there is nothing to continue it, and the screen will tell you to leave the tab open instead.
The plugin keeps five snapshots by default — change it to anything from one to ten. When a new one finishes, the oldest beyond that number is deleted. The snapshot your demo is currently showing is never deleted automatically.
Download gives you the .tdw file itself. Upload it on the New Sitescreen here and you get the same demo — which is the way through if your host blocks the direct push, and the way to hand a site to a client or a teammate.
A .tdwfile is encrypted with a key held by TryDemoWP. It only opens here — not in any other tool, and not on your own machine. The flip side is that anyone holding the file can build a demo from it, so treat it like a copy of your site.
This is an export built for demos, not a backup. To keep the archive small enough to upload, the plugin deliberately skips:
node_modules and .gitThe plugin measures your site before packaging anything. If the export would exceed your plan’s limit it stops and shows you which directories are responsible, so you can trim them or upgrade rather than waiting through a doomed upload.
| Plan | Maximum upload size |
|---|---|
| Free | 500 MB |
| Pro | 2 GB |
| Agency | 5 GB |
wp-config.php is never included, so database credentials and security salts never leave your server.wp-content/uploads/trydemo-sandbox-publisher/. The temporary file is deleted as soon as the snapshot is encrypted.The plugin needs PHP’s ZipArchive extension to build the export. Most hosts have it — ask yours to enable it.
The plugin names the biggest directories when it stops. Media libraries are the usual cause. Trim what the demo does not need, or upgrade your plan for a larger limit.
Tokens are single-site and can be revoked. Generate a fresh one on that site’s Ingestion tab and reconnect. Copy the whole value — it begins with tdw_push_.
Reload Tools → TryDemoWP. The screen reports the real server-side position, and a push interrupted by a closed tab or a restarted server resumes from its last saved point rather than starting over.
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