TryDemoWP for WordPress

Requirements

• WordPress 5.8 or newer
• PHP 7.4 or newer, with the ZipArchive extension enabled
• A TryDemoWP account with at least one site

1. Install the plugin

In 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.

2. Connect this site

The plugin authenticates with a connect token, which is bound to exactly one site in your dashboard.

1. Open your TryDemoWP dashboard and select the site you want this WordPress install to publish to.
2. On the Ingestion tab, choose Generate connect token and copy it. The token is shown once.
3. In wp-admin, go to Tools → TryDemoWP, paste the token, and press Connect.

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.

3. Push your site

Press Push to TryDemoWP. 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:

• Scanning — measuring the site and checking it against your plan’s upload limit
• Exporting the database — a filtered SQL dump
• Packaging files — your wp-content directory
• Uploading — resumable, so a dropped connection continues from the byte it reached
• Building — TryDemoWP processes the archive and reports the live demo URL

You do not have to keep the browser tab open. The push 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 push screen will tell you to leave the tab open instead.

What gets exported

This is an export built for demos, not a backup. To keep the archive small enough to upload, the plugin deliberately skips:

• Cache directories, and other backup plugins’ folders — often gigabytes of your own backups
• Log files, archives, and build junk such as node_modules and .git
• Post revisions, transients, and spam or trashed comments
• The rows — never the structure — of runtime scratch tables such as Action Scheduler and WooCommerce sessions, so those plugins still work in the demo

Upload limits

The 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.

Security and privacy

• Your wp-config.php is never included, so database credentials and security salts never leave your server.
• Your live site is only ever read. The plugin never modifies it.
• The only thing written is a temporary export file under wp-content/uploads/trydemowp/, deleted once the push finishes.
• A connect token is scoped to a single site and cannot touch anything else in your account. It is excluded from the export, so it never travels into a demo sandbox.
• Nothing is transmitted until you connect a token and press Push. Deleting the plugin removes the token, its settings and the temporary export folder.

Troubleshooting

Need help?

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