Stage & Live — staging and live environments
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Audience | public |
| Page type | reference |
| Area | sg-dashboard |
| Updated | 2026-05-25 |
How SGEN separates staging and live — environment purpose, access, and release boundary.
Every site in SGEN runs as two environments: staging and live. Staging is where work happens. Live is what the world sees. That separation is not optional — it is built into every site from the moment it is provisioned. This page is the Reference definition of the Stage & Live surface: what each environment is for, how operators move between them, and why the boundary matters for controlled release.
>
What is this for?
Read this page when you want the structural definition of how SGEN organises staging and live environments — what each one is, how you access each from Site Manager, and what the separation means for change confidence and release control.
Good use cases
- You are new to SGEN and want to understand why staging and live are separate surfaces — not two labels for the same thing.
- A team member is asking when to use staging versus live for a given type of work.
- You are designing an internal SOP around change review, release approval, or content promotion.
- You hit a "live is not behaving like staging" question and want the model laid out before diagnosing it.
- You are explaining to a stakeholder how SGEN handles release confidence without a separate staging tool.
What NOT to use this for
- Step-by-step procedures for accessing staging or live — open How to Access Staging and Live in SGEN.
- DNS setup for the live domain — open How to Point Your Domain in SGEN.
- Per-release shipped change to the environment model — open What's New or Changelog.
- Billing restrictions that affect live availability — open Billing Overview or How to Add a Subscription.
How this connects to other features
- SG-Dashboard Overview — parent surface; Stage & Live is a key sub-concept.
- Site Manager — the surface that exposes staging and live access controls per site.
- Advanced Settings — account-tier preferences that affect both environments.
- Analytics — analytics data that reflects what happens on both surfaces.
Definition
Staging and live are two independent builds of the same site. They share the same content structure and configuration but run in separate environments so that changes can be reviewed, tested, and approved before the live public surface is affected.
The defining property is independence. A change made in staging does not appear on live until it has been promoted. The live surface reflects what was last released — not what is currently being worked on.
Purpose
This page defines the staging and live model as a Reference layer. It explains the purpose of each environment, how operators reach each one from Site Manager, and what the separation means for change control and release confidence.
Scope
This page covers the Stage & Live environment model at the Reference level.
The page covers:
- The purpose and scope of each environment.
- How operators access each environment from Site Manager.
- The operational boundary between staging and live.
- What affects live availability (domain readiness, billing state).
- DNS setup procedures — How to Point Your Domain Guide.
- Promotion and release mechanics — out of scope at Reference level; covered in Guides.
- Billing restriction flows — Billing Overview.
The staging environment
Staging is the working environment. It is provisioned automatically when a site is created. No domain-pointing step is required for staging to be usable — it is available from the moment the site card appears in Site Manager.
What staging is for
Staging is where content is created, designs are reviewed, configuration is tested, and changes are confirmed before they reach the public. It is the correct place for:
- Content drafting and review.
- Design and layout changes.
- SG-Admin configuration updates.
- User testing before live release.
- Integration setup and verification.
Accessing staging
Two controls on the site card in Site Manager provide staging access:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| View Staging Site | Opens the staging build as a visitor would see it — no admin session |
| Login to Stage | Opens the staging environment with SG-Admin already active |
Site card · yoursite.example
Staging access
Staging is available immediately — no domain-pointing required.
The live environment
Live is the public production surface. It is created alongside staging when the site is provisioned, but it only becomes publicly reachable once the domain is pointed and the SSL certificate has provisioned.
What live is for
Live is the version of the site that visitors see. Operators use the live environment controls for:
- Confirming a released change is visible on the public site.
- Entering live-side SG-Admin for configuration that must apply to the production environment.
- Verifying that domain and certificate setup completed correctly.
What controls live readiness
Two conditions determine whether the live environment behaves normally:
| Condition | Effect if incomplete |
|---|---|
| Domain pointed | Live tab may not resolve or may show a non-production state |
| Billing active | SGEN may shift live to a maintenance or unavailable state when billing is unsettled |
Accessing live
Two controls on the site card provide live access, mirroring the staging controls:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Visit Live Site | Opens the live public site in a new tab |
| Login to Live | Opens the live site with SG-Admin already active |
Site card · yoursite.example
Live access
Live is ready once the domain has propagated and the certificate has provisioned.
The release boundary
The release boundary is the point at which changes move from staging to live. SGEN does not maintain an automatic continuous sync between staging and live — the operator controls what moves and when.
This boundary is what gives the staging environment its operational value. Because live reflects only what has been released, operators can work freely in staging without the risk of exposing unfinished work to the public.
Why the boundary matters
- Changes in staging are invisible to the public.
- Live always reflects a confirmed, released state.
- The operator decides when a change is ready to cross the boundary.
- Review, approval, or sign-off can happen at staging before live is affected.
Environment state at a glance
The site card in Site Manager surfaces the current state of both environments without requiring the operator to open either.
| State indicator | What it means |
|---|---|
| Live · ready | Domain is pointed, certificate is issued, live is publicly reachable |
| Domain pending | DNS has not propagated or certificate has not provisioned yet |
| Maintenance / unavailable | Billing or another platform condition is restricting the live surface |
| Staging only | Staging is available; live is not yet configured or ready |
Constraints and boundaries
Stage & Live is the Reference for the SGEN environment model. It does not replace the procedural Guides for accessing, setting up, or diagnosing each environment.
Use this Reference for:
- Understanding why the staging/live separation exists and what each environment is for.
- Confirming what affects live readiness.
- Reasoning about the release boundary before designing an internal workflow.
- DNS setup — How to Point Your Domain in SGEN Guide.
- Step-by-step environment access — How to Access Staging and Live in SGEN Guide.
- Billing resolution — Billing Overview or How to Add a Subscription.
Public boundary
This page is intentionally public-safe. It does not expose deployment pipeline internals, environment topology, or protected operational identifiers.
Examples
Example 1 — Team reviews a design change before release
The design team works in staging. The site owner opens View Staging Site, reviews the change, approves it. The change moves to live. Visitors see the approved version; nothing unfinished was exposed during the review.
Example 2 — Domain is still pending; operator works in staging
A new site has been provisioned. Visit Live Site is visible on the card but the domain has not propagated yet. The operator uses Login to Stage to continue configuration work in the admin. Staging is fully usable throughout; the operator rechecks live once DNS has settled.
Example 3 — Stakeholder asks "why is the staging site different from live?"
The platform lead opens this page and walks the stakeholder through the model: staging reflects current in-progress work; live reflects the last released state. The separation is how SGEN prevents unfinished work from reaching the public. The Reference frames the structural reason; the stakeholder understands the workflow.
Documentation guidance
Use this page as the structural definition for the staging and live environment model. Procedural detail belongs in the How to Access Staging and Live Guide and related Guides. Per-release behavior change belongs in What's New or Changelog.
Reading order
Open this page first when a staging/live question arises. Pair with Site Manager for the access controls on each site card, and with the relevant Guides for step-by-step procedures.
Vocabulary cross-reference
- Staging environment is the non-production build where work happens before release.
- Live environment is the public production site that visitors see.
- Release boundary is the point at which a change moves from staging to live.
- Domain pending is the state where DNS has not yet propagated or the certificate has not yet provisioned.
- Maintenance state is the condition where the live surface is restricted, typically due to a billing or platform event.
Maintenance discipline
When the staging and live model changes across releases (new environment controls, new state indicators, new release mechanics), update this Reference and log the change in Changelog.
Related reading
| Topic |
|---|
| SG-Dashboard |
| Site Manager |
| Advanced Settings |
| Analytics |
| Client Manager |