WordPress + Git = ♡
VersionPress is a free and open-source plugin that brings the full power of Git to WordPress. Its key strength is that it version-controls not just files but also the database.
Key features include:
All changes tracked in Git
VersionPress automatically creates Git commits for both file and database changes, in natural language.
"Undo button for WordPress"
Plugins break, people make mistakes; sometimes, you just want that good old Undo button.
Branching and merging
Git took the pain out of file merging; VersionPress does the same for WP database.
Teamwork via GitHub, GitLab, etc.
You can push to GitHub, your colleagues pull and make the site fully functional in seconds. MySQL is a cache.
Ridiculously efficient backups
VersionPress can store hundreds of full site snapshots to just a few megabytes.
User-friendliness
We care about UX deeply. VersionPress should not be a low-level tool for geeks.
“A ground-breaking plugin for all developers.”
With that being said, VersionPress is not without its challenges. The two biggest are plugin compatibility and hosting requirements:
VersionPress needs to understand site's data and which actions can be taken. We're building a database of plugin definitions but right now, you'll likely need to write some yourself.
Shared hosts usually don't allow execution of external binaries via proc_open, which VersionPress relies on. Partly a reason why we built better hosting as part of the process 😉.
These challenges will take some time to get sorted. That's why we also offer a more practical solution that is VersionPress.com – many of the same benefits in a cloud-hosted environment where we guarantee functionality.
These awesome companies have supported VersionPress so far:
How VersionPress compares to VersionPress.com staging?
| VersionPress | VersionPress.com workflows | |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution model | WordPress plugin | Hosted service |
| Stability | Developer preview (beta) | Production-ready |
| Target audience | Developers | All site owners |
| Home | GitHub | my.versionpress.com |
| Merging capabilities | ||
| Plugin compatibility | ||
| Git model | Git runs inside the site | Git runs externally |