Using git with WordPress on SiteGround

I use SiteGround for most of my personal websites. I love it because I can create unlimited sites without any additional cost.

I prefer to use git to deploy code rather than SFTP. I make my changes locally, and when I’m happy with it I push them with git push production master.

SiteGround has git support built-in, but it works a bit differently than other hosts with git push. This article by 9seeds provided a lot of guidance here.

Add a .gitignore file

By default, SiteGround will version control the entire wp-content directory: your themes, plugins, and uploads. If you prefer to only include certain themes and plugins (like I do), you’ll first want to add a .gitignore file before creating the git repository in SiteGround.

I had migrated a site to SiteGround, then clicked “Create git repository”. The repo was massive because it included 2GB of uploads. Adding the .gitignore afterwards and deleting the uploads directory wouldn’t help because the uploads are still part of the history of the repo. I fixed it by deleting the repo, adding the .gitignore file, and creating a new repo.

Here’s my sample .gitignore file. Edit it to include any themes and plugins you’d like to version control, then upload to the top level of your WordPress site.

Create the repo on SiteGround

Log into SiteGround and open cPanel. Click on the “SG-Git” tool (use the search on the left to find it).

At the bottom you’ll see a list of domains that are not currently version controlled. Click the green “Create git repository” button next to the site you want.

You’ll then see a popup window containing a “git clone” command and an ssh key. You’ll only need the git clone command for what we’re doing.

Copy the git clone command and run it locally wherever you want the site to be. For instance, I have a /wpdev directory on my computer where I have most of my sites, so within that I run the git clone command. It will create a new directory using your domain name (ex: /wpdev/yoursite.com). You can rename it if you like: mv yoursite.com yoursite

Integrating GitHub

Your new local repository will have a remote named origin pointing to SiteGround. I prefer having origin point to GitHub and production point to the live site. To change this:

1. Rename the remote: git remote rename origin production
2. Create a private repo on GitHub. Click “Clone or download” and copy the URL given (screenshot).
3. Add the remote origin: git remote add origin {url here}

Private GitHub repos are only available for paid accounts ($7/month). Alternatively, you could use the same approach with BitBucket which offers unlimited private repos for free.

Making code changes

When you’re ready to push them to GitHub, run: git push origin master. When you’re ready to deploy your code changes to your website at SiteGround, run: git push production master. I also like to use WP Migrate DB Pro for pushing and pulling the database.

That’s it! It’s pretty simple to setup and a lot simpler than SFTP for deploying code changes. Let me know if you have any questions or additional SiteGround tips.