Set up a staging site

Connect a staging or preview environment to try translations before using them in production. Ponyglot keeps its content, translation jobs and delivery state separate, while letting it reuse your organization’s approved translations.

You need the admin or owner role and a production site already added to your organization. Each production site can have up to three staging sites.

Add the staging environment

1. Open your organization in the Ponyglot dashboard and choose Add your site.

2. Enter a distinct name, such as Acme staging, and the staging website’s base URL.

3. Under Staging site of, choose its production site in the same organization.

4. Choose the staging site’s source language, adapters and engines. Save, then add its target languages.

5. On the new staging site’s page, create an API key. Configure the staging environment’s PONYGLOT_API_KEY with this key.

6. Complete Install the packages and Configure in Install and configure a connector in the staging project, then run:

$ python manage.py migrate
$ python manage.py ponyglot check

Check that the command reports Connected to site “Acme staging” (or your chosen staging name) and the expected writable languages. If it names production, correct PONYGLOT_API_KEY and repeat the check before continuing.

Once the destination is correct, send the staging content:

$ python manage.py ponyglot backfill

In the dashboard, the site has a staging badge and appears beneath its production site. Set up its own regular sync.

When creating staging from a production database or deployment, replace the production API key before running any Ponyglot commands there. Another key issued for the production site still accesses production’s content and results; create the key on the staging site instead.

What is shared, and what is separate

Item	Staging behavior
Content and results	Separate from production, including jobs, drafts, suggestions and review decisions. Each environment syncs with its own Ponyglot site.
Translation memory	Reads the organization’s memory. Imported staging translations and approvals, including corrections, don’t add or replace memory entries.
Glossary and brand voice	The organization’s glossary and voice still apply. Use the staging site’s voice settings for site-specific refinements.
Subscription	Covered when its production site is covered. Staging doesn’t use an extra Pro site slot or one of Agency’s ten sites.
Translation usage	Engine translations use the production site’s included volume on Pro, or the organization’s pool on Agency, Growth and Scale. Memory hits remain free.
QA	Uses Editors fix QA errors. The connector displays findings for you to review; connectors that can’t display errors still have those translations held back.

Staging protects the shared memory from test approvals. Direct dashboard edits to Memory, TMX imports and changes to Glossary still affect the whole organization.

Use an existing site as staging

Open that site’s Settings, choose its production site under Staging site of, and save. Future approvals and imported translations no longer teach the memory. Entries it taught before the change remain; review those separately under Memory if needed.

A staging site can’t have staging sites of its own. A production site with staging sites can’t itself be marked as staging.

Remove a staging site

An owner can Delete a site when testing is finished. Deleting a staging site leaves its production site in place. Deleting the production site also deletes all its staging sites and their API keys. Stop the affected sync workers before deleting.