When you report a problem, the first thing our developers do is try to reproduce the issue on our testing sites. If they can replicate the issue, then they solve the problem and update the plugin. But if they can’t, then it’s impossible for them to fix it.
You’re probably wondering, “why can’t these smart developers replicate the problem I’m having?” Well that’s because each site is different. There are different web hosting environments and different combination of plugins and themes. One or more of these variables might be causing the issue. When a plugin developer is testing Nelio A/B Testing, they don’t have any other plugins activated, and they’re using the default WordPress theme.
This is why sometimes the problem you encounter is specific to your site.
In order for our developers to fix the problem, they must know what’s causing the issue. This is why they ask for your WordPress admin access, so they can have all the same variables.
Fortunately, you do not have to give our developers admin access to your live site. What our developers need is the same environment as your live site (i.e same host, same plugins installed, same themes, and same settings).
The solution is to give them access to a staging or test site. In short, you need to install WordPress on a subdomain like testing.yoursite.com, and make sure that it has the same theme and plugins. Next, you need to ensure that you’re getting the same problem on this test site as your live site (which you should). But don’t worry about that, in most cases, you can ask your web hosting company’s support team to create a staging environment for you. Just ask them to replicate the site on a subdomain, and they can do it much faster than you. In fact, some managed WordPress hosting providers already include this for you in their hosting plans!
Once you have the staging site ready, give our developers admin access there. It’s good to have a staging environment in place (even you can test new things there first), so think of this as an investment.