Using Sprout

Sprout solves the problem of sharing WordPress content and databases between developers.

With Sprout, you can take snapshots of your project’s WordPress content and database, upload them to a repository, and let your team easily seed a new environment from your snapshot.

Getting the most out of Sprout is simple, but first, let’s look at how it works…

What is a Snapshot?

A snapshot is a copy of your WordPress uploads content and database at any point in time. With Sprout, we can easily create new snapshots, store them in a repository, and then seed a new environment using a stored snapshot.

Snapshots are deduplicated, so creating a new one only stores the changes since your last snapshot - nice and efficient. They’re also encrypted too.

What is a Repository?

A Sprout repository, or “repo”, is the location where Sprout will store your content for your WordPress projects. It can be a simple local folder (for testing purposes), or hosted elsewhere.

You can store multiple projects in a single repo.

Sprout keeps a list of “repository definitions” on your local machine, which tell Sprout exactly how to connect to a repo. You can share these definitions with others in your team to allow them to connect too.

What is a Project?

A project is a WordPress installation containing a sprout.yaml file.

The sprout.yaml file describes exactly which version of database uploads content to use when seeding a new environment.

You should always commit your sprout.yaml file to version control.

What is Seeding?

Seeding is the process of restoring your WordPress uploads and database from a snapshot.

If you’ve cloned a project with a sprout.yaml file, and you have the repository set up, all you need to do is run sprout seed.