Title: EnvBeacon Author: Grant Barnard Published: May 29, 2026 Last modified: May 29, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/envbeacon/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3553028) ![](https://ps.w.org/envbeacon/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3553028) # EnvBeacon By [Grant Barnard](https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantb89/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/envbeacon.1.2.0.zip) * [Details](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/#description) * [Reviews](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/#reviews) * [Installation](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/#installation) * [Development](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/envbeacon/) ## Description EnvBeacon is a lightweight WordPress plugin designed for development teams managing multiple WordPress environments (local, staging, production). It displays a color- coded notice bar in the WordPress admin bar, making it instantly clear which environment you’re working on. **Perfect for preventing:** – Accidentally modifying content on live sites – Publishing changes to staging instead of live – Confusion when switching between environments ### Features * 🎨 Color-coded environment indicators (Red for Live, Blue for Staging, Green for Local) * ⚙️ Easy-to-use settings page for URL pattern configuration * 🔄 Automatic environment detection based on site URL * 📋 Flexible URL patterns (simple strings, wildcards, regex alternation) * 🏠 Built-in defaults for local, staging, and live environments * 💾 Lightweight – no database overhead * 🚀 Universal – works with any WordPress site ### Quick Start **To set up the plugin:** 1. In WordPress admin, go to Settings EnvBeacon 2. Enter your Live environment URL (e.g., `example.com`) 3. Staging patterns come pre-filled with common defaults: `stg|staging|stage|qa|dev- staging` 4. Local patterns come pre-filled with common defaults: `localhost|127.0.0.1|.local |.test` 5. Customize patterns and colors as needed 6. Click Save Changes **Default Patterns:** * **Staging**: `stg|staging|stage|qa|dev-staging` * **Local**: `localhost|127.0.0.1|.local|.test` **Custom Pattern Examples:** * `example.com` – Simple string match * `*.example.com` – Wildcard (matches staging.example.com, qa.example.com, etc.) * `staging|stage|qa` – Regex alternation (matches any of these words) ### Usage Once activated and configured, the EnvBeacon will: 1. Check your site’s URL on each page load 2. Match it against your configured patterns 3. Display a colored indicator in the WordPress admin bar 4. Show the environment name (Live, Staging, or Local) No further configuration needed! ### Support For support, questions, or feature requests, please visit the plugin support forum or check the documentation in the settings page. The plugin includes detailed URL pattern syntax help in the settings page to guide you through configuration. ### License This plugin is licensed under the GPL v2 or later. ### Credits Built for development teams who need clear environment indication. ## Screenshots * [[ * EnvBeacon settings page * [[ * Red indicator on live site ## Installation 1. Search for “EnvBeacon” in the WordPress plugin directory 2. Click “Install Now” 3. Activate the plugin 4. Go to Settings EnvBeacon to configure your environments 5. Enter your Live and Staging URL patterns 6. Save changes ## FAQ ### Q: Will this affect my site’s performance? A: No, the detection is very lightweight (just a URL comparison) and only runs once per page load. ### Q: What if I don’t configure it? A: All traffic will show as “Local” by default, which is safe. ### Q: Can I use regex patterns? A: Yes! Advanced users can use full regex patterns. Just enter your regex directly in the URL field. ### Q: Does this work on the frontend? A: Only when the WordPress admin bar is visible (when `show_admin_bar()` is true). It won’t appear for logged-out users. ### Q: Can I customize the colors? A: Yes, each environment has a customizable color in the settings page. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “EnvBeacon” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Grant Barnard ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantb89/) [Translate “EnvBeacon” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/envbeacon) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/envbeacon/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/envbeacon/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/envbeacon/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/envbeacon/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.2.0 * Added Local environment URL pattern field * Added intelligent default patterns for Staging (`stg|staging|stage|qa|dev-staging`) * Added intelligent default patterns for Local (`localhost|127.0.0.1|.local|.test`) * Improved URL matching with automatic regex alternation support * Local environment now checks patterns before defaulting #### 1.1.0 * Added admin settings page for easy configuration * Made URL patterns fully configurable via the settings UI * Added support for wildcard and regex URL patterns * Added color customization per environment * Made plugin universal for WordPress plugin directory distribution #### 1.0.0 * Initial release ## Meta * Version **1.2.0** * Last updated **2 days ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 5.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0** * PHP version ** 7.4 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/) * Tags * [admin bar](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/admin-bar/)[development](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/development/) [environment](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/environment/)[local](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/local/) [staging](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/staging/) * [Advanced View](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/envbeacon/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/envbeacon/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/envbeacon/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Grant Barnard ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/grantb89/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/envbeacon/)