A minimal control layer
Git tracks only what the agency authors. Plugin state is tracked as knowledge, not files: a manifest plus a committed snapshot of installed versions.
WordPress site build & deployment
Project Orion
The standardised, git-managed WordPress build every new Business Nebula client site is spun up from.
Orion is the control layer for a live WordPress install. It tracks what Business Nebula authors — the Mairan theme, a baseline must-use plugin, config templates, deploy tooling and runbooks — and leaves WordPress core, premium plugins, uploads and the database to Duplicator Pro packages.
Business Nebula’s internal template for client WordPress builds. Enquire to have your site built on it.
- Tier repository structure
- 3
- Paths deployed: theme and mu-plugins
- 2
- Step client spin-up runbook
- 9
- Inbound connections needed to deploy
- 0
What it is
Project Orion is the standardised WordPress build behind Business Nebula client sites. A golden-master template site holds the deployment-ready build, a persistent, licensed development site is where integration work happens, and each client site is created from the template rather than from scratch.
It is honest about what git can and cannot version. Theme code, must-use plugins and tooling live in git. Elementor templates, JetEngine definitions and RankMath settings live in the database, so Duplicator Pro packages version them instead, and the documentation says so plainly.
Who it’s for
- Every new Business Nebula WordPress client site: Orion is the template it is spun up from.
- The delivery team: one runbook takes a client site from template repository to verified launch.
- Clients in wp-admin, who see subtle Business Nebula attribution and a direct support link on their dashboard.
Key capabilities
A site template with the operations built in
Mairan by git subtree
The theme is pulled in as a git subtree, so theme updates arrive with one subtree pull and client repositories take them the same way.
Pull-model deploys
The server reaches out to GitHub and deploys locally, copying an allowlist of paths into the docroot. It merges rather than deletes, so other must-use plugins are never removed.
Baseline must-use plugin
Login, admin-footer and dashboard attribution with a support widget, an environment badge on non-production sites, and a decluttered dashboard.
A maintenance splash that fails loud
A branded splash toggled from the admin bar or wp-config. The public sees the splash, admins see a red indicator, and logged-in editors keep working on the real site.
Privacy at the server layer
In-progress sites sit behind cPanel Directory Privacy, never a silent noindex. A forgotten password shows a prompt at launch, and the golden master ships indexable.
Duplicator Pro packaging
Golden-master packages named orion-golden-YYYY-MM-DD, rebuilt at least monthly, each cross-referenced to a commit recording exact plugin and core versions.
Lint before anything ships
GitHub Actions syntax-checks the PHP and validates the deploy script and .cpanel.yml, so broken PHP never reaches a server pull.
How it works
Three tiers, one direction of travel
The theme, the site template and each client’s site live in separate repositories. Each tier consumes the one above it, so a fix lands upstream once and flows down to every site.
- Tier 1
Mairan-wp-theme
The theme
Theme only. Never grows site config or deploy scripts.
git subtree - Tier 2
Orion-wp-build
The site template
A GitHub template repository that consumes the theme by git subtree, with the mu-plugin, tooling and docs.
Use this template - Tier 3
Client repositories
One per client build
Created with “Use this template”: a clean copy that diverges with client branding and content.
Deploys
The server pulls; nothing pushes in
The hosting firewall drops inbound SSH, so GitHub cannot push to it. Orion flips the model: the server pulls from GitHub over an outbound connection the firewall allows, then deploys locally.
Retired: Push over SSH
GitHub Actions → rsync over SSH was built first. The firewall silently drops GitHub’s runner IPs, so it was retired.
- 01 · GitHub
The repository
Actions runs lint only. Nothing deploys from here.
php -lPulled by the server - 02 · Server
cPanel Git Version Control
Clones the repository outside the docroot and checks out the branch the site follows.
Update from RemoteDeploy HEAD Commit - 03 · Server
The deploy task
“Deploy HEAD Commit” runs .cpanel.yml, which runs the deploy script. A cron can automate it.
scripts/cpanel-deploy.shCopies the allowlist - 04 · Docroot
The live site
Receives the allowlist only: the theme and the must-use plugins.
themes/business-nebula/ · mu-plugins/
Never touched by a deploy
- wp-config.php
- .htaccess
- uploads/
- plugins/
- WordPress core
Rolling back is checking out an older commit and deploying it again. Anything outside git’s scope is restored from a Duplicator package.
The boundary
What git versions, and what it can’t
Much of a WordPress site’s real state lives in the database. Orion draws the line explicitly, so nobody expects git revert to undo an Elementor edit.
| Layer | Versioned by |
|---|---|
| Theme code, mu-plugins, config templates, tooling, docs | Git (this repository) |
| Plugin files, WordPress core | Server and Duplicator packages, with versions recorded in a plugin snapshot |
| Database (Elementor, JetEngine, RankMath state), uploads | Duplicator packages only |
Client spin-up
From template to launch, in order
A new client site follows the same runbook every time.
Create the client repository
From the Orion template: a clean copy with no shared history.
Provision hosting
A cPanel account or subdomain for the client site.
Restore the golden master
The latest Duplicator package handles the database, URL search-replace and config.
Set the environment type
From the wp-config reference block, with the in-progress site kept private by Directory Privacy.
Wire up deploys
Point the deploy pipeline at the new site’s docroot.
Run the first deploy
It overwrites the packaged theme with the current theme, closing any drift.
Re-activate licences
Each premium plugin is activated against the client’s domain.
Verify
Rendering, editor, CPTs, SEO settings, environment badge — and, at launch, that the site is indexable.
Client work begins
On the client repository’s own branches, still taking theme updates by subtree.
Tech stack
Built on
- WordPress + Mairan
- Hello Elementor parent, the Mairan theme by git subtree
- Orion Baseline 2.0.0
- Must-use plugin: branding, environment badge, maintenance splash
- Elementor Pro
- Theme Builder: headers, footers and templates
- JetEngine & Crocoblock
- Custom post types, meta fields and dynamic content
- RankMath Pro
- SEO
- Duplicator Pro
- Site packaging and client cloning
- cPanel Git Version Control
- .cpanel.yml and a Bash deploy script
- GitHub
- Template repository, Actions for lint only
Build on Orion
Want your site built and run this way?
Orion is how Business Nebula spins up, deploys and packages client WordPress sites. Tell us about your project, or see how our web design and development work runs.
Developed by BN
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