PressEdge · Static WordPress publishing by J36 Digital
PressEdge is a WordPress plugin that turns your website into a fast, secure static copy and serves it from Bunny.net's worldwide network. You keep editing in WordPress exactly as you do now; PressEdge does the rest.
Open source · GPLv2 · Opening up soon
Licence
Open source, GPLv2
Delivery
Bunny.net global network
Works with
Elementor, Astra and more
Made in
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
About
PressEdge is a static WordPress plugin from J36 Digital. It makes a ready-made copy of every page on your website and serves that copy to your visitors from Bunny.net, a worldwide network of fast servers. WordPress carries on as the private place where you do your editing.
You keep the editor, the plugins and the workflow you already know. Your visitors get a light, quick copy that doesn't need WordPress to build each page every time someone visits. It's far harder to hack, too: the live site is plain files, with no login page, database or plugins for attackers to target, and your WordPress editing site is kept private and locked down.
How it works
In plain terms: your visitors see the static copy, and WordPress stays behind the scenes as your editing site.
Step 01
Work in WordPress on a private editing address, with Elementor or whatever builder you already use. Nothing about how you write or design changes.
Step 02
Save a page and PressEdge turns it into a simple, ready-made web page, and copies across the images, styling, scripts and PDFs that go with it.
Step 03
The finished pages are uploaded to Bunny and its stored copies are refreshed, so visitors see the new version instead of the old one.
Step 04
Your website address points at Bunny, so visitors are served the ready-made pages. Forms and comments are still handled by WordPress.
Benefits
Speed
Visitors get ready-made pages from Bunny's network, instead of waiting for WordPress to build each page from scratch every time.
Security
Visitors browse ready-made files rather than WordPress itself, so there is much less on show to attack. You can lock the editing site so the public can't reach it at all, while you carry on working as normal. Forms and comments still go back to WordPress.
Resilience
The live copy is served from Bunny, so a busy or briefly unavailable WordPress site doesn't take your public pages down with it.
Efficiency
Your hosting no longer answers every page view, so it has much less to do and more room for the editing you actually need.
Features
Everything a static WordPress site needs to run a real business website, not a weekend experiment.
Publishing
Save a page and it goes live on its own. Prefer to stay in control? Switch to manual mode.
Set-up
A step-by-step wizard sets up Bunny for you: storage, delivery, your domain and the security padlock.
Compatibility
Elementor Forms, Contact Form 7, WPForms, Fluent Forms, Forminator and Gravity Forms keep working on the live site, including Turnstile, reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha spam protection.
Compatibility
Comments are posted back to the editing site and appear on the live page within a few minutes.
Security
Password-protected pages work on the live site. The right password opens the page; without it, there's nothing to read.
SEO
Redirects from Rank Math or the Redirection plugin go live on Bunny as soon as you save them, so old links still land in the right place.
SEO
Your sitemap, robots.txt and 404 page are built for your live domain and kept up to date.
Publishing
Every page of a paginated blog is published, along with categories, archives and custom post types like portfolios.
Insight
See the live site's status, Bunny traffic and a full activity log without leaving WordPress.
Security
Your Bunny keys are encrypted, the editing site can be hidden from the public, and large deletions are held for you to check.
Compatibility
Whatever theme or page builder you use, popups, mobile menus and lightboxes keep working on the live site.
Publishing
Only what changed is rebuilt and uploaded, so most edits go live in seconds.
Security
Updates are checked before they install, and anything that can't be verified is refused.
Publishing
Update a theme, a plugin or WordPress itself and the whole site is rebuilt automatically.
Publishing
Change a menu, widget, template or the site title and every page that shows it is rebuilt.
SEO
WordPress hides extra links in every page, like feeds and pingbacks, that only work on WordPress itself. PressEdge removes them, so nothing points to a dead end.
Product tour
Guided set-up
Activate PressEdge and a wizard walks you through connecting Bunny, setting your live domain, choosing how changes go live and pointing your DNS. Paste in your Bunny account key and PressEdge fills in the rest.
Publishing
In Automatic mode, edit a page and it's rebuilt, uploaded and live within about a minute. Prefer to stay in control? Manual mode holds everything back until you press Publish.
Peace of mind
System checks and a plain-English activity log show every build, upload and refresh, so you can see it working, and show your clients too.
Requirements
WordPress with "pretty" permalinks switched on (page addresses made of words rather than numbers)
PHP 8.3 or newer (the software your hosting uses to run WordPress; your host can tell you which version you have)
A Bunny.net account. Not got one? Sign up here (affiliate link: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you)
Works with most themes and page builders, and tested on LiteSpeed hosting
WooCommerce and Bookly are on the roadmap.
Site search and customer accounts, such as shop logins, need WordPress to answer each visitor, so they don't work on the live site yet.
PressEdge is still young. New features and fixes arrive most days, so expect it to keep improving, and expect the odd rough edge while it does.
Do I still edit in WordPress?
Yes. Same editor, same plugins, same dashboard. The only difference is that it lives at a private address and visitors see the static copy.
What about contact forms?
They keep working. Elementor Forms, Contact Form 7, WPForms, Fluent Forms, Forminator and Gravity Forms send their messages to WordPress as normal, so emails and saved entries carry on as before.
What if WordPress goes down?
The live site is served from Bunny's network, not your hosting, so visitors still get the last published copy while WordPress is busy or being updated.
Is it open source?
Yes, it's released under the GPLv2. PressEdge started as a fork of the open-source Static Porter plugin, and we're happy to credit it. Updates arrive on the normal WordPress Updates screen, and PressEdge refuses any it can't verify as genuine.
Will my URLs change?
No. Your pages keep the same addresses, and redirects from Rank Math or the Redirection plugin are carried over so old links still work.
Can I still password-protect a page?
Yes. Set a password in WordPress as normal and it works on the live site. The longer the password, the safer the page.
Do I need a Bunny.net account?
Yes, PressEdge publishes to Bunny.net, so you'll need an account there. The guided set-up creates your storage and delivery for you. Your account key is stored encrypted on your site so PressEdge can refresh the Bunny copies after each publish, or you can keep it out of the database altogether by setting it in wp-config.php. No account yet? Sign up at bunny.net (affiliate link: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you).
Does it work with WooCommerce?
Not yet. Baskets, checkouts and customer accounts need a server for every visitor, so WooCommerce and Bookly are on the roadmap rather than supported today. Brochure and content sites are where PressEdge shines.
Where can I read more?
Our article explains static WordPress and how PressEdge fits in. Read the full story.
Can I try it now?
PressEdge is opening up soon. Join the waitlist and we'll let you know as soon as places are available.
Early access
Be among the first to try PressEdge. Join the waitlist and we'll let you know as soon as places open.
