What StretchWP managed WordPress includes

What StretchWP is

StretchWP is managed WordPress hosting delivered from inside your StretchSuite workspace. Instead of buying hosting, installing WordPress, hunting down plugins, and maintaining all of it yourself, you request a site and receive a running, secured, and monitored WordPress install with a curated set of first-party plugins already in place.

The key idea to understand up front: there are no plugin license keys to buy or upload. The StretchWP plugin suite is part of the managed service. It is installed, licensed, and kept current for you. You will never be asked to paste an activation code.

What's included

Every StretchWP site comes with:

• A managed WordPress install on Stretch infrastructure, provisioned on request from your workspace.
• A temporary working URL to begin with (a StretchMedia address), so you can build immediately before your real domain is connected.
• The first-party plugin suite — a dashboard, security/firewall, SEO, analytics, image optimization, backups, and performance tooling, all maintained by Stretch.
• Automatic security and core/plugin updates, applied and monitored so sites don't drift out of date.
• Scheduled backups with the ability to request a restore.
• One-click admin access from your workspace — no separate WordPress password to remember.
• Custom domain connection when you're ready to go live on your own domain.
• Monitoring — Stretch watches site health and connection status and surfaces it in your workspace.

What you're responsible for

Managed hosting handles the platform layer; you own the site's content and design:

• Building pages, posts, and menus.
• Choosing and configuring a theme.
• Your content, media, and any third-party plugins you specifically request beyond the managed suite.
• Providing DNS access (or your domain registrar login) when it's time to connect a custom domain.

A realistic example

Suppose you run a coaching business and want a marketing site plus a blog. Your workflow looks like this:

1. In your workspace, open StretchWP and request a new site.
2. Within a short provisioning window, the site appears with a temporary StretchMedia URL and a status of Ready.
3. You click Open admin and land in WordPress already logged in — no password prompt.
4. You pick a theme, build a few pages, and write your first posts. The SEO and image-optimization plugins are already active, so titles, sitemaps, and image compression are handled as you go.
5. When you're happy, you request your custom domain (for example paynecoaching.ca), publish the DNS records Stretch gives you, and the site goes live on your own address.
6. From then on, backups run on schedule and updates are applied for you. If something breaks, you can request a restore to a previous backup.

Tips

• Start building on the temporary URL immediately. You do not need your custom domain connected first. Domain connection is a later, independent step.
• Don't fight the managed plugins. The suite is tuned to work together. Installing a competing security or caching plugin can cause conflicts. If you need a capability the suite doesn't cover, request it rather than layering a duplicate.
• Treat StretchWP as your production system of record for the site, and rely on the scheduled backups rather than manual exports.

FAQ

Do I need to install anything? No. Hosting and the plugin suite are provisioned for you. See Do I need to install a StretchWP plugin? for detail.

Can I use my own theme? Yes. You can install a theme in WordPress admin, or request one during provisioning.

Is this the same as StretchPages? No. StretchWP is managed WordPress hosting. StretchPages is Stretch's own visual page builder. If you want a full WordPress site with the WordPress admin, plugins, and ecosystem, choose StretchWP. See What is the difference between StretchWP and StretchPages?

Where do I control access to StretchWP? Access is tied to your workspace and access tier, not to a downloadable license. See How StretchWP and app access works.