---
title: "Environment Indicators"
description: "Color-coded environment badges that prevent accidental changes on production sites by making the current environment instantly visible."
url: "https://docs.versioninfoplugin.com/pro-features-environment-indicators/"
---
Color-coded environment badges that prevent accidental changes on production sites by making the current environment instantly visible.

# Environment Indicators

**This is a PRO feature.** Unlock real-time monitoring, environment indicators, version history, and more. [Upgrade to PRO →](https://versioninfoplugin.com/pricing)

The Environment Indicators feature adds high-visibility, color-coded badges to your WordPress admin so you always know whether you're working on a Production, Staging, or Development site. This is the "never edit the wrong site again" feature.

### Why It Matters

One of the most common and costly mistakes in WordPress development is accidentally making changes on a live production site when you intended to work on staging or development. Environment Indicators eliminate this risk by providing an unmistakable visual cue everywhere in the admin.

### What It Displays

A color-coded badge appears based on the detected environment:

| Environment | Badge Color | When Detected |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Production | Red | Live/production sites |
| Staging | Orange | Staging or pre-production environments |
| Development | Green | Local development or dev servers |
| Local | Green | Local development environments (e.g., LocalWP) |

### Detection Sources

Version Info automatically detects the environment from multiple sources, checking them in order of priority:

1.  **`WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE`** - WordPress core constant (since WP 5.5)
2.  **`WP_ENV`** - Used by Bedrock and Trellis setups
3.  **Kinsta** - `KINSTA_ENV_TYPE` constant
4.  **WP Engine** - `WPE_ENVIRONMENT` and `IS_WPE_SNAPSHOT` constants
5.  **Pantheon** - `PANTHEON_ENVIRONMENT` constant
6.  **Flywheel** - `FLYWHEEL_CONFIG_DIR` constant detection

If no environment constant is detected, the site defaults to **Production** (red badge) as a safety measure. This ensures you're always aware when working on a potentially live site.

### Settings

The Environment Indicators feature has two configurable options under **Settings > Version Info > Environment**:

| Setting | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Show Environment Badge | Displays the color-coded badge in the admin bar |
| Admin Bar Highlight | Adds a colored top border to the entire admin bar matching the environment color |

### Admin Bar Highlight

When the Admin Bar Highlight option is enabled, the entire top of the admin bar receives a 3px colored border:

*   **Red border** - Production environment
*   **Orange border** - Staging environment
*   **Green border** - Development or Local environment

This provides an even more prominent visual indicator that is visible on every admin page.

### Setting the Environment Type

If your hosting provider doesn't set an environment constant automatically, you can define one in your `wp-config.php` file:

`// WordPress core method (recommended) define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'staging' );  // Or using the Bedrock convention define( 'WP_ENV', 'development' );`

Accepted values for `WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE` are: `local`, `development`, `staging`, and `production`.