Websites are never finished - but some are launched more complete than others!
This pre-launch checklist includes all of the tasks that are most easily overlooked; it assumes that you will get into the flow on the craft of designing, developing, and creating content for web. This list is a guide to make sure attention is also brought onto the non-primary facets.
This is also a helpful starting place when reviewing a website you are inheriting operational jurisdiction over.
- Assumes WordPress, but can be modified for other sites
- Using Bootstrap or similarly Object Oriented design framework that uses color variables
- Assumes you are starting from our Blueprint which sets opinionated things like WP Permalinks, deleting dummy content, and assumes a heightened awareness of security is present.
- Start a Launch list checklist - remove things that don't apply
- Share a project folder with all relevant team members
- Install a new site on LocalWP, go through the backend settings
- Ask IT to setup the hosting environment
- Gather assets; images, copydecks etc.
Some Web Accessibility factors are here too - and are at least 10x easier to deal with up front than work in later.
- By default we probably just do basic edits on the Blueprint in the browser. Unique sites will have more robust design sprints that may include:
- Competitive analysis
- Moodboards
- Building a Design System or approaching development with Atomic Design
- Full design comps (I recommend designing for desktops, we can make it responsive in browser)
- Test color contrast - particularly for text colors on the brand colors. Bootstrap assumes that the Primary theme color is dark, has highest contras
- Set project specific variables (eg color scheme, fonts)
- Check the text highlight colors (::selection) - if it uses primary or secondary make sure it contrasts when selecting on that background
- Review Design Brief / specs / reqs / issues
- Review print styles
- Where possible use SVG for images like logos
- Optimize raster Images for web
- Add Admin credentials to the team 1Password Vault
- Use Git to fork child theme repo if making changes to the stock Blueprint theme
- Add Code Comments to new code/blocks/sections if forking the repo
- Any new patterns/blocks/sections to add to Blueprint / snippet library?
- Add Documentation / todos in your task tracking tool (eg. Readme in the repo, Trello)
- Accessibility is critical for UX, and also is a major factor in SEO. Below are the six factors that make up 96% of the most common errors. For more see the A11y Project checklist or do the full audit through [Accessibility Insights] testing for sites not using our Blueprint
- low contrast text
- missing alt descriptions
- empty links
- missing form labels
- empty buttons
- missing document language
- 2FA set for admin users, if possible use in 1Password
- In WordPress we are probably starting with Blueprint that uses a child theme of Picostrap, but you may have different requirements
- Activate child theme, if it's a fork be sure to customize the name in style.css
- Install as few plugins as possible, enable auto-updates. Using Picostrap probably removes the need for a lot of other plugins
- How many languages? Decide if you will use WPML or Livecanvas for managing language
- Test Template Hierarchies and other WP templates
- Test Search
- Test Archives (Tag, Cat, date, author)
- 404
- Delete unused pages, posts, themes, plugins
- Set the client's non-human email as the website's email address in General Settings
- Enable auto updates for theme, plugins, core
- Favicon in place
- Sitemap.xml submitted to Google Search Console
- Schema.org defined (in Yoast or header.php and markup)
- Google Analytics or Tag Manager in place
- Optional trackers like FB Pixel in place
- GDPR Compliant Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Cookies Policy
- "current page" status is show in the main navigation
- Will site have regular backups?
- Home page built - sometimes half of a build is making a great home page.
- Pages & Posts Populated
- Page titles and meta descriptions are entered
- Pages and posts have Open Graph title/description/image set
- Ensure stock photos are sourced (not just output from design file)
- Do any of the sourced images need attribution? Create a photo credits page, link in footer.
- If there is a form / Chat we need GDPR compliant Privacy/Terms/Cookies notice
- Spell check as you go
- Quick Perf and a11y test via Lighthouse / Page Speed Insights
- A11y audits WebAIM extension
- Test schema.org Markup
- Test if your site is Mobile Friendly
- Test forms are working
- Check robots.txt in place, blocking wp-admin, wp-includes
- Test all state changes,
- responsive widths, heights
- logged in, and logged out
- e.g. if products sale prices, sold state, dates
- QA test on devices
- QA test in browsers (if developing primarily in a Blink browser be sure to spend time in Firefox and Safari)
- Look for broken links
- Check console for errors, console.log type dev messages
- Double check CSS and JS are minified
- SSL enabled
- Consider doing user testing
- Check Analytics are working
- Ensure WP is not blocking search engines in Settings
- 301 Redirects in place for refreshes
- Add to Uptime monitor
- Add to ManageWP
- Tell the client / PM we are live
- If applicable plan marketing announcement (social media, press release, Slack announcement)
- Consider adding to the portfolio
- Delete staging environment