Pre-Launch Checks

Preparing for Launch

When we have received approval to launch the new website please ensure you run through the following checks:

Please make sure you have access to the Production hosting environment where the new website is hosted. If the client is changing hosting providers as part of the new website launch, we will need access to DNS records or the person who manages DNS.
For clients hosted with WP Engine, we always launch using the Production Environment so if we have been developing the project using Staging or Development, we need to clone to Production if there is no existing site in that environment. See this checklist.
Copy existing Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixels and any other tracking from current site (if applicable). If there is no existing GTM or Analytics we need to create new accounts. Follow these instructions.
Run a sitemap report on the current live site so we have a recent list of all URLs and SEO Meta. We may need to refer to this when creating 301 redirects.

Switch WP Cron to System Cron to make sure cron jobs continue running regardless of the website traffic by setting DISABLE_WP_CRON to true and schedule to run WordPress wp-cron.php every minute via System Cron. Ask assistance from hosting team to do this.
For clients hosted with WP Engine. Turn on Alternate Cron instead under Utilities of the site Environment
Make sure Cron jobs are running as expected after switching.

Make sure that there are favicon, mobile icon, social sharing image – http://prntscr.com/ulejde
Under Site Settings -> Pages check a default Hero Banner image has been added and Login Page & 404 Page have been configured.
Check contact information including social profiles have been entered correctly. Remove any #.
Under Site Elements, untick any not required.
Remove Google MAPs API key from Site Settings -> Advanced if there is no Google Map displayed on the site

Remove all test data such as dummy Pages, Posts or Custom Posts, and Images (including images that are not related to the website or comes from a cloned website during setup)
Reassign the author for all Pages and Posts to the client’s user to avoid our details appearing as the author in shared posts.
Check Privacy Policy, T&C and make sure to update or copy the existing policy from their website.
Make sure all links are working on frontend. Any buttons with an empty link (#) must be updated to go to the relevant page, or removed if necessary.
If the current live site has custom meta titles and descriptions, copy these across to the new website. Yoast’s Bulk Editing tool can be useful.

Check Gravity Forms and trash any forms not required.
Reset all Forms View Count.
Check Form Confirmations and Form Notifications have been setup for each form. For Form Notifications we should be directing users to a Thank You Page where possible.

Make sure Sync functionality is turned on by setting Schedule Interval under Malcolm -> Settings -> Integration
Make sure sync is working then sync all records (Listings, Reviews (if needed), Employees, and Agencies (if needed).

Check the Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account and Wishlist pages have been setup and display correctly on frontend.
Make sure Store Address, Payments, Taxes and Shipping Options have been setup correctly. Go through all WooCommerce Settings.
Check WooCommerce Emails have the branding configured and are set to go to the correct email addresses.

Make sure Mobile Menu has been assigned under Appearance -> Menus.
Check site responsive site wide, including Login, 404, Thank You, and Policy Pages as well as Mobile Menu Styling ( Mobile / Tablet / Small Desktop 1024px screen size)

Move all CSS from Customizer to the Child Theme (Make sure to check for affected styling).
Remove any unnecessary stylesheets or CSS not required. You can use Wappalyzer to identify other resources that are being loaded but not used.

Make sure all available updates have been run for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes.
Remove any Themes and Plugins not required.