- Use the installer package located here. Use this video to install
- Follow instructions to remove install files, and cache from Duplicator instance
- Install theme through Envato plugin, update plugins
WordPress Checklist
WordPress Checklist
Install / Configure WordPress
Configure
- Create backups with BackWPup plugin using Amazon Glacier option
- First Tab – Frequency of backups to twice a week (e.g. Sunday & Wednesday)
- Use the AWS Keys from the Velare Logins Sheet, and create a vault e.g. ‘Conrad-Backup’
- Amazon Glacier Tab – Choose US West (Oregon), File deletion set to 30
- Create Analytics account and copy tracking code to theme options. Share account to Velare users
- Filter out Velare’s IP from analytics – 206.72.105.11
- Link website to Google Webmasters
- Configure Call Now plugin with clients phone number
- Configure Jetpack plugin & connect to WordPress.com account, enable auto plugin updates
- Disable/delete any unnecessary plugins (plugins add to loading times)
- Use Ewww Image Optimizer plugin and run bulk image optimization Media > Bulk Optimization
Launch
- Before launching, make sure to create a sitemap of the old site and configure .htaccess redirects (only for redesigned sites)
- Save MX files from DNS Zone Editor and make sure once domain has been assigned that MX files are the same.
- Configure DNS if necessary
- Update WP domain settings, and update index.php and .htaccess to point to a subdirectory.
- UNCHECK ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ Settings > Reading
- Configure W3 total cache, enable page caching, browser caching & create Amazon Cloudfront distribution (using AWS keys located in Velare Logins doc). Run before and after benchmarks on PageSpeed. (ideally we want mobile in at least yellow and desktop in the green)
- Note: CloudFront distribution can be created inside W3 Cache plugin but must be fully initialized or the site will break. Wait 10 minutes then enable the CDN
- Check all links manually and use Broken Links checker plugin