Die Papier Launch Checklist

Last updated: 2026-03-02

This is the complete 10-phase launch checklist for taking Die Papier from development to production. Each phase must be completed sequentially, with all items verified before moving to the next phase.

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Phase 1: Pre-Launch Planning & Strategy

Business Readiness

• Legal entity registration confirmed (Die Papier PTY Ltd)
• Business licenses obtained for digital publishing in South Africa
• Tax registration complete (VAT, PAYE, company tax)
• Banking setup finalized (merchant account, business accounts)
• Insurance policies active (professional indemnity, cyber liability)
• Trademark registration filed for "Die Papier" brand
• Domain ownership verified (diepapier.co.za and all variants)
• SSL certificates purchased (wildcard cert for all subdomains)
• Email hosting configured (admin@, support@, redaksie@, advertensies@)

Content Strategy

• Editorial calendar prepared (minimum 4 weeks of content planned)
• Launch day articles ready (minimum 10 feature articles, 20 news items)
• Author/journalist agreements signed (all contributors onboarded)
• Photography licensing verified (all images have proper attribution/licenses)
• Content guidelines documented (style guide, editorial policy)
• Moderation policy defined (comments, user submissions)
• Content workflow established (draft → review → approval → publish)

Marketing & Communications

• Press release drafted (Afrikaans and English versions)
• Media contact list compiled (journalists, bloggers, influencers)
• Social media accounts created (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn)
• Social media content calendar ready (2 weeks pre-launch, 4 weeks post-launch)
• Email newsletter template designed (welcome series, weekly digest)
• Subscriber incentive defined (launch offer, early access benefits)
• Partnership agreements finalized (cross-promotion, content syndication)
• Advertising packages defined (rates, specs, booking process)
• Launch event planned (if applicable — virtual or physical)

Technical Infrastructure

• Hosting provider selected (WordPress-optimized, CDN included)
• Server specifications confirmed (CPU, RAM, storage, bandwidth)
• Staging environment deployed (exact replica of production)
• Backup solution configured (automated daily backups, offsite storage)
• Monitoring tools installed (uptime monitoring, error tracking)
• DNS configuration prepared (A records, CNAME, MX, SPF, DKIM)
• CDN configured (CloudFlare/Cloudinary for images, static assets)
• Load testing plan documented (expected traffic, stress test scenarios)

Team Readiness

• Roles and responsibilities defined (editor, developers, support, marketing)
• Training completed (WordPress admin, content management, support workflows)
• Support desk configured (ticketing system, knowledge base, FAQs)
• Emergency contacts list created (hosting, domain, payment gateway, CDN)
• Launch day schedule published (who does what, when, contingency plans)
• Post-launch support roster finalized (24/7 coverage for first 72 hours)

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Phase 2: WordPress Theme & Plugin Foundation

theme.json & Presets

• theme.json v3 schema validated (OllieWP-aligned)
• Color palette standardized (10 semantic slugs: primary, primary-alt, secondary, secondary-accent, base, tertiary, border-light, main, main-accent, accent)
• Typography configured (Inter + Roboto Serif variable fonts, 9 fluid sizes)
• Spacing scale verified (9 semantic slugs: x-small through xxx-large)
• Layout widths set (contentSize: 1280px, wideSize: 1400px)

Block Styles & Section Styles

• All 71 block style JSON files registered (core, WooCommerce, third-party)
• All 9 section style variations verified (is-style-section-*)
• Dark mode overrides implemented for all section styles

Third-Party Plugin Integration

• Advanced Ads: 12 manual placements mapped to production GAM IDs
• Advanced Ads: Sticky placements configured (Sidebar, Mobile Footer)
• Advanced Ads: Background/Takeover ads configured (Desktop only)
• Advanced Ads: Content Injection set up for in-article ads (after P3, P7)
• Advanced Ads: Display conditions verified (Exclude commerce pages, hide for members)
• Gravity Forms: Pattern IDs aligned with production form IDs
• Gravity Forms: Afrikaans labels & placeholders verified in all forms
• Yoast SEO: Breadcrumbs configured to match dp-breadcrumbs design
• Yoast SEO: FAQ block schema validated on Newsletter/Subscribe pages
• Social Sharing: Outermost network priority set (WhatsApp > Facebook > X > Email > Copy)
• Social Sharing: Afrikaans translations active via social-sharing-i18n.js
• Icon Block: Custom SVG library registered for Lucide icons

Phase 3: Content Audit & Migration

Content Inventory

• All pages catalogued (159+ patterns documented)
• Article archive reviewed (news, opinion, sport, etc. verified)
• Media library audited (sideloaded Unsplash images + local assets)
• Redirect map verified (100+ legacy English URLs → Afrikaans URLs)
• Nginx/Apache redirect config files generated (redirects.conf, .htaccess-redirects)

WordPress Data Migration (WXR)

• CPTs registered & verified (dp_event, dp_competition, dp_sponsor, dp_eedition, dp_obituary, dp_multimedia, dp_faq)
• Taxonomies seeded (5 hierarchical taxonomies + standard categories/tags)
• SCF fields verified (all meta fields registered in inc/scf-fields.php)
• Author profiles migrated (biographies, photos, social links)
• WXR script executed & validated (using validate-wxr.sh)

Phase 4: E-Editions & WooCommerce

WooCommerce Setup

• E-Edition products created (Single Issue, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual)
• Payfast integration active (verified merchant ID, passphrase, IPN)
• Afrikaans strings verified in checkout, cart, and account pages
• Membership gates active (content restriction for premium content)
• Ad-free experience tested for logged-in subscribers

E-Editions Access

• PDF files uploaded to secure directory
• Access rules verified (Single issue purchase vs. active membership)
• Issue metadata populated (date, cover, page count)
• Archive navigation verified (historical issues accessible)

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Phase 5: Design System Verification

Typography Audit

• All headings use correct fonts (H1-H4 = Roboto Serif, H5-H6 = Inter)
• Body text uses Inter (all paragraphs, UI elements, forms)
• No system fonts present (no Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif fallbacks)
• Font weights correct (400, 500, 600, 700 only — no 300, 800, 900)
• Font variation settings applied (Roboto Serif opsz, wdth, GRAD settings)
• Line heights match tokens (--lh-h1 through --lh-p4)
• Letter spacing matches tokens (--ls-h1 through --ls-p4)
• Fluid typography working (clamp values scale correctly 390px → 1280px)
• Text contrast ratios pass WCAG AA (4.5:1 minimum for body text)
• Dark mode typography verified (all text readable, no contrast issues)

Color Audit

• All colors use CSS variables (no hardcoded hex values except brand/social)
• Brand colors consistent (#E82C27 red, #172134 navy, #ebe7e7 warm gray)
• Semantic color tokens used (--primary, --foreground, --background, etc.)
• Dark mode colors correct (light/dark variants for all tokens)
• Accessible text link red used (#C41F20 for body text links, #E82C27 for buttons)
• Social brand colors exempt (Facebook #1877F2, etc. — documented exemptions)
• Competition gradient correct (dark-from/dark-to for dark mode)
• Chart colors accessible (5 distinct oklch colors for data visualization)
• No arbitrary Tailwind colors (all colors map to design tokens)

Spacing & Layout Audit

• Container max-width: 1440px (all structural chrome constrained)
• Spacing uses tokens (--space-10 through --space-100)
• Padding/margin consistent (clamp values for responsive spacing)
• Grid systems verified (2/3/4 column layouts responsive)
• Card spacing consistent (gap between cards matches design system)
• Section spacing correct (48px/64px/80px between major sections)
• Mobile padding correct (16px min, 32px max on small screens)

Component Audit

• All 159 patterns functional (Header, Footer, Hero, Sections, Forms, etc.)
• Buttons match spec (Inter Medium 500, correct sizes, hover states)
• Forms styled correctly (Inter Regular 400, 16px to prevent iOS zoom)
• Badges use Inter SemiBold 600 (uppercase, 12px, correct letter-spacing)
• Navigation uses Inter Medium 500 (15px, active state = 600)
• Tabs styled correctly (Inter Medium 500, active/inactive states)
• Cards consistent (image ratios, padding, hover effects)
• Icons from Lucide React (consistent size, color, alignment)
• Shadows match tokens (shadow-sm, shadow-md, shadow-lg)
• Border radius consistent (0.5rem default, rounded-xl for cards)

Responsive Design Audit

• Mobile breakpoint: 390px minimum (iPhone SE, Galaxy S8)
• Tablet breakpoint: 768px (iPad, Android tablets)
• Desktop breakpoint: 1024px (laptop screens)
• Large desktop: 1280px+ (desktop monitors)
• All layouts tested at 5 breakpoints (390px, 768px, 1024px, 1280px, 1920px)
• Touch targets ≥ 44px (buttons, links on mobile)
• Mobile menu functional (hamburger, drawer, close, search)
• Images responsive (srcset for 1x/2x, lazy loading)
• Tables responsive (horizontal scroll or stacked layout)

Dark Mode Audit

• Toggle accessible (visible, keyboard navigable, persisted)
• All colors have dark variants (--wp--preset--color--* tokens)
• Text contrast passes WCAG AA (dark mode text on dark backgrounds)
• Images don't bleed (borders/shadows on images for definition)
• Form inputs readable (dark backgrounds, light text, visible borders)
• Hover states visible (sufficient contrast in dark mode)
• Loading states visible (skeletons, spinners contrast properly)
• Email templates exempt (documented exemption — light mode only)

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Phase 4: Functionality Testing

Navigation & Routing

• All 57 routes functional (no 404 errors on internal links)
• Breadcrumbs correct (Home → Category → Article hierarchy)
• Category filtering works (Nuus, Opinie, Sport, Vermaak, etc.)
• Search functional (live suggestions, results page, filters)
• Pagination working (article archives, E-Edition archives)
• 404 page designed (helpful error page with search, links)
• Redirects tested (legacy English URLs → Afrikaans URLs)
• Deep linking works (share URLs load correct page state)

User Authentication

• Registration form working (email/password, validation, confirmation)
• Login form working (email/password, "remember me", error handling)
• Password reset working (email sent, reset link functional, new password saved)
• Email verification required (users must verify before full access)
• Social login tested (if enabled — Facebook, Google OAuth)
• User roles assigned correctly (Free, Guest, Subscriber, Admin)
• Profile editing works (name, email, password, avatar)
• Account deletion functional (GDPR compliance — user can delete account)

E-Editions Commerce

• Guest Access purchase working (R5 → single PDF download)
• Subscription purchase working (R20/R50/R120 → membership created)
• PayFast integration tested (payment success, payment failure, IPN)
• Subscription auto-renewal working (monthly billing, payment retries)
• Access gates functional (non-subscribers see blurred/locked content)
• Subscriber dashboard working (active subscriptions, download history)
• Download links secure (time-limited, one-time use, or user-specific)
• Receipt emails sent (purchase confirmation, download link)
• Refund process tested (admin can issue refund, membership revoked)
• Failed payment handling (retry logic, email notifications, grace period)

Forms & Interactions

• Contact form working (submission, validation, email delivery)
• Newsletter signup working (email capture, double opt-in, confirmation)
• Comment system tested (if enabled — post comment, moderation, notifications)
• Competition entry working (form validation, entry confirmation, winner selection)
• File upload tested (image upload, size limits, file type validation)
• CAPTCHA working (spam prevention on forms)
• Form error messages clear (validation messages in Afrikaans, helpful)
• Success messages clear ("Dankie vir jou boodskap" confirmation)

Search & Filters

• Global search working (searches articles, pages, E-Editions)
• Live search suggestions (typeahead results, keyboard navigation)
• Search results relevant (sorted by relevance, date, or popularity)
• Filter by category (Nuus, Opinie, Sport, Vermaak checkboxes)
• Filter by date range (last week, last month, custom range)
• Filter by author (journalist byline filter)
• Sort options working (relevance, date, popularity)
• No results page helpful (suggestions, popular articles, category links)

Media & Embeds

• Images load correctly (WebP with JPEG fallback, lazy loading)
• Image galleries work (lightbox, swipe navigation, captions)
• Videos embed properly (YouTube, Vimeo, or self-hosted)
• Audio players work (podcast embeds, play/pause, scrubbing)
• PDF viewer functional (E-Edition reader, zoom, page navigation)
• Social embeds work (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook embeds)
• Infographics responsive (SVG scales, readable on mobile)
• Image alt text present (all images have descriptive alt text)

Social Sharing

• Share buttons functional (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Email)
• Open Graph tags correct (title, description, image, URL)
• Twitter Card tags correct (summary_large_image, title, description)
• WhatsApp preview correct (title, description, image)
• Copy link button working (copies URL to clipboard, toast confirmation)
• Email share opens client (mailto: link with subject, body)
• Share counts accurate (if enabled — display share counts)

Admin & Editorial Tools

• WordPress admin accessible (wp-admin login, 2FA enabled)
• Block editor working (Gutenberg with custom blocks)
• Custom blocks functional (Hero, Article Card, E-Edition Sidebar, etc.)
• Draft/publish workflow works (save draft, submit for review, publish)
• Scheduled posts work (future-dated posts auto-publish)
• Revision history accessible (compare revisions, restore previous version)
• Media library organized (folders, tags, search)
• User management working (add/edit/delete users, assign roles)
• Analytics dashboard accessible (visitor stats, popular content)

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Phase 5: Performance Optimization

Page Speed

• Lighthouse score: 90+ (Mobile) (Performance metric)
• Lighthouse score: 95+ (Desktop) (Performance metric)
• First Contentful Paint < 1.8s (mobile on 3G)
• Largest Contentful Paint < 2.5s (mobile on 3G)
• Time to Interactive < 3.8s (mobile on 3G)
• Cumulative Layout Shift < 0.1 (no layout jumps on load)
• Total Blocking Time < 200ms (smooth scrolling, interactions)
• Speed Index < 3.4s (visual completeness)

Asset Optimization

• Images compressed (WebP 80% quality, max 1920px width)
• Image lazy loading enabled (offscreen images deferred)
• CSS minified (production build, comments removed)
• JavaScript minified (production build, tree-shaking enabled)
• Fonts optimized (font-display: swap, WOFF2 format)
• SVGs optimized (SVGO, removed unnecessary metadata)
• No unused CSS (PurgeCSS or similar, only used styles shipped)
• No unused JavaScript (code splitting, dynamic imports)

Caching Strategy

• Browser caching configured (1 year for static assets, 1 hour for HTML)
• CDN caching enabled (images, CSS, JS served from edge locations)
• WordPress object cache (Redis or Memcached for database queries)
• Page caching enabled (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or server-level)
• Gzip/Brotli compression (text assets compressed)
• Cache invalidation working (purge cache on content publish)
• Logged-in users bypass cache (personalized content served fresh)
• API responses cached (WooCommerce, search results cached)

Database Optimization

• Database indexes created (post_date, post_status, post_type)
• Unused tables removed (old plugins, spam, revisions)
• Revision limits set (max 5 revisions per post)
• Auto-save interval increased (reduce database writes)
• Transient cleanup automated (expired transients purged daily)
• Query monitoring enabled (slow query log, N+1 query detection)
• Database backups optimized (incremental backups, compressed)

Third-Party Scripts

• Google Analytics loaded async (gtag.js deferred, no blocking)
• Facebook Pixel loaded async (no render-blocking)
• Ad scripts lazy loaded (if ads enabled — load on scroll)
• Social widgets lazy loaded (Facebook/Twitter embeds deferred)
• No FOUT/FOIT (fonts load without flash of unstyled text)
• Critical CSS inlined (above-the-fold styles in <head>)
• Non-critical CSS deferred (loaded async or via media query)

Server Configuration

• HTTP/2 enabled (multiplexing, server push)
• PHP 8.2+ configured (latest stable version, OPcache enabled)
• Server response time < 200ms (TTFB target)
• Keep-Alive enabled (persistent connections)
• Resource hints used (dns-prefetch, preconnect, prefetch)
• Security headers set (CSP, X-Frame-Options, HSTS)

Mobile Optimization

• Responsive images (srcset for 1x/2x, sizes attribute)
• Touch targets ≥ 44px (buttons, links easily tappable)
• No horizontal scroll (viewport width respected)
• No pinch-zoom required (text readable without zooming)
• Mobile menu fast (drawer opens < 300ms)
• Reduced motion respected (prefers-reduced-motion CSS)

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Phase 6: SEO & Analytics Setup

Technical SEO

• Robots.txt configured (allow search engines, block admin, wp-includes)
• XML sitemap generated (Yoast or Rank Math sitemap)
• Sitemap submitted to Google (Google Search Console)
• Sitemap submitted to Bing (Bing Webmaster Tools)
• Canonical URLs set (self-referencing canonical on all pages)
• Hreflang tags added (if multilingual — Afrikaans/English)
• Structured data implemented (Article, NewsArticle, Organization schema)
• Breadcrumb schema added (JSON-LD breadcrumb list)
• Logo schema added (Organization with logo, social profiles)
• Author schema added (Person schema for journalists)
• FAQ schema added (FAQPage schema on FAQ pages)
• Review schema tested (if applicable — AggregateRating)

On-Page SEO

• Meta titles optimized (< 60 characters, keyword-rich, unique)
• Meta descriptions optimized (< 160 characters, compelling, unique)
• H1 tags unique (one H1 per page, matches page topic)
• Heading hierarchy correct (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipped levels)
• Alt text descriptive (images describe content, include keywords)
• Internal linking strategy (related articles, category links, breadcrumbs)
• External links rel="nofollow" (where appropriate — ads, user content)
• URL structure clean (/kategorie/artikel-slug, no ?p=123)
• Keyword research completed (target keywords per category/article)
• Content optimized (keywords in title, headings, first 100 words)

Open Graph & Social Meta

• og:title set (Facebook/LinkedIn share title)
• og:description set (Facebook/LinkedIn share description)
• og:image set (1200x630px image, < 8MB)
• og:url set (canonical URL)
• og:type set (article, website, etc.)
• og:site_name set ("Die Papier")
• og:locale set (af_ZA for Afrikaans)
• twitter:card set (summary_large_image)
• twitter:site set (@diepapier handle)
• twitter:creator set (author's Twitter handle)
• Social preview tested (Facebook Debugger, Twitter Card Validator)

Analytics Setup

• Google Analytics 4 configured (GA4 property created, gtag.js installed)
• Goals/conversions tracked (newsletter signup, E-Edition purchase, article read)
• Event tracking configured (button clicks, video plays, scroll depth)
• Enhanced eCommerce tracking (WooCommerce integration, transaction tracking)
• User ID tracking (logged-in users tracked across devices)
• Scroll tracking enabled (25%, 50%, 75%, 100% article read)
• Outbound link tracking (clicks to external sites)
• File download tracking (PDF downloads, E-Edition downloads)
• Search tracking (internal search queries, no results searches)

Search Console Setup

• Google Search Console verified (DNS or meta tag verification)
• Bing Webmaster Tools verified (DNS or meta tag verification)
• Coverage report reviewed (no index errors, all pages submitted)
• Mobile usability checked (no mobile-specific errors)
• Core Web Vitals reviewed (LCP, FID, CLS all "Good")
• Manual actions checked (no penalties, no security issues)
• Rich results validated (Article, FAQ, Breadcrumb rich snippets working)

Local SEO (if applicable)

• Google My Business created (if physical location/events)
• NAP consistent (Name, Address, Phone on all platforms)
• Local schema added (LocalBusiness schema with address, hours)
• Local citations built (directories, industry listings)

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Phase 7: Security & Compliance

WordPress Security

• WordPress core updated (latest stable version installed)
• All plugins updated (no outdated or abandoned plugins)
• All themes updated (child theme if customizations made)
• Admin username not "admin" (unique username, strong password)
• Two-factor authentication enabled (2FA for all admin users)
• Login attempts limited (fail2ban, Wordfence, or similar)
• XML-RPC disabled (prevent brute force attacks)
• File editing disabled (define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true))
• Directory browsing disabled (Options -Indexes in .htaccess)
• Database prefix changed (not default "wp_")
• Security keys regenerated (wp-config.php salts)
• wp-config.php secured (moved outside web root or 444 permissions)
• Firewall configured (Wordfence, Sucuri, or server-level WAF)
• Malware scanner installed (daily scans, email alerts)
• Security headers set (CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection, HSTS)

SSL & HTTPS

• SSL certificate installed (Let's Encrypt, Cloudflare, or commercial)
• HTTPS enforced (all HTTP requests redirect to HTTPS)
• Mixed content resolved (all resources load over HTTPS)
• HSTS header set (Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000)
• SSL Labs grade A+ (tested at ssllabs.com)
• Certificate auto-renewal configured (certbot cron job or hosting auto-renew)

Data Protection & GDPR

• Privacy Policy published (GDPR-compliant, Afrikaans & English)
• Cookie Notice displayed (consent banner, cookie policy link)
• Cookie consent tracked (user preferences stored, respected)
• Data Processing Agreement signed (with hosting provider, payment gateway)
• User data export (GDPR right to data portability — WP export tool)
• User data deletion (GDPR right to erasure — WP deletion tool)
• Data breach response plan (documented procedure, notification templates)
• Third-party data processors listed (Google Analytics, PayFast, CDN, etc.)
• Email opt-in confirmed (double opt-in for newsletters)
• Marketing consent separate (explicit consent for marketing emails)

POPIA Compliance (South Africa)

• POPIA policy published (Protection of Personal Information Act)
• Information Officer appointed (contact details published)
• Data collection justified (legitimate business purpose documented)
• Data retention policy defined (how long data is kept, deletion schedule)
• User consent explicit (clear, affirmative action required)
• Data subject rights respected (access, correction, deletion, objection)
• Cross-border transfer safeguards (if using overseas services)
• Security measures documented (encryption, access controls, backups)

Payment Security (PCI DSS)

• No card data stored (PayFast handles all payment processing)
• SSL certificate on checkout (HTTPS enforced on payment pages)
• Payment gateway PCI compliant (PayFast certification verified)
• IPN callback secured (signature verification, IP whitelist)
• Fraud detection enabled (PayFast fraud rules configured)
• Refund process documented (manual refunds via PayFast dashboard)

Legal Compliance

• Terms of Service published (user agreement, acceptable use policy)
• Disclaimer published (content accuracy, liability limits)
• Copyright notice published (©2026 Die Papier, all rights reserved)
• DMCA policy published (copyright infringement procedure)
• User-generated content moderation (comments, submissions reviewed)
• Defamation policy documented (editorial standards, correction procedure)
• Advertising disclosure (sponsored content clearly labeled)
• Affiliate disclosure (if applicable — FTC/ASA compliance)

Backup & Disaster Recovery

• Automated daily backups (full site + database)
• Offsite backup storage (separate from hosting server)
• Backup retention policy (daily for 7 days, weekly for 4 weeks, monthly for 12 months)
• Backup restoration tested (dry run restore to staging)
• Disaster recovery plan documented (step-by-step restoration procedure)
• Emergency contact list (hosting, domain, CDN, payment gateway)
• Backup encryption enabled (backups encrypted at rest)
• Backup integrity verified (automated verification checks)

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Phase 8: Pre-Launch Testing

Cross-Browser Testing

• Chrome (latest) — Desktop & Mobile
• Firefox (latest) — Desktop & Mobile
• Safari (latest) — Desktop & Mobile (iOS)
• Edge (latest) — Desktop
• Samsung Internet — Mobile (Android)
• Opera — Desktop (optional)
• IE11 — Graceful degradation (if required)

Device Testing

• iPhone 13/14/15 (iOS 17, Safari)
• iPhone SE (2nd gen) (smallest modern iPhone)
• Samsung Galaxy S21/S22/S23 (Android 13+, Chrome)
• Google Pixel 6/7 (Android 13+, Chrome)
• iPad Pro (iPadOS, Safari)
• MacBook Pro (macOS, Chrome/Safari)
• Windows laptop (Windows 11, Chrome/Edge)
• Desktop monitor (1920×1080) (Windows/Mac, all browsers)
• Desktop monitor (2560×1440) (Windows/Mac, all browsers)
• 4K monitor (3840×2160) (if target audience)

Accessibility Testing

• WCAG 2.1 AA compliance verified (axe DevTools, WAVE)
• Keyboard navigation working (tab order logical, all interactive elements accessible)
• Screen reader tested (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on Mac/iOS)
• Focus indicators visible (focus ring on all interactive elements)
• Color contrast passes WCAG AA (4.5:1 for text, 3:1 for UI elements)
• Alt text descriptive (all images have meaningful alt text)
• Form labels associated (all inputs have <label> or aria-label)
• ARIA landmarks used (nav, main, aside, footer)
• Headings hierarchical (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipped levels)
• Skip links present ("Skip to content" at top of page)
• No keyboard traps (users can tab out of all interactive elements)
• Reduced motion respected (prefers-reduced-motion CSS honored)
• Text can be zoomed to 200% (no loss of functionality)

Functional Testing

• All 57 pages load (no 404s, no 500 errors)
• All forms submit (contact, newsletter, comment, competition)
• All links work (internal, external, anchor links)
• Search returns results (relevant results, no errors)
• Filters work (category, date, author filters)
• Pagination works (next/previous, page numbers, jump to page)
• User registration works (sign up, email verification, login)
• Password reset works (email sent, reset link valid, password changed)
• E-Edition purchase works (add to cart, checkout, payment, download)
• Subscription works (monthly/quarterly/semi-annual, auto-renewal)
• Access gates work (non-subscribers blocked, subscribers granted access)
• Comments work (if enabled — post comment, moderation, notifications)
• Social sharing works (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Email)
• Dark mode toggle works (theme persists, all pages styled)
• Mobile menu works (open, close, search, navigation)

Load Testing

• Concurrent users: 100 (site remains responsive)
• Concurrent users: 500 (site remains responsive)
• Concurrent users: 1000 (acceptable degradation, no crashes)
• Peak traffic scenario tested (launch day, viral article traffic surge)
• Database connection limits tested (no connection pool exhaustion)
• CDN failover tested (site still loads if CDN down)
• Payment gateway load tested (multiple simultaneous purchases)
• Backup restoration tested under load (can restore during high traffic)

Security Testing

• SQL injection tested (all forms, URL parameters sanitized)
• XSS vulnerability tested (user input escaped, no script injection)
• CSRF protection verified (nonces on all forms)
• File upload vulnerability tested (only allowed file types accepted)
• Brute force protection tested (login attempts limited, CAPTCHA required)
• Session hijacking prevented (secure cookies, HttpOnly flag)
• Directory traversal prevented (no access to sensitive files)
• XML-RPC attacks blocked (XML-RPC disabled or secured)
• Clickjacking prevented (X-Frame-Options header set)
• Security headers verified (CSP, HSTS, X-XSS-Protection)

Email Testing

• Registration confirmation sent (welcome email received)
• Password reset email sent (reset link received, valid)
• Purchase confirmation sent (receipt email received)
• Subscription confirmation sent (membership welcome email)
• Newsletter emails sent (scheduled send works, unsubscribe link present)
• Comment notification sent (if enabled — author notified of new comments)
• Form submission confirmation (contact form auto-reply)
• Emails not in spam (SPF, DKIM, DMARC configured, spam score checked)
• Emails mobile-friendly (responsive email template, readable on mobile)
• Unsubscribe working (one-click unsubscribe, preference center)

Content Review

• All copy proofread (no spelling/grammar errors)
• All images optimized (correct size, compressed, alt text present)
• All links verified (no broken links, correct targets)
• All metadata complete (meta titles, descriptions, OG tags)
• All E-Editions uploaded (PDFs accessible, metadata correct)
• All author profiles complete (bios, photos, social links)
• All categories populated (minimum 5 articles per category)
• Homepage curated (featured articles, hero section, sidebars)
• Legal pages reviewed (Terms, Privacy, Disclaimer by lawyer)

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Phase 9: Deployment & Go-Live

Pre-Deployment Checklist

• Staging site fully tested (all Phase 8 tests passed)
• Production database prepared (empty or seeded with launch content)
• DNS TTL lowered (to 300 seconds, 24 hours before launch)
• Maintenance mode page ready ("We're launching soon...")
• Rollback plan documented (step-by-step instructions)
• Team briefed (roles, responsibilities, emergency contacts)
• Launch checklist printed (physical copy for each team member)
• Communication channels open (Slack, WhatsApp, phone numbers confirmed)

Deployment Day (T-0)

• Final staging backup (full site + database backup taken)
• Enable maintenance mode (display "launching soon" page)
• Sync files to production (rsync, FTP, or Git deploy)
• Import production database (if not already migrated)
• Update wp-config.php (production database credentials, salts)
• Update DNS (point domain to production server)
• Verify DNS propagation (check multiple locations, wait for propagation)
• Disable maintenance mode (site goes live!)
• Flush all caches (WordPress cache, CDN cache, browser cache)
• Test homepage (loads correctly, no errors)
• Test 5 random pages (articles, category pages, E-Editions)
• Test user registration (sign up, email received)
• Test E-Edition purchase (end-to-end transaction)
• Submit sitemap to Google (Google Search Console)
• Submit sitemap to Bing (Bing Webmaster Tools)

Immediate Post-Launch (First 2 Hours)

• Monitor server load (CPU, RAM, bandwidth usage)
• Monitor error logs (PHP errors, WordPress debug log)
• Monitor uptime (Pingdom, UptimeRobot alerts)
• Monitor analytics (real-time visitors, traffic sources)
• Monitor social media (mentions, shares, feedback)
• Monitor support inbox (user-reported issues)
• Test checkout again (ensure payments still working)
• Test email delivery (registration, newsletter, receipts)
• Check for 404s (monitor 404 log, fix broken links)
• Check for slow pages (identify bottlenecks, optimize)

Day 1 Post-Launch

• Full site smoke test (all critical paths functional)
• Review analytics (visitor count, bounce rate, top pages)
• Review error logs (any new errors introduced)
• Review support tickets (common issues, quick fixes needed)
• Review social media (user feedback, viral potential)
• Review payment gateway (successful transactions, failed payments)
• Backup production site (full backup after first 24 hours)
• Celebrate launch! 🎉 (team lunch, acknowledgments)

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Phase 10: Post-Launch Monitoring

Week 1 Monitoring

• Daily analytics review (visitor trends, popular content, traffic sources)
• Daily error log review (PHP errors, JavaScript errors, 404s)
• Daily uptime monitoring (downtime incidents, response times)
• Daily performance checks (Lighthouse scores, Core Web Vitals)
• Daily security scans (malware scans, firewall logs)
• Daily backup verification (automated backups running, offsite storage confirmed)
• User feedback collection (support tickets, social media comments)
• Content publishing pace (daily articles published, editorial calendar on track)
• E-Edition sales tracking (conversions, revenue, subscription growth)
• Newsletter performance (open rate, click rate, unsubscribe rate)

Week 2-4 Monitoring

• Weekly analytics report (traffic trends, top articles, demographics)
• Weekly SEO performance (Search Console impressions, clicks, rankings)
• Weekly conversion funnel (newsletter signups, E-Edition purchases, drop-off points)
• Weekly A/B testing (test headlines, CTAs, pricing, layouts)
• Weekly content audit (identify gaps, update old content, remove outdated)
• Weekly user surveys (collect feedback, feature requests, pain points)
• Weekly competitor analysis (traffic, content, features, pricing)
• Weekly technical debt review (quick wins, performance optimizations)

Month 1 Review

• Traffic goals achieved? (visitor count vs. target)
• Revenue goals achieved? (E-Edition sales vs. target)
• User retention tracked? (returning visitors, subscription renewals)
• Content goals achieved? (articles published, categories balanced)
• SEO progress measured? (keyword rankings, organic traffic growth)
• User satisfaction measured? (NPS score, support ticket sentiment)
• Technical stability verified? (uptime %, performance scores)
• Security incidents logged? (any breaches, attacks, vulnerabilities)

Ongoing Maintenance

• Weekly WordPress updates (core, plugins, themes — test on staging first)
• Monthly security audit (vulnerability scans, firewall logs, user access review)
• Monthly performance audit (Lighthouse scores, Core Web Vitals, load testing)
• Monthly content audit (update old articles, fix broken links, remove outdated)
• Monthly backup restoration test (dry run restore to staging, verify integrity)
• Monthly analytics deep dive (traffic patterns, user behavior, conversion funnels)
• Quarterly user research (surveys, interviews, usability testing)
• Quarterly feature roadmap review (prioritize new features, deprecate unused)
• Quarterly competitive analysis (market trends, competitor moves, differentiation)
• Annual infrastructure review (hosting costs, scaling needs, tech stack updates)

Growth & Optimization

• A/B test headlines (improve click-through rates)
• A/B test CTAs (improve E-Edition conversions)
• A/B test pricing (optimize subscription tiers)
• Optimize SEO (target high-value keywords, improve rankings)
• Expand content categories (new topics, niche coverage)
• Launch email campaigns (re-engage dormant subscribers)
• Partner with influencers (guest posts, cross-promotion)
• Launch referral program (incentivize word-of-mouth)
• Introduce new features (podcasts, video, live events)
• Scale infrastructure (upgrade hosting, add CDN regions, optimize database)

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Launch Sign-Off

Final Approval

• Editor-in-Chief sign-off (content quality, editorial standards)
• Technical Lead sign-off (functionality, performance, security)
• Marketing Lead sign-off (SEO, analytics, campaigns ready)
• Legal sign-off (compliance, policies, terms)
• Executive sign-off (budget, timeline, strategic goals)

Launch Date Confirmed

• Target Launch Date: _______________________
• Launch Time: _______________________ (SAST)
• Launch Announced: [ ] Press Release | [ ] Social Media | [ ] Email Newsletter

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Status: ___ / ___ items completed (___%)

Last updated: 2026-03-02

Next milestone: _______________________

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This checklist is a living document. Update it as new items are discovered or requirements change. Archive completed phases and maintain focus on the current phase.