WordPress problems have a pattern: a setting left from development, a plugin that conflicts after an update, a page builder layout that was only ever checked on desktop. This checklist adds the WordPress-specific checks to a general website test. Run it before launch and after every major theme, plugin or core update. Download it as a spreadsheet.
Settings left from development
- “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is off — Settings → Reading
- Site Address and WordPress Address use the live HTTPS domain — Settings → General
- Permalinks are set to the intended structure — Settings → Permalinks; save once after migration
- Debug mode is off on the live site — WP_DEBUG false in wp-config.php
- No test posts, pages, users or orders are published — check drafts and trash too
- The admin e-mail is a real, monitored address — Settings → General
Theme and page builder
- Every template works at 320 to 430 px — page builder mobile settings per section
- Sections hidden on mobile are not hiding important content — check the responsive visibility settings
- Headers, footers and menus work on phones — the mobile menu opens and closes
- The child theme is used for customisations — so theme updates do not overwrite them
- Custom CSS does not use fixed widths that break on phones — search for width: px values
Plugins
- Every active plugin is needed and up to date — remove what you do not use
- No plugin errors in the browser console or the PHP error log — after updates
- Contact forms send and arrive — test each form plugin
- SMTP is configured so e-mails do not land in spam — test with an external inbox
- Caching and optimisation plugins do not break layouts or scripts — test with the cache on
- The first image on the page is not lazy-loaded by an optimisation plugin — slows LCP
SEO plugin
- Post types and taxonomies you want in Google are set to index — Yoast, Rank Math or similar
- Tag, author and date archives are noindex or useful — thin archives
- Only one plugin writes titles, canonicals and schema — two SEO plugins duplicate tags
- The XML sitemap works and lists only indexable pages — /sitemap_index.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml
- Breadcrumbs and Organization schema are configured — in the SEO plugin
Speed
- Page caching is on and pages are served from cache — check response headers
- Images are resized and served as WebP or AVIF — media settings or an image plugin
- Unused scripts and styles are not loaded on every page — page builders and sliders
- Mobile LCP is under 2.5 s on key pages — PageSpeed Insights
Security and maintenance
- WordPress core, themes and plugins are current — and auto-updates set as intended
- Admin accounts use strong passwords and two-factor login — remove unused admins
- The login page is protected against brute force — a security plugin or host rule
- File editing in the dashboard is disabled on the live site — DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT
- Automatic off-site backups run and a restore has been tested — not only stored on the same server
- The server reveals no version details in headers — X-Powered-By, Server