Much like proofreading an essay, it’s important to scan your Drupal website with a fine-tooth comb before deploying. It may seem tedious but ensuring that the site is secure and working properly will save you from stress and upset down the road. Clients will appreciate your level of attention to their project. Here’s a comprehensive checklist to reference the next time you get ready to launch a Drupal project.
Security
A secure website means happy users. Ensure that user and administrator information is safe.
Secure administrator passwords.
Upgrade Drupal Core and modules to the latest version.
Add an SSL certificate and run an SSL Labs Report.
Verify user permissions.
Verify account creation settings on the User Settings page.
Confirm that there are no errors by checking Status Reports.
Disable on-screen error reporting (Site Configuration > Error Reporting).
Enable CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA, Honeypot, or another anti-spam service.
Protect email addresses from spambots using Spamspan or Invisimail.
404 Errors & Redirects
404 pages appear when users click a link to your website that has no landing page. This happens when a link is broken or when you’re migrating a site and links to specific landing pages have been changed. A 301 allows you to redirect the user from one URL to another without a scary 404 error pop up.
Crawl your website to find any errors or broken links. Screaming Frog is a great resource for this.
Resolve all broken links, broken images, and/or server issues.
Modules
Drupal modules give your website the functionality it needs, but too many modules can slow down your website’s load time. Although you may think your website needs all the modules, there are inevitably a few that aren’t necessary.
Disable modules that aren’t being used.
Disable server-side statistics modules; Use Google Analytics instead.
Disable development modules.
Server Configuration
Ensure that form submissions work by sending a test a submission.
Make sure that all forms and module notifications are sending to the correct email addresses.
Double check that CDNs are correctly configured for the production site.
Make sure the website’s email address is not a test address.
Index the website for search.
Quality Assurance
Make sure your users have the best experience when visiting your website. Test the frontend before you deploy to make sure that everything is in its right place, the website is responsive, and users can easily navigate throughout the website.
Use the lorem ipsum scanner to make sure you’ve added all the necessary copy.
Test your website on popular browsers through Browserstack.
Spell check all content.
Ensure Google Analytics is on all pages and data is flowing correctly.
Run a Raven SEO audit.
Add your website to Google Search Console.
Performance
On the backend, ensure that your website is up to speed.
Run a Pingdom website speed test.
Enable cache pages for anonymous users and cache blocks in Site Configuration > Performance.
Test your website’s load speed with cleared database cache, Memcache, and image styles when caches are disabled.
Enable compress cached pages through bandwidth optimization.
Compile and compress CSS files.
Compile JavaScript files.
Cache any AJAX requests.
Maintenance
A website project isn’t complete once it’s deployed. Routine maintenance is a must. This way you can spot any hang-ups, or better yet – prevent them before your users experience them.
Run Cron to ensure your database won’t get overwhelmed.
Back up your site on a routine basis.
Monitor the website’s statistics through Google Analytics.
Check Reports > Recent Log Entries for any errors or warnings.
Make sure there are no red flags in Status Reports.
Sevaa Group stands by this checklist with every project we produce, and so far it’s proven trustworthy. Even with the stress of deadlines, it’s important to revise your work, and clients will be grateful that you took the time to address any issues before launching. Sevaa Group specializes in IT management and can maintain your website for you. Contact us about creating and maintaining your Drupal website.
