Best Practices

Launch checklist

One-page pre-launch and post-launch checklist for a new PageFork site.

Going live is when small oversights become public. Run through this list before and after you hit Publish.

T-1 day — content and layout

  • Every page proofread (ask PageFork for a proofread pass).
  • No placeholder copy (Lorem ipsum, Your text here).
  • All images are final — no watermarks, correct resolution, properly licensed.
  • Favicon is yours.
  • Page titles and meta descriptions set on every page. Prompt: “Set a great SEO title and meta description for every page, tailored to the page content.”
  • Open Graph image / social preview set (prompt for it).

T-1 day — responsive

  • Desktop preview looks balanced.
  • Tablet (768 px) has no broken layouts.
  • Mobile (375 px) copy is readable and buttons are tappable.
  • Nav works on mobile (hamburger opens/closes cleanly).

See Preview devices.

T-1 day — forms

  • Every form is connected (it is, automatically — but verify by running the checks below).
  • Required fields are marked required.
  • Submit button has the right label.
  • Your account email is the one you want notifications on.

T-0 — domain and hosting

  • Hosting subscription is active for this site.
  • Free *.pagefork.ai subdomain is the one you want.
  • Custom domain status is Active. See Connecting your domain.
  • SSL padlock shows on the domain in the browser.
  • Both yourbrand.com and www.yourbrand.com work (if you set both).

T-0 — click Publish, then test

  • Click Publish in the editor toolbar.
  • Open the live site in an incognito window (no cache surprises).
  • Test on a real phone, not just the preview.
  • Submit every form with a test entry. Verify the entry arrives in the Submissions inbox and you got the email.
  • Click every nav link and every CTA.
  • Run the URL through a link previewer (e.g. paste it into Slack/Twitter) to confirm the OG image.

T+1 — monitor

  • Watch the Submissions inbox for the first real entries.
  • Watch analytics (if you installed one) for traffic sources and drop-off points.
  • Watch your Billing → Credits for burn rate during post-launch iteration.

T+1 — iterate

  • Any issues you spot go into a single list, not into immediate edits.
  • Group related fixes, batch them into 2–3 Edit passes with small-step prompts.

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