7 ms·

Show HN: Website launch checklist

78 points by latteperday 11y ago

safanycom 11y ago
Test contact forms, messaging, captchas.
jcoffland 11y ago
This is great. Did they miss anything? I'm about to launch a site.
- robin_reala 11y ago
  Screenreader checking is on my list.
some_random_guy 11y ago
I'm also pretty keen on the Web Developer Checklist - http://webdevchecklist.com/ http://webdevchecklist.com/
mozumder 11y ago
1. Gather beta tester feedback to confirm that site works. 2. Ask beta testers if they would like to be quoted in press release 3. Ask beta testers if they would announce the site to their network 4. Set up social media accounts related to site. 5. Gather media email addresses (reviewers, bloggers, news sites, etc..) 6. Email media a press release notifying the app has launched (If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?)
ommunist 11y ago
There is a shorter version. 1) Launch anything. 2) Fix only things that your client wants to be fixed. 3) Profit
anc84 11y ago
Try your site whilst using an ad-blocker. Try your site throttled to 56KBit/s or at least 1MBit/s. Have a 2$ server with a static HTML page around as emergency alternative if your main server melts.
edwinjm 11y ago
This is a very simple list for simple sites. More serious sites will have a much longer list. Test all supported browsers. Test with devices: iPhone, iPad, serveral Android phones (Androd 2.3, 4.1...), Windows Phone Test with several screen widths (responsive design) Test with ad blocker / Ghostery Test for SEO Test title of every page Test internationalization Test accessiblity (good contrast, no small print etc.) Test with reader software Test alt attributes Test low bandwidth Test with keyboard only Test with high load (many requests per sec) Test caching headers Test minification and merging CSS / JavaScript files Test compression of textual files Test favicon and touch icon Test charset Test lang attributes Test HTML5 form features on devices Test offline (when connection gets lots in train for example) Test image and description when the site is added in a Facebook message Etc. etc.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- onion2k 11y ago
  Test error pages (404 and 500).
- latteperday 11y ago
  Thanks Maybe I could build out a second page called "detailed list" with more points on like these?
- nsgi 11y ago
  Test security (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, HTTPS, etc.)
UserRights 11y ago
Most important thing missing: test site with javascript switched off.
- laurencei 11y ago
  is it? According to [1] and [2] - roughly less than 2% of browsers have javascript switched off. Launching a new website, and focusing on 2% of people seems the wrong priority? [1] https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-javascript-enhancement/ https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missi... [2] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9478737/browser-statistics-on-javascript-disabled http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9478737/browser-statistic...
  - joshmn 11y ago
    Even then, assuming that 2% of your users have javascript turned off is likely a stretch depending on the kind of site you operate. Sophisticated underground fraud forum? Yeah, might want to check it. Blog for moms? You should be fine.
fduran 11y ago
I have a checklist with a Trello version too so items can be checked off or easily removed (or new ones added): http://www.fduran.com/blog/web-site-launch-checklist/ http://www.fduran.com/blog/web-site-launch-checklist/
latteperday 11y ago
Great great feedback everyone, thank you. Will add more to the list over time. Also been suggested over on Product Hunt to have a countdown launch timer. This is great motivation to launch a site too: http://www.producthunt.com/posts/departure http://www.producthunt.com/posts/departure
toni 11y ago
As you see by the amount of feedbacks here, this list will get unmanageably long in no time. I think you should categorize the items in checklist ("Mobile", "SEO", "Testing", "Server", etc) and add the ability to fold/collapse a category in order to see the items belonging to that certain category.
- latteperday 11y ago
  Love that idea, thanks :)
toddmorey 11y ago
It's confusing that "Checklist" (where you check items off) and "Discover" (where you find explanation about each item) and "To Do" (where you can add your own items) are three separate pieces. It would be much more elegant to have them combined into one simple list / app. An aside: If you click on the airplane on Mac, the window goes full-screen. (Not what I expected, either, but surprising.) I didn't know you could implement that on a site, but apparently there's newer HTML5 API for requestFullscreen()
- latteperday 11y ago
  Yes you are right. I'm thinking of having an accordion to reveal the discover for each checklist item. That was the prototype anyway. If I decide to sub-categorise as mentioned in these comments - will need to add a way to do that also. Rather than sub-sub-accordions. Will start to think of how to make more elegant. Glad you found the Easter Egg too ;)
r0bbbo 11y ago
I'm confused. Are you promoting the web app behind this list, or the contents of the list itself?
Kortaggio 11y ago
Nice! This is a great resource to reference. Up until this point I've been using a checklist I created with specific lines of code I can copy paste off of this gist: https://gist.github.com/Kortaggio/5156687 https://gist.github.com/Kortaggio/5156687

78 points by latteperday 11y ago

safanycom 11y ago

Test contact forms, messaging, captchas.

jcoffland 11y ago

This is great. Did they miss anything? I'm about to launch a site.

robin_reala 11y ago
Screenreader checking is on my list.

some_random_guy 11y ago

I'm also pretty keen on the Web Developer Checklist - http://webdevchecklist.com/ http://webdevchecklist.com/

mozumder 11y ago

1. Gather beta tester feedback to confirm that site works. 2. Ask beta testers if they would like to be quoted in press release 3. Ask beta testers if they would announce the site to their network 4. Set up social media accounts related to site. 5. Gather media email addresses (reviewers, bloggers, news sites, etc..) 6. Email media a press release notifying the app has launched (If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?)

ommunist 11y ago

There is a shorter version. 1) Launch anything. 2) Fix only things that your client wants to be fixed. 3) Profit

anc84 11y ago

Try your site whilst using an ad-blocker. Try your site throttled to 56KBit/s or at least 1MBit/s. Have a 2$ server with a static HTML page around as emergency alternative if your main server melts.

edwinjm 11y ago

This is a very simple list for simple sites. More serious sites will have a much longer list. Test all supported browsers. Test with devices: iPhone, iPad, serveral Android phones (Androd 2.3, 4.1...), Windows Phone Test with several screen widths (responsive design) Test with ad blocker / Ghostery Test for SEO Test title of every page Test internationalization Test accessiblity (good contrast, no small print etc.) Test with reader software Test alt attributes Test low bandwidth Test with keyboard only Test with high load (many requests per sec) Test caching headers Test minification and merging CSS / JavaScript files Test compression of textual files Test favicon and touch icon Test charset Test lang attributes Test HTML5 form features on devices Test offline (when connection gets lots in train for example) Test image and description when the site is added in a Facebook message Etc. etc.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
onion2k 11y ago
Test error pages (404 and 500).
latteperday 11y ago
Thanks Maybe I could build out a second page called "detailed list" with more points on like these?
nsgi 11y ago
Test security (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, HTTPS, etc.)

UserRights 11y ago

Most important thing missing: test site with javascript switched off.

laurencei 11y ago
is it? According to [1] and [2] - roughly less than 2% of browsers have javascript switched off. Launching a new website, and focusing on 2% of people seems the wrong priority? [1] https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-javascript-enhancement/ https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missi... [2] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9478737/browser-statistics-on-javascript-disabled http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9478737/browser-statistic...
- joshmn 11y ago
  Even then, assuming that 2% of your users have javascript turned off is likely a stretch depending on the kind of site you operate. Sophisticated underground fraud forum? Yeah, might want to check it. Blog for moms? You should be fine.

fduran 11y ago

I have a checklist with a Trello version too so items can be checked off or easily removed (or new ones added): http://www.fduran.com/blog/web-site-launch-checklist/ http://www.fduran.com/blog/web-site-launch-checklist/

latteperday 11y ago

Great great feedback everyone, thank you. Will add more to the list over time. Also been suggested over on Product Hunt to have a countdown launch timer. This is great motivation to launch a site too: http://www.producthunt.com/posts/departure http://www.producthunt.com/posts/departure

toni 11y ago

As you see by the amount of feedbacks here, this list will get unmanageably long in no time. I think you should categorize the items in checklist ("Mobile", "SEO", "Testing", "Server", etc) and add the ability to fold/collapse a category in order to see the items belonging to that certain category.

latteperday 11y ago
Love that idea, thanks :)

toddmorey 11y ago

It's confusing that "Checklist" (where you check items off) and "Discover" (where you find explanation about each item) and "To Do" (where you can add your own items) are three separate pieces. It would be much more elegant to have them combined into one simple list / app. An aside: If you click on the airplane on Mac, the window goes full-screen. (Not what I expected, either, but surprising.) I didn't know you could implement that on a site, but apparently there's newer HTML5 API for requestFullscreen()

latteperday 11y ago
Yes you are right. I'm thinking of having an accordion to reveal the discover for each checklist item. That was the prototype anyway. If I decide to sub-categorise as mentioned in these comments - will need to add a way to do that also. Rather than sub-sub-accordions. Will start to think of how to make more elegant. Glad you found the Easter Egg too ;)

r0bbbo 11y ago

I'm confused. Are you promoting the web app behind this list, or the contents of the list itself?

Kortaggio 11y ago

Nice! This is a great resource to reference. Up until this point I've been using a checklist I created with specific lines of code I can copy paste off of this gist: https://gist.github.com/Kortaggio/5156687 https://gist.github.com/Kortaggio/5156687