Pre-Launch Site Checker — Documentation

Before you hit "Go Live," give your website one last look. The Pre-Launch Checklist Scanner runs over 40 automated checks across security, SEO, performance, content, analytics, legal, and technical best practices — then hands you a clear, scored report so you know exactly what's ready and what still needs attention.

Think of it as a second pair of expert eyes, catching the little things that slip through after weeks of building.

Usage Guide

Running Your First Scan

1. Head to the Pre-Launch Checklist Scanner page in your dashboard.
2. Paste the full URL of the site you want to scan into the input field (e.g. https://example.com). Make sure to include https://.
3. Click Start Scan.

That's it. The scanner will queue your request and a worker node picks it up within seconds. You'll see a live status indicator while it works — no need to refresh or stare at the screen.

Understanding the Dashboard

When you land on the scanner page you'll see:

• Your plan badge — shows your current subscription tier (Free, Basic, Pro, or Enterprise).
• Scan counter — tells you how many scans you've used this month and how many remain. Enterprise users see "Unlimited Scans" instead.
• URL input — where you paste the address you want to scan.
• Recent Scans — a list of your most recent scans with their status and score at a glance.

Each scan in the list shows:

Viewing Your Results

Once a scan finishes, click View to open the full results page. You'll see:

• Overall Score — a large, colour-coded score circle. Green (80–100) means you're in great shape. Yellow (50–79) means there's room for improvement. Red (below 50) means you have critical issues to address before going live.
• Scan timestamp and duration — so you know exactly when the scan ran and how long it took.
• Three result sections, ordered by severity:

⛔ Critical Issues

These are things that must be fixed before launch. They typically involve security vulnerabilities, missing essential elements, or configuration problems that could seriously impact your visitors' experience.

⚠️ Warnings

These won't break anything, but addressing them will make your site stronger. Think of them as "nice-to-haves" that really should become "must-haves" when you have the time.

✅ Passed Checks

Everything you've already nailed. It feels good to see green — and this list shows you just how much you've done right.

Each individual check shows:

• Check name — what was tested.
• Category tag — which area it belongs to (Security, SEO, etc.).
• Message — a human-readable explanation of what was found.
• Details (click to expand) — technical details for those who want to dig deeper.

Re-scanning a Site

Found some issues and made fixes? Hit the Re-scan button from any results page. It automatically fills in the same URL and kicks off a fresh scan so you can see your improvements reflected immediately.

Downloading a PDF Report

From the results page, click 📄 Download PDF to grab a professionally formatted PDF report. This is perfect for:

• Sharing with your client or team as a pre-launch sign-off document.
• Keeping as an audit trail of your site's health before go-live.
• Attaching to project handover documentation.

The PDF includes the overall score, scan date, duration, and every check grouped by severity with full details.

Deleting a Scan

To remove a scan from your history, click the Delete button next to it. You'll be asked to confirm before anything is actually removed. Note: deleting a scan does not restore your monthly scan count.

What Gets Checked

The scanner evaluates your site across seven key categories. Here's what it looks for:

🔒 Security

• HTTPS redirect — Does HTTP properly redirect to HTTPS?
• SSL certificate — Is your certificate valid and not close to expiring?
• Debug mode — Are PHP errors or debug information visible to visitors?
• WordPress admin exposure — Is /wp-admin or /wp-login.php publicly accessible without restrictions?
• WordPress version exposure — Are you leaking your WP version number in the source code?
• User enumeration — Can attackers discover valid usernames through author archives?
• XML-RPC — Is this legacy endpoint enabled (common brute-force attack vector)?
• REST API user listing — Does the REST API expose your user list publicly?
• Directory listing — Can visitors browse your server directories?

🔍 SEO

• Meta description — Is a compelling meta description present and the right length?
• Open Graph tags — Will your pages look great when shared on Facebook and LinkedIn?
• Twitter Cards — Are Twitter Card meta tags in place?
• H1 heading — Does your page have exactly one H1 tag?
• Canonical URL — Is a canonical URL set to prevent duplicate content issues?
• XML sitemap — Can search engines find your sitemap?
• Structured data — Is schema.org markup present for rich search results?
• Image alt text — Do your images have proper alt attributes for accessibility and SEO?

⚡ Performance

• Mixed content — Are any HTTP resources loaded on your HTTPS page?
• Gzip compression — Is your server compressing responses?
• Custom 404 page — Do visitors see a helpful page when they hit a dead link?
• Render-blocking resources — Are CSS/JS files blocking your page from loading quickly?
• Image optimisation — Are you using modern formats (WebP/AVIF) and lazy loading?
• Page size — Is your HTML document a reasonable size?

📝 Content

• Broken links — Are any links on your homepage pointing to pages that don't exist?
• Search engine blocking — Is a noindex tag accidentally blocking search engines?
• Default content — Is the WordPress "Hello World" or sample page still present?
• Placeholder text — Is any "Lorem ipsum" placeholder text left behind?
• Favicon — Do you have a custom favicon, or is it still the browser default?
• Staging URL indicators — Does your content still reference staging or development domains?

📊 Analytics

• Google Analytics — Is GA4 or Universal Analytics installed?
• Google Tag Manager — Is GTM configured?
• Other platforms — Are you using Plausible, Fathom, Mixpanel, Hotjar, Clarity, Matomo, or others?
• Analytics summary — Is any form of analytics tracking active?

⚖️ Legal & Trust

• Privacy policy — Can visitors find your privacy policy page?
• Terms of service — Is a terms page available?
• Cookie consent — Is a GDPR-compliant cookie consent mechanism in place?
• Contact page — Can visitors find a way to contact you?
• Contact information — Are phone numbers or email addresses visible?

🔧 Technical

• WWW consistency — Do both www and non-www versions resolve properly (one should redirect to the other)?
• Trailing slash consistency — Are URLs with and without trailing slashes handled correctly?
• Viewport meta tag — Is your site configured for mobile devices?
• HTML lang attribute — Does your page declare its language for accessibility and SEO?
• DOCTYPE declaration — Is the HTML5 DOCTYPE present?

Understanding Your Score

Your overall score runs from 0 to 100. Here's how to read it:

Critical issues (fail) weigh more heavily against your score than warnings (warn). Passed checks confirm things that are working well.

Scan Limits by Plan

Your plan determines how many scans you can run each month. The counter resets automatically at the start of every calendar month.

If you've used all your scans for the month, the input field will be disabled and you'll see a message prompting you to upgrade. Need more scans right now? Upgrading your plan takes effect immediately.

Troubleshooting

"Blocked by WAF" status

Some websites are protected by a Web Application Firewall (like Cloudflare's "Under Attack" mode, Sucuri, or similar services) that blocks the scanner from accessing the site. If you see this status:

• Whitelist the scanner — Check with your hosting provider or WAF settings and whitelist the scanner's IP address or user agent.
• Temporarily pause WAF rules — If you control the firewall, you can briefly lower the security level while scanning, then raise it again.
• Check "I'm Under Attack" mode — If you're using Cloudflare, make sure "I'm Under Attack" mode is turned off during the scan.

Even when blocked, the scanner will still return a partial result with the checks it was able to perform.

Scan stuck on "Processing"

Scans typically complete within 30–60 seconds. If yours has been processing for several minutes:

• Wait a moment — The page polls automatically every few seconds. If a worker was temporarily busy, it will catch up.
• Try again — If it's been more than 5 minutes, the scan will automatically reset to "Pending" and get picked up again. You can also start a fresh scan.

"Failed" scan status

A scan can fail if:

• The URL is unreachable (typo, DNS not configured, server down).
• The server returns an error (5xx status codes).
• The connection times out.

Double-check your URL, make sure the site is online, and try again. If it keeps happening, the site may have connectivity issues that need resolving first.

URL validation error

Make sure your URL:

• Starts with https:// (or http://).
• Is a fully qualified domain name (e.g. https://example.com, not just example.com).
• Doesn't contain spaces or special characters.

I've reached my scan limit

Your monthly scan allocation resets on the 1st of each month. If you need more scans before then, consider upgrading your plan — the new limit takes effect immediately.

My score seems wrong

The score is calculated based on the results at the time of scanning. Keep in mind:

• Cached pages might show outdated content. Clear your site's cache before re-scanning.
• Some changes (like DNS or SSL propagation) take time to take effect. Wait a few minutes after making changes, then re-scan.
• The scanner checks the exact URL you provide. If your homepage is at https://www.example.com but you scan https://example.com, results may differ depending on your redirect configuration.

FAQ

How long does a scan take?

Most scans complete in 30 to 60 seconds. The exact time depends on your site's response speed and how many links need to be checked (especially for the broken link checker, which follows internal and external links).

Does the scanner visit every page on my site?

No. The scanner focuses on the specific URL you provide (typically your homepage). It checks that page's HTML, headers, linked resources, and a handful of well-known paths (like /privacy-policy/, /sitemap.xml, /robots.txt, etc.) to run its checks.

Will the scanner affect my site's performance?

No. The scanner makes a modest number of lightweight HTTP requests — similar to a regular visitor browsing a few pages. It won't put any noticeable load on your server.

Can I scan any website, or only my own?

You can scan any publicly accessible URL. This is useful for benchmarking competitors or checking a client's site before a handover. Just keep in mind that some external sites may block the scanner (see "Blocked by WAF" above).

What happens if I scan a site that's password-protected?

The scanner won't be able to access the content behind the login. It will either fail or return limited results based on whatever the public-facing login page shows. For best results, scan pages that are publicly accessible.

Is my scan data private?

Yes. Your scans are tied to your account and only visible to you. No one else can see your results, scores, or the URLs you've scanned.

Can I scan the same URL multiple times?

Absolutely. Each scan is independent, so you can scan the same URL as often as your plan allows. This is especially handy for tracking improvements — scan once, fix issues, then scan again to confirm.

What does "Blocked by WAF" actually mean?

WAF stands for Web Application Firewall. It's a security layer that sits in front of your website and filters incoming traffic. If the WAF sees the scanner's requests as suspicious, it may block them. This is actually a good sign — it means your security is working. You just need to temporarily allow the scanner through (see Troubleshooting above).

Can I share my scan report with someone?

Yes! Use the Download PDF button to generate a clean, professional report that you can email, attach to a project ticket, or share in your team chat. The PDF includes everything: your score, all checks, and their results.

What's checked under "Default Content"?

The scanner looks for telltale signs that you still have WordPress's factory-default content installed — like the "Hello World!" blog post or the sample page. These are easy to miss and look unprofessional on a live site.

Do my scans carry over to the next month?

No. Unused scans do not roll over. Your allocation resets fresh at the beginning of each calendar month.