Website Launch

Items to complete during launch phase:

  1. Remove password from .htaccess file and/or disable shield module
  2. Update Nameservers to Cloudflare and configure the domain to point to new website
  3. Update server config for live domain
  4. Configure www Redirect
  5. Configure and Install SSL
  6. Configure SSL Redirect
  7. Configure Google Analytics, set up new GA if needed
  8. Generate new sitemap.xml file
  9. Submit the sitemap, create Web Master Tools account if needed
  10. Enable/add webfrom emails to all webforms
  11. Enable website cache and compression
  12. Add uptime tracking to Uptime Robot
  13. Post new launch to the Slack #announcements Channel

1. Disable Shield Module

  1. Navigate to Configuration > System > Shield. Drupal SS
  2. Uncheck the Enable Shield box and click Save Configuration. Drupal SS

2. Update Nameservers

  1. Log in to your Cloudflare account. Click on Turtlehut.
  2. Click the + Add a domain button located on the right side of the Account Home page. Cloudflare SS
  3. Enter the domain name you wish to add, ensure the Quick scan for DNS records option is selected, and click Continue. Cloudflare SS
  4. Select a plan that suits your needs (typically, it's the Free Plan) and click Select Plan. Cloudflare SS
  5. Scroll to the bottom and click Continue to activation. Cloudflare SS
  6. Update client domain's nameservers at the 3rd party registrar to the Cloudflare-provided nameservers. This is a crucial step to activate Cloudflare. Click Continue. Cloudflare SS
  7. Once the nameserver update propagates (this should be immediate, but can take up to 24-48 hours), Cloudflare will indicate that your site is active. You can check the status on your Cloudflare dashboard.

3. Update Server Config

  1. Access the application in Cloudways.
  2. Navigate to Domain Management > Add Domain.
  3. Add the live domain URL. Cloudways SS
  4. Test the URL. If it works, delete the dev URL.

4. Configure www Redirect

  1. Log in to your Cloudflare account. Click on Turtlehut.
  2. Select your domain from the account dashboard.
  3. Click the Rules tab in the lefthand navigation menu.
  4. Click the Templates button on the righthand side. Cloudflare SS

  5. Click Create a Rule on both Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS and Redirect from root to WWW, scroll the to the bottom of the page, and click Deploy. Note: You'll need to complete this step separately for both rules.

    Cloudflare SS

    Cloudflare SS

  6. Confirm both rules are displayed and Active. Cloudflare SS

5. Configure and Install SSL

  1. Log in to the Cloudways dashboard.
  2. Navigate to the appropriate application.
  3. Select SSL Certificate from the left navigation menu.
  4. Complete all required fields with the appropriate information.
  5. Click Install Certificate to begin the installation process. Cloudways SS
  6. Wait for the success confirmation message.

6. Configure SSL Redirect

  • Cloudflare redirects all the incoming traffic to the correct URL destination.

7. Configure Google Analytics

  1. Request the GA4 analytics tracking ID from the ads specialist.
  2. In Drupal, navigate to Configuration > Web Services > Google Analytics. Drupal SS
  3. Enter the tracking ID in the Google Analytics field. Drupal SS

8. Generate sitemap.xml

  1. Log in to the new site.
  2. Navigate to Configuration > Search & Metadata > Simple XML Sitemaps > Sitemaps.
    Drupal SS
  3. Click Rebuild queue & generate. Drupal SS
  4. Verify the link count matches what appears in the default sitemap listing.

9. Submit Sitemap

  1. Log in to Google Search Console.
  2. Click the dropdown in the top left and click Add Property. Google SS
  3. In the URL prefix side, enter the full URL for the new site and click Continue. Google SS
  4. Download the HTML file and upload to the public_html directory via SFTP. Google SS
  5. Click Verify and wait for confirmation message. Google SS

10. Enable Webform Emails

  1. Log in to the new website.
  2. Navigate to Structure > Webforms > Forms. Drupal SS
  3. Click Build next to the appropriate form (e.g. 'Contact Us'). Drupal SS
  4. Click Settings > Emails/Handlers. Drupal SS
  5. These should be enabled by default, but if not, click Enable from the dropdown menu next to each email address. Drupal SS

NOTE: If you created a form that contains a file uploader, you must ensure the "Include files as attachments" option is ticked, or the client will not receive any attachments.

  • To do this, navigate to Emails/Handlers and click Edit next to Client Notification and scroll to the very bottom of the box that pops out. Drupal SS

11. Enable Cache/Compression

  • Skip this step for now as it breaks the site.

12. Add Uptime Tracking

  1. Log in to UptimeRobot.
  2. Add a new monitor: UptimeRobot SS
  3. Set monitor type to Keyword monitoring. UptimeRobot SS
  4. Enter the live site domain as the URL to monitor.
  5. Enter the dev site acronym as the friendly name.
  6. Enter the company name from the footer tagline as the keyword. Drupal SS
  7. Select Start incident when keyword does not exist from the dropdown. UptimeRobot SS
  8. Click Create Monitor.

13. Slack Announcement

  1. Craft an engaging announcement message.
  2. Post in the #announcements channel with the site URL.

Last Updated: 9/18/25