Optimizely DXP Launch Checklist

Here is a quick checklist that I use as a starting point for my Optimizely projects that are slated to Go Live.

Product Development

• Optimizely development complete
• 500/404 page
• Forms
• Http -> Https Rewrite
• Reverse Proxy Development (if applicable)

Product Testing

• QA Testing complete
• Regression Testing complete
• CMS User Acceptance Testing complete
• Performance/Load Testing is complete, and performance is at an acceptable level

Content Migration (If Applicable)

• Content Migration complete
• Run the Link Detection Application and fix broken links

Release Tasks – Pre-Go-Live

• Ensure 404 and 500 pages are created for the site
• DNS verification record – start Opti request for the domain
• Delete the admin account in UAT
• Publish the final build to Production and validate changes
• Content in Production is validated
• Ensure form emails can be sent “on behalf of” – SPF record
• Ensure client wildcard SSL cert is submitted to Optimizely OR client is using Cloudflare SSL cert
• Update redirects using the Go-Live domain
• Robots.txt/Sitemap.xml updates ready for Go-Live deployment

Release Tasks – During Go-Live

• DNS Switchover – The client/DNS Owner would be doing this
• Set TTL as minimal as possible
• Bind the actual prod domain as the primary domain
• Reindex Optimizely Search after DNS switchover
• Run Optimizely Jobs for Sitemap creation
• Update Robots.txt/Sitemap.xml to crawl the site

Release Tasks – Post Go-live

• Run Link Detection Application and fix broken links (if applicable)
• Validate redirects