Launch a LotPress dealership website

Confirm the website foundation

• Confirm the preferred public domain loads over HTTPS without a certificate warning.
• Confirm alternate HTTP and hostname versions redirect to that preferred address.
• Open Settings → General and verify the WordPress and Site addresses.
• Open Settings → Permalinks, confirm the intended structure, and save once.
• Confirm the homepage, primary navigation, footer links, privacy policy, and contact page are public.
• Remove temporary maintenance pages, sample content, and launch-blocking password protection.

Verify dealership identity and contact details

• Check the dealership name, logo, phone number, sales email, street address, and business hours.
• Call the displayed phone number from a mobile device.
• Test directions and external links.
• Review the header action, top information bar, footer copy, copyright, and disclaimer.
• Confirm the same contact information appears consistently on Home, About, Financing, Contact, and vehicle pages.

LotPress Pro sites manage these values under LotPress → Website Settings. See Customize the dealership website for the detailed controls.

Test inventory from search to inquiry

• Open /inventory/ and confirm the expected available-vehicle count.
• Test make, model, year, body style, price, mileage, sorting, pagination, reset, and Grid/List controls.
• Open representative new, used, pending, reduced-price, and photo-heavy vehicles.
• Check titles, prices, mileage, specifications, features, gallery order, primary photos, video, related vehicles, and contact actions.
• Confirm Sold vehicles are excluded from normal storefront results unless a specific display intentionally includes them.
• Test one vehicle with missing optional data to make sure the page degrades cleanly.

Review the Vehicle Display layout and inventory presentation and insights before launch.

Exercise every enabled Shopper Tool

• Save and remove a vehicle, then check the Saved and Recently viewed lists.
• Open each configured social-sharing destination and verify the intended vehicle URL.
• Change payment-calculator inputs and review the dealership-approved default APR, term, and down payment.
• Check fuel-cost assumptions and confirm the tool is omitted for electric vehicles.
• Print or preview a vehicle sheet and check branding, contact details, images, and page breaks.
• Confirm every enabled tool is both configured in Shopper Tools and visible in Vehicle Display.

See Configure Shopper Tools and saved, recent, and shared vehicles.

Prove inquiry delivery end to end

1. Send a test from the general contact page with a monitored external email address.
2. Send a vehicle inquiry from a private browser window.
3. Confirm both messages reach the intended dealership inbox with useful subjects and Reply-To behavior.
4. Reply to each message and confirm the response reaches the test address.
5. Check spam, quarantine, and transactional-mail logs when delivery is delayed.

Do not declare the site ready based only on a plugin test email. Test the actual public forms. Follow Configure email delivery and spam protection for authenticated mail and optional Turnstile setup.

Approve Sync for unattended operation

• Confirm the source identifier and stable External ID mapping will not change after launch.
• Run a fresh preview and investigate unexpected creates, rejections, duplicates, or missing vehicles.
• Confirm the missing-vehicle policy matches whether the provider sends a complete or partial feed.
• Complete one successful manual import before enabling hourly scheduling.
• Confirm the expected photos finish downloading and appear in source order.
• Verify WP-Cron runs reliably on the production host and review the recent run summary.

See Preview, import, and operate LotPress Sync.

Review privacy, search, and sharing

• Update the privacy notice for the site’s actual analytics, advertising, CRM, embedded video, mail, and Turnstile services.
• Confirm page titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, and one representative vehicle’s social card.
• Append ?lotpress_social_preview=1 to a public vehicle URL and inspect the title, description, and image.
• Confirm the XML sitemap includes intended public pages and vehicle URLs when a sitemap feature is active.
• Check that staging, preview, account, and administrative URLs are not linked publicly.

Review Privacy and data behavior and account for every additional plugin or service installed on the dealership site.

Complete the mobile and accessibility pass

• Test the homepage, navigation, inventory archive, vehicle page, calculators, drawer, forms, and footer at phone and tablet widths.
• Use the site with a keyboard: open menus, change filters, operate galleries, follow links, and submit forms without a mouse.
• Confirm visible focus states, readable contrast, descriptive link text, form labels, validation messages, and meaningful image alternatives.
• Check that sticky controls, cookie notices, chat tools, or third-party widgets do not cover primary actions.
• Test at browser zoom levels above 100 percent and with reduced-motion preferences when possible.

Prepare backups, updates, and launch monitoring

• Create and verify a current database and uploads backup before the final launch change.
• Confirm at least two trusted people know how to reach the host, domain registrar, DNS provider, WordPress administrator, and transactional-mail provider.
• Remove unused administrator accounts and require unique credentials.
• Install pending updates deliberately, then repeat the homepage, inventory, vehicle, and inquiry smoke tests.
• Clear WordPress, hosting, CDN, and browser caches after the final content change.
• Record the launch date, active component versions, public hostname, backup location, and responsible support contact.
• Check forms, feed runs, broken links, and representative vehicle pages again during the first business day after launch.

Use Manage licenses and updates for the private LotPress update workflow.