Checkpoint 01: agree on the destinations
Create a route inventory that names every promised page, its reader question, and its next step. Include articles and substantive archives, not just the top navigation. Confirm the domain, contact destination, and approved factual sources.
Use the planning template to expose gaps before implementation. When the source materials do not establish a product feature or business claim, leave it out instead of filling the space with a convincing assumption.
Checkpoint 02: establish the shared system
Build a representative page with real content. Give it the shared header, footer, metadata, assets, and responsive layout. Check long headings and nested routes early; they often reveal assumptions hidden by a short homepage demo.
Keep source files separate from the public output directory. Document which inputs generate the site and what a successful build produces. The CLI website builder guide covers this boundary in more detail.
Preserve a known-good reference
Once the reference page is accepted, use its patterns consistently. Avoid independent copies of navigation or metadata that drift from one page to the next. Shared changes need representative regression checks across more than one layout.
Checkpoint 03: finish connected content groups
Complete the main pages, then the article system, then the supporting destinations. For each group, connect navigation and related reading before moving on. Every visible call to action should lead somewhere useful.
Review the copy as content, not merely as a layout ingredient. Confirm that pages have distinct purposes, references support technical claims, image descriptions are meaningful, and article dates match the intended editorial record.
Checkpoint 04: verify the visitor experience
Test keyboard navigation, focus visibility, mobile menus, heading anchors, image loading, and text wrapping. Inspect the homepage, a topic page, a long article, an archive, and the contact page at multiple widths.
Use the accessibility and quality checklist for a repeatable manual review. Do not equate a passing build with a complete accessibility assessment or a successful live deployment.
Checkpoint 05: synchronize publishing metadata
Compare canonical addresses across HTML, breadcrumbs, sitemap, and feed entries. Check unique titles and descriptions. Parse JSON-LD and XML, then inspect representative values rather than relying only on syntax validation.
For a full-content feed, include the entire article body and convert relative internal links into usable absolute URLs. The clean URL and SEO guide explains how these surfaces follow from a shared content record.
Checkpoint 06: approve the actual artifact
Package only the public files. Put the homepage and asset directories directly at the archive root, then extract into a fresh folder and preview that extracted copy over HTTP. Check for missing images, unexpected private files, and accidentally nested project directories.
Keep the release identifiable and preserve the previous accepted artifact. After upload, check the live host's routes, TLS, and asset delivery separately. A local package test establishes the package's behavior; it does not establish the state of the domain or hosting account.
