Test a WordPress site

Before shifting traffic to a new site make sure the site is working as expected and that it is as performant and secure as possible. In general, continuous performance checks should occur during development on a non-production environment, but tests on a production environment just before launch are also recommended.

Test the front end of a site (desktop and mobile browsers) as well as the back end (server and WordPress Admin) functionality to ensure the site functions as expected. If anything appears broken or is not working as expected, utilize the browser’s inspector tools and VIP’s performance and log resources to determine which errors or warnings need to be addressed.

Basic testing

Before a site launches, or when new code is introduced to a site, a standard list of tests should be run. This list should be created by a customer based on features that a site’s team will use on a regular basis such as WP Admin dashboard tools, added plugins, and custom theme features.

At a minimum, these basic functions should be included in a site test to verify that they work as expected:

• Create a post as a user with the Editor role.
• Create a post as a user with the Author role.
• Upload an image to the media library.
• Add that image to a post.
• Edit a post.
• Delete a post.
• Create a new user, and log in as that user.
• Delete a user.
• Change a user’s role.
• Add a widget.
• Modify a widget.
• Ensure search results work as expected.
• Verify settings are correct for external services like Google Analytics, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Verify that third party plugins work as expected.
• Verify any custom features of the editorial workflow.
• If 301 redirects are set up on a site, verify that they work as expected.
• Ensure that pages are loading in the loading in a reasonable time and that images are not being resized from very large to small (this wastes user bandwidth and negatively affects user experience).
• Ensure that ads, tracking beacons, and other important but less-visible features on the browser work as expected.
• Verify that there are no JavaScript console errors or warnings that should be addressed.