Magento Pre-Launch Checklist (Detailed)

Magento CommerceSo you’ve got a fresh new install of Magento and are ready to start setting it up. If you’re new to Magento, the task of configuring your store can feel a bit daunting. There is a lot to be done before you launch - setting up payment methods, sales tax, shipping rates, and more. This list will make sure that you get prepared for launch without any unexpected surprises. Here are the tasks that need to be finished for most Magento installations before launching your web site.


Installation Tasks
Enable URL rewrites
Change the admin address to something other than “admin”
Use database for sessions

Recommended but Optional
Create a directory in path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default that is a copy of path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default/default – name it something easy to remember
Create a directory in path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default that is a copy of path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default/default - name it the same as the directory created above
System->Configuration->Design->Themes – Change Templates, Skin, and Layout to the directory name in the steps above
Set up an hourly cron that runs path/to/magento/cron.php (advanced)
In path/to/magento/.htaccess, add a rewrite to force non-www addresses to add the www or vice versa (depending on your domain)
In path/to/magento/.htaccess, uncomment lines to enable content compression
Replace favicon.ico with your own at path/to/magento/favicon.ico and path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default/[theme name]/favicon.ico
System->Configuration->Google API->Google Analytics - enable and input your account number (this is definitely worth your while)

Templates: Call Outs and Footer
Edit path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default/[theme name]/template/callouts/left_col.phtml to match your content OR comment out the left callout block in path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default/[theme name]/layout/catalog.xml
Edit path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default/[theme name]/template/callouts/right_col.phtml to match your content OR comment out the right callout block in path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default/[theme name]/layout/catalog.xml
Edit path/to/magento/app/design/frontend/default/[template name]/template/page/html/footer.phtml - Remove the “Keep Magento healthy” notice (unless you want it there)

CMS
CMS->Poll Manager - set the sample poll to “Closed”
CMS->Manage Pages - search for identifier “home”; edit the title and content of the page
CMS->Manage Pages - search for identifier “about-magento-demo-store”; edit the identifier and content (i.e. “about-my-widget-store”)
CMS->Manage Pages - search for identifier “no-route”; remove references to demo store and remove demo images; adjust content if desired
CMS->Manage Pages - search for identifier “customer-service”; populate with data specific to your operation - recommend a return policy, shipping policy, and privacy policy at a minimum
CMS->Static Blocks - edit “footer_links” block to accommodate the new about page identifier (i.e. “about-my-widget-store”)

Search Engine Optimization: System->Configuration
Design->HTML Head - Remove default title
Design->HTML Head - Put something in Title suffix (i.e. “ | My Store”)
Design->HTML Head - Remove default description
Design->HTML Head - Remove default keywords
Catalog->Search Engine Optimizations - Set “Use categories path for product URLs” to No
Web->Search Engines Optimization - Set “Use Web Server Rewrites” to Yes
Configure Catalog->Google Sitemap to include a sitemap called “sitemap.xml” with a base path of “/”
Add a robots.txt file in path/to/magento with the contents: “Sitemap: /sitemap.xml”

Checkout (Shipping): System->Configuration
Shipping Settings->Origin - Change “Country”, “Region”, “Zip/Postal Code”, “City” to match your business
Shipping Methods - Enable your shipping methods
If using Table Rates, make sure to change the “Current Configuration Scope” to the web site that you are configuring so that you can import rates

Checkout (Sales Tax)
Sales->Tax->Manage Tax Zones & Rates - Add Tax Rates applicable to your storefront
Sales->Tax Manage Tax Rules - Edit Tax Rule (or delete example and create a new one) to include all of the necessary Tax Zones created above
System->Configuration->Tax->Tax Classes - Change “Tax Class for Shipping” to the appropriate tax class (optional, only if sales tax applies to shipping)
Sales->Tax->Manage Tax Rules - If selected Tax Class for shipping is not “Taxable Goods”, make sure to create a tax rule that covers the selected tax class

Checkout (Terms and Conditions)
This is not required, but is useful for many businesses.
System->Configuration->Checkout->Checkout Options - Change “Enable Terms and Conditions” to Yes
Sales->Terms and Conditions - Add as many Conditions as you would like; don’t have too many as your customers will have to check a box for every condition

Checkout (Payment): System->Configuration
Payment Methods->Saved CC - Change “Enabled” to No; this isn’t required, but unless you want to deal with the liability of storing credit card numbers (even encrypted ones), we strongly recommend turning this payment method off
Payment Methods - Enable / Disable payment methods according to your requirements

Transactional Emails
System->Transactional Emails->Add New Template - Create templates based on the following existing templates; it is smart to name your new templates based on the template being used so that you can easily refer to it later.
New admin password
New account (if not requiring account confirmation)
New account confirmation key (if requiring account confirmation)
New account confirmed (if requiring account confirmation)
New password
New Order
New Order for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
Order Update
Order Update for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
New Invoice
New Invoice for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
Invoice Update
Invoice Update for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
New Credit Memo
New Credit Memo for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
Credit Memo Update
Credit Memo Update for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
New Shipment
New Shipment for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
Shipment Update
Shipment Update for Guest (if allowing guest orders)
Newsletter subscription confirmation (if requiring newsletter confirmation)
Newsletter subscription success
Newsletter unsubscription success
Share Wishlist
Send product to a friend
Product stock alert (if allowing users to sign up for in-stock alerts)
Product price alert (if allowing users to sign up for price alerts)

Configure Store Email Addresses - System->Configuration->Store Email Addresses
General contact
Sales representative
Customer support
Custom email 1 (if desired)
Custom email 2 (if desired)
Configure transactional templates and senders - System->Configuration

Contacts->Email Options
Set “Send Emails To” to the email address you want to receive contact form notifications at
Change “Email Sender” to the email address you would like to receive the notification from
Change “Email Template” to the template created earlier (you can leave this one as default)

Catalog->Product Alerts (if allowing price or stock alerts for customers)
Change “Price alert Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Stock alert Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Alert Email Sender” to the email address that notifications will be sent from

Email to a Friend->Email templates
Change “Select email template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)

Newsletter ->Subscription Options
Change “Unsubscription Email Sender” to the email address that unsubscription emails should be sent from
Change “Unsubscription Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Success Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Success Email Sender” to the email address that successful subscription emails should be sent from
Change “Confirmation Email Sender” to the email address that confirmation emails should be sent from (if requiring confirmation)
Change “Confirmation Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if requiring confirmation)

Customer Configuration->Create New Account Options
Change “Default Welcome Email” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if not requiring account confirmation) Page 6 of 9
Change “Email Sender” to the email address that welcome emails should be sent from
Change “Confirmation Link Email” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if requiring account confirmation)
Change “Welcome Email” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if requiring account confirmation)

Customer-Configuration->Password Options
Change “Forgot Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Forgot Email Sender” to the email address that password emails should be sent from

Wishlist->Share options
Change “Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Email Sender” to the email address that wishlist sharing should be sent from

Sales Emails->Order
Change “New Order Confirmation Email Sender” to email address that new order confirmation emails should be sent from
Change “New Order Confirmation Template” to template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “New Order Confirmation Template for Guest” to template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Order Comments
Change “Order Comment Email Sender” to the email address that order comment emails should be sent from
Change “Order Comment Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Order Comment Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default) - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Invoice
Change “Invoice Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Invoice Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Invoice Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Invoice Comments
Change “Invoice Comments Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Invoice Comments Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Invoice Comments Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Shipment
Change “Shipment Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Shipment Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Shipment Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Shipment Comments
Change “Shipment Comments Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Shipment Comments Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Shipment Comments Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Credit Memo
Change “Credit Memo Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Credit Memo Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Credit Memo Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Sales Emails->Credit Memo Comments
Change “Credit Memo Comments Email Sender” to the email address that invoice emails should be sent from
Change “Credit Memo Comments Email Template” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default)
Change “Credit Memo Comments Email Template for Guest” to the template created earlier (do NOT leave as default - only if allowing guest orders)

Checkout->Payment Failed Emails
Change “Payment Failed Email Reciever” to the email address that should receive failed payment notifications
Change “Payment Failed Email Sender” to the email address that failed payment emails should be sent from
Change “Payment Failed Template” to the template created earlier (if one was created - the default template may be fine here)

Branding: System->Configuration
Design->Header
Change “Logo Image Src” to a logo that you have previously uploaded into /path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default/[theme name]/images - the default is 169 x 49 pixels
Change “Logo Image Alt”
Change “Welcome Text”
Design->Footer - Change “Copyright”
Catalog->Product Image Placeholders - Upload placeholders for Base Image, Small Image, and Thumbnail
Sales->Invoice and Packing Slip Design
Upload “Logo for PDF print-outs” (must be 200 x 50)
Upload “Logo for HTML print view”
Add “Address”
Replace /path/to/magento/skin/frontend/default/default/images/logo_email.gif with your own logo OR upload a logo and change the path in your transactional email templates
System->Manage Stores – Select “Main Website Store” and change the “Name” to your store name
System->Manage Stores - Select Default Store View and change the “Name” to your store name

Scheduled Tasks: System->Configuration
These tasks assume that you have set up cron.php to run every hour (see”Recommended but Optional”)
Currency Setup->Scheduled Import Settings - Enable and configure
Catalog->Product Alerts Run Settings
Google Sitemap->Generation Settings - Enable and configure
System->Log Cleaning - Enable and configure

Misc. Configuration: System->Configuration
General->Countries options - Set “Default country” and “Allow countries”
General->Locale options - Set “Timezone”, “Locale”, “First Day of Week”, and “Weekend Days”
Web->Polls - Set “Disallow voting in a poll multiple times from same IP-address” to Yes
Currency Setup->Currency Options -Change “Base currency”, “Default display currency”, “Allowed currencies”
Sales Emails->Order - Change “Send Order Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive new order notifications
Sales Emails->Order Comments - Change “Send Order Comment Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive order comment notifications
Sales Emails->Invoice - Change “Send Invoice Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive new invoice notifications
Sales Emails->Invoice Comments - Change “Send Invoice Comment Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive invoice comment notifications
Sales Emails->Shipment - Change “Send Shipment Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive shipment notifications
Sales Emails->Shipment Comments - Change “Send Shipment Comment Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive shipment comment notifications
Sales Emails->Credit Memo - Change “Send Credit Memo Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive credit memo notifications
Sales Emails->Credit Memo Comments - Change “Send Credit Memo Comment Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive credit memo comment notifications
Checkout->Payment Failed Emails - Change “Send Payment Failed Email Copy To” to the email address(es) that should receive payment failed notifications