Golive Audit

Description

Golive Audit answers one question before you launch or hand a site to a client: is this site ready?

It runs 19 read-only checks that WordPress’s built-in Site Health does not cover, understands whether it is looking at a production or a staging site, and produces a report you can hand to the client.

What it checks

  • Search engine visibility that matches the environment (indexable in production, hidden on staging)
  • Site URLs: no localhost, IP-address or staging host left behind; WordPress Address and Site Address agree
  • robots.txt that blocks the whole site, pretty permalinks, XML sitemap, site title and tagline, site icon, front page
  • Leftover sample content, comment and pingback defaults, privacy policy page
  • Unique salts and keys, the “admin” user and too many administrators, open registration that grants a privileged role, the file editor, a leftover debug.log
  • A real administration email address, a configured mail transport, the timezone

Core Site Health already covers PHP and WordPress versions, HTTPS, updates, caching and debug mode, so those are deliberately not repeated.

Built for handoffs

  • Environment profiles: audit as production or staging; the detected WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE is the default.
  • Readiness score and verdict: “Ready”, “Needs attention” or “Launch blocked” (an unaccepted critical failure blocks launch).
  • Accepted risks: waive a failed check with a written reason; the reason appears in the report.
  • Manual handoff checklist: backups restored, forms tested, analytics, cookie consent and more, with presets for business sites, blogs and shops.
  • Reports: a printable page (save it as PDF), CSV and JSON. Reports never contain secrets, key values, the admin email address or server paths.
  • WP-CLI for CI: wp golive-audit run --env=production --fail-on=warning exits non-zero when a check at that severity fails.
  • Extensible: add your own checks with the golive_audit_register_checks action.

Everything is read-only. The plugin never changes your site; each problem links to the screen where you can fix it.

Privacy

Golive Audit makes no external requests and collects no data. It stores three options in your database: accepted risks, checklist progress and report settings. They are removed when you delete the plugin.

Source code

The dashboard in assets/build is compiled from the readable source in assets/src with @wordpress/scripts (npm install && npm run build). The full repository, including unit tests, is at the project’s source repository.

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/ or install it from the Plugins screen.
  2. Activate it.
  3. Open Tools > Golive Audit.

FAQ

Does it change my site?

No. It only reads settings and files. It stores accepted risks, checklist progress and report settings.

Why does it say my production site is blocked on staging settings?

The audit uses the environment WordPress reports (WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE, which defaults to production). Pick another environment in the toolbar, or set the constant in wp-config.php.

Can it prove my site is secure?

No. It checks common launch mistakes and hygiene. It is not a vulnerability scanner or malware scanner.

How do I add my own check?

Implement GoliveAudit\Audit\CheckInterface and register it on the golive_audit_register_checks action.

Reviews

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Contributors & Developers

“Golive Audit” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

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Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.0.0

  • First release: 19 checks, environment profiles, readiness score, accepted risks, manual handoff checklist, printable/CSV/JSON reports, REST API and WP-CLI.