Launch Local Everywhere · Site Builder

Site Setup Checklist – From License to Live, Tracked & Protected

Use this page as a step-by-step checklist to go from “I have a license” to “my site is live on my own domain, tracking visitors with Google Analytics, and protected with reCAPTCHA Enterprise.”

Before you start, it helps to know what “done” looks like. By the time you finish, you want to have:

• A domain registered at a regular registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc.), ultimately running through a free Cloudflare account and pointing to your cPanel host.
• A MySQL database + user with full privileges (for the site app).
• An FTP account that lands directly on the domain’s document root (no extra subfolder).
• A deployed site via the Install wizard (Steps 1–3).
• A published “home” page in the CMS (slug home).
• reCAPTCHA Enterprise wired via a Google Cloud service account JSON.
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking added via your site config.

1. Buy or choose your domain

• Choose the domain you want to use (e.g. example.com).
• Make sure you can log into your registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc.).
• Complete the purchase and confirm the domain appears in your registrar panel.

2. Point the nameservers to your hosting provider (first pass)

At this stage you are not using Cloudflare yet. You point DNS directly to your hosting company so cPanel setup and SSL are straightforward.

1. Log into your web hosting account (the cPanel-based host you will use).
2. Locate your host’s nameservers, typically something like:
   ns1.yourhost.com
   ns2.yourhost.com
   (Sometimes there are more; use all nameservers your host provides.)
3. At the registrar, open the settings for example.com.
4. Find the Nameservers / DNS section.
5. Replace the registrar’s default nameservers with your hosting provider’s nameservers (e.g. ns1.yourhost.com / ns2.yourhost.com).
6. Save the changes.

Result: DNS for example.com is now controlled by your hosting provider. This makes it easier to add the domain in cPanel and get a working default site before involving Cloudflare.

Wait 5–30 minutes (sometimes longer) for nameserver changes to propagate. Once propagation has started, you can move on to cPanel (Phases 2 & 3).

3. Plan the Cloudflare cut-over (done after the site is working)

After the site works via your host’s nameservers, you’ll move DNS to Cloudflare.

Goal: tell the hosting account “this domain lives here and has its own folder.”

4. Log into cPanel

• Log into your hosting cPanel using the URL and credentials from your host.

5. Add the domain as its own document root

1. In cPanel, go to Domains or Addon Domains.
2. Click Create New Domain / Add Domain.
3. Enter the domain: example.com.
4. For Document Root / Directory, cPanel may suggest something like:
   /public_html/example.com
   or
   /example.com
5. Make sure this is its own folder (do not share only /public_html across multiple sites).
6. Save the changes.

This folder is your domain root. The FTP account you create later must land exactly here.

6. Create [email protected]

1. In cPanel, go to Email Accounts.
2. Click Create / Add Email Account.
3. Set the address to [email protected].
4. Choose a strong password and save both address and password somewhere safe.

7. Make info@ the default “catch-all” address

1. In cPanel, go to Default Address.
2. Select the domain example.com.
3. Choose Forward to Email Address.
4. Enter [email protected] and save.

Now any mis-typed email at that domain will still land in [email protected].

8. Forward info@ to a Gmail (or inbox you actively check)

1. In cPanel, go to Forwarders.
2. Add a new forwarder from [email protected] to your main inbox (e.g. [email protected]).
3. Save.

This way you don’t have to log into webmail just to catch leads.

9. Note your Shared IP Address

• On the main cPanel home screen, look for Shared IP Address (usually in the sidebar under “General Information”).
• Copy this IP; you’ll use it later in Cloudflare’s A record.

10. Create the FTP account for this domain

This is critical: the FTP account must land in the domain’s root folder, not a subfolder.

1. In cPanel, go to FTP Accounts.
2. Click Add FTP Account.
3. For the login/username, pick something clear, e.g. admin.
4. In the domain dropdown, select example.com.
5. For Directory, cPanel often auto-fills something like:
   public_html/example.com/admin
6. Important: remove the trailing /admin (or similar) so the directory is:
   public_html/example.com
   This ensures logging in via FTP drops you directly into the site’s document root.
7. Set a strong FTP password.
8. Save and record:
   • FTP host (e.g. ftp.example.com or the server hostname/IP).
   • FTP username (full, e.g. cpaneluser_admin).
   • FTP password.
   • Domain root directory (/public_html/example.com).

11. Create MySQL database + user

1. In cPanel, go to MySQL Databases.
2. Under “Create New Database”, enter a short name like siteapp, then click Create Database. Note the full DB name (e.g. cpaneluser_siteapp).
3. Under “MySQL Users” → “Add New User”, create a user (e.g. siteuser) with a strong password, then click Create User. Note the full username (e.g. cpaneluser_siteuser).
4. Under “Add User to Database”, select user cpaneluser_siteuser and database cpaneluser_siteapp, click Add, then check ALL PRIVILEGES and save.

Assumptions:

• You already have a valid license in the builder.
• You can log into the Launch Local Everywhere builder dashboard.

12. Start the Install for your license

1. Log into your Site Builder dashboard.
2. Go to your Licenses or main dashboard screen.
3. Find the license you will use for example.com.
4. Click its Install button to open the Install view for that license.

13. Step 1 — Domain

1. In Step 1 — Domain, enter your domain in “Domain to Install”:
2. Use example.com or https://example.com (the wizard normalizes it).
3. Click Generate Verification Token.
4. This creates a site_installs session and moves you to domain verification.

14. Step 1b — Verify domain ownership

You will see a verification token and three options: HTTP file, DNS TXT, and FTP/FTPS auto placement.

When verification succeeds, the builder marks the install as validated, binds the license to example.com, and ensures a site record exists.

15. Step 2 — Essential Settings

You’ll see Step 2 — Essential Settings.

Click Continue. The wizard stores these values and uses them to build the site’s config.php.

16. Step 3 — Deploy

Now you’re on Step 3 — Deploy.

Under Deploy:

1. Choose FTP (or FTPS if required by your host).
2. Set FTP host (e.g. ftp.example.com or the shared IP).
3. Port 21 (unless your host uses a different port).
4. Username: cpaneluser_admin (full FTP user).
5. Password: your FTP password (or re-use the saved one).
6. Remote path/deploy root:
   • Confirm it points at the domain root. For a jailed user, . usually means public_html/example.com.
   • If you see /public_html/example.com/admin, correct it back to /public_html/example.com.
7. Confirm the notice about uploading the lean client into that folder.
8. Click Deploy.

The wizard connects via FTP, uploads index.php, .htaccess, config.php and related files, marks the install as complete, and seeds the site config.

Visit https://example.com/ in your browser. You should see either a default output or a “no home page yet” message. That means the client is running correctly.

17. Open the CMS for your new site

1. In the builder dashboard, open the Content / CMS view.
2. If you manage multiple sites, choose example.com from the site dropdown.
3. Ensure you’re on the Pages tab.

18. Create the homepage

1. Click New Page.
2. Set the Slug to home (all lowercase, no slashes). This is treated as the front-page slug.
3. Choose a Title, e.g. “Hire Trusted Home Pros in {{location}}”.
4. Add a meta Description (1–2 sentence summary).
5. Leave the Template as default unless you need another template.
6. Optionally fill Heading Template and Subheading Template for reusable H1 + subtitle.
7. In Body HTML, build your landing content. You can use GEO tokens:
   • {{location}} → human-readable location for the current page.
   • {{geo_links}} → location link tree and breadcrumbs.
   • {{geo_suffix}} → append to internal links so they auto-point to the matching location variant.
8. Ensure GEO enabled is turned on if you want GEO variations for this page.
9. Set the status to Published (not draft).
10. Save the page.

Reload https://example.com/. You should now see your home page rendered.

19. Enable the reCAPTCHA Enterprise API

1. Go to console.cloud.google.com and log in.
2. Select or create a project (e.g. example-com-site).
3. In the left menu, go to APIs & Services → Library.
4. Search for “reCAPTCHA Enterprise”.
5. Click it, then click Enable.

20. Create a reCAPTCHA Enterprise key

1. In the search bar, type “reCAPTCHA Enterprise” and open the service.
2. Click Create key.
3. Choose Website key.
4. Fill details:
   • Name: example.com recaptcha.
   • Site domains: example.com (and www.example.com if used).
   • Select score-based v3 or checkbox v2 as needed for your forms.
5. Save and note the Site Key.

21. Create a service account with reCAPTCHA Enterprise Agent role

1. Go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts.
2. Click Create service account.
3. Name it recaptcha-enterprise-agent.
4. Click Create and continue.
5. Assign the role reCAPTCHA Enterprise Agent (or closest equivalent).
6. Finish the wizard.

22. Create a JSON key for the service account

1. Click the new service account in the list.
2. Open the Keys tab.
3. Click Add Key → Create new key.
4. Select JSON and click Create.
5. A .json file will download. Store it securely.

23. Add reCAPTCHA credentials into your site config

1. In the builder CMS, open the Config tab for your site.
2. Locate fields for the reCAPTCHA Site Key and the service account JSON (raw or file path, depending on your setup).
3. Paste the Site Key from the reCAPTCHA key you created.
4. Paste the full JSON contents of the service account key file (or upload the file and reference its path according to your implementation).
5. Save the config.

24. Test a form

• Open a page with a form that uses reCAPTCHA (e.g. your contact form).
• Submit a test entry.
• Check the browser console for errors; there should be none.
• Confirm you receive the lead email as expected.

25. Create a GA4 account & property

1. Go to analytics.google.com and log in.
2. In the Admin panel (bottom left), create or select an account.
3. Under Property, click Create Property.
4. Property name: example.com.
5. Set time zone and currency, then complete the wizard.

26. Create a Web data stream

1. Inside the property, go to Data Streams → Web.
2. Website URL: https://example.com.
3. Stream name: example.com main.
4. Click Create stream.
5. Note the Measurement ID (e.g. G-XXXXXXXXXX).
6. Copy the recommended Google tag script snippet if provided.

27. Add Analytics to your site config

1. In the CMS for example.com, open the Config tab.
2. Find the GA configuration fields. Either:
   • Paste the Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX) into the designated field, or
   • Paste the full Google tag <script> snippet into a “head/analytics HTML” field.
3. Save the config.

28. Verify Analytics

• Open a private/incognito browser window.
• Visit https://example.com/.
• In GA, go to Reports → Realtime.
• Confirm you see at least one active user (your current visit).

29. Cloudflare review

• In Cloudflare → DNS, confirm:
  • A record for @ → your shared IP, proxy ON.
  • CNAME for www → example.com (optional).
• In Cloudflare → SSL/TLS, set mode to Full or Full (strict) once the host has issued an SSL certificate.
• Optionally add rules:
  • Redirect http → https.
  • Redirect www.example.com → example.com if you prefer a bare domain.

30. Email test

1. From your Gmail, send an email to [email protected].
2. Confirm it arrives (via webmail or the forwarding inbox).
3. Reply from [email protected] to another address and confirm it sends successfully.

Keep a simple “cheat sheet” for each install. You can print this or save it in a password manager.

With this sheet filled in, you (or a team member) can revisit, migrate, or troubleshoot the site at any time without hunting for credentials.