# WordPress public page launch worksheet

Manual launch worksheet and controlled Playground example

Use this worksheet to prepare one WordPress page for an owner-approved public launch. Record the saved Reading setting and the actual delivered response, while preserving draft, private, staging and restricted content. The fictional HarborDesk example records a controlled Playground test; core output does not establish production delivery or search visibility.

Pack version 1.0 · 16 September 2026. Worksheet version 1.0.

Guide: https://rankecho.io/resources/fix/wordpress-ai-visibility

## Part 1 — Launch worksheet and fictional example

Copy this manual worksheet for one commercial page. Complete its public intent and owners before changing the sitewide setting; the HarborDesk example separates observed core output from checks still required on a real site.

# WordPress public-page launch worksheet

Version 1.0 — one public page, one reviewed correction

## Intent and boundaries
- Exact production URL, page owner, and launch date [required]:
- Why this page should be public; approved published status [required]:
- Draft, private, staging, and restricted routes to protect [required]:
- WordPress, PHP, theme, plugin, host, and CDN versions or owners:

## Saved setting and delivered output
- Settings → Reading checkbox before, save time, approver, and runtime blog_public value [required]:
- Signed-out GET before: final URL, status, headers, raw robots meta, canonical, and main text [required]:
- Core sitemap state and actual sitemap response for the page:
- Owner of each theme, plugin/code, host/CDN, or cache output:

## One correction and verification
- One approved change, implementation owner, and expected scope:
- Rollback operator, trigger, and saved setting to restore if public-intent review was wrong; preserve correct protection:
- Signed-out GET after: final URL, status, headers, raw meta, canonical, and main text [required]:
- Browser and independent cache/variant check:
- Actual sitemap response after; draft/private URLs absent where expected:
- Separate robots, rendering, index, query, referral, and conversion checks:

## Filled fictional HarborDesk example
- Intent: the published /harbordesk-exports-publish/ page should be public. Its draft and private siblings must keep their statuses and content.
- Setup on September 12, 2026: browser-only WordPress Playground scope clever-modern-state; WordPress 7.1, PHP 8.3.33, Twenty Twenty-Five 1.5; plugin, must-use, and drop-in lists were empty.
- Page text: “Fictional HarborDesk example: export a project as CSV from the project menu. Workspace owners can export completed tasks. Exports omit deleted tasks. Contact the workspace owner if export is unavailable.”
- Checked and saved: blog_public='0'; core sitemaps disabled; no posts sitemap provider registered. The public-page DOM showed noindex,nofollow, a self-canonical, title, and body.
- Reviewed correction: clear the sitewide checkbox and save. This reset the original public state, not a tested production rollback.
- Core after-state: blog_public='1'; core sitemaps enabled; the page provider included the published page and omitted the draft and private siblings. All three statuses and stored-content SHA values were unchanged.
- Separate function evidence: wp_robots() output max-image-preview:large. This was not captured from the after-state page.
- Real-site work remaining: signed-out GET, source, headers, canonical, body, browser, sitemap response, robots policy, production layers, and indexed state.
- No production, crawler, search, business-outcome, or rollback test ran.

Manual launch worksheet with a controlled WordPress Playground example. Replace its fictional and function-level observations with owner-approved evidence from the real public URL.

## Part 2 — Is this one WordPress page meant to be public?

Record the production URL and owner, then confirm the page is published and approved for public discovery. Preserve the status or access of drafts, private pages, staging sites, and restricted routes.

The Reading checkbox is sitewide. If exclusion is intentional, launch on the approved public environment. Send a directive affecting only this page to the noindex/canonical guide.

| Content state | Intended result | Next action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Published commercial page | Public and eligible for discovery | Continue with the Reading and delivered-output checks. |
| Draft or private page | Remain outside the public launch | Preserve its status and access; do not use this checklist to expose it. |
| Staging or internal site | Remain excluded or protected | Keep the sitewide boundary and launch on the approved public environment. |
| Public page with its own directive | Needs page-level diagnosis | Use the noindex/canonical owner before changing another control. |

- [Diagnose a page-level noindex or canonical conflict](https://rankecho.io/resources/find/issues/noindex-canonical-conflict)

## Part 3 — What did the WordPress Playground test show?

On September 12, 2026, a browser-only Playground test used WordPress 7.1, PHP 8.3.33, Twenty Twenty-Five 1.5, and no listed plugins, must-use plugins, or drop-ins. Three fictional HarborDesk pages had published, draft, and private statuses.

With exclusion saved, blog_public was 0, core sitemaps were disabled, and the published-page DOM had noindex,nofollow, its self-canonical, and visible body. After clearing and saving, blog_public was 1; the core provider listed the published page, not its siblings. Statuses and stored-content hashes stayed unchanged.

After-state browser evaluation failed, so no page DOM, status, header, robots meta, or canonical was captured. The wp_robots() call and provider list are narrower evidence; no sitemap response or production delivery was tested. Resetting the original public setting did not test rollback.

| Check | Observed result | Evidence boundary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Saved checked state | blog_public='0'; core sitemaps disabled; post provider null | The public page DOM contained noindex,nofollow, its self-canonical, title, and body. |
| Saved cleared state | blog_public='1'; core sitemaps enabled | The core page-provider list included the published HarborDesk URL and omitted its draft and private siblings. |
| Three page records | publish / draft / private; identical stored-content SHA before and after | The setting change did not change those statuses or stored bodies. |
| Separate robots call | <meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> | Function output only; no after-state DOM or HTTP metadata was captured. |

- [Review core sitemap enablement](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_sitemaps/sitemaps_enabled/)
- [Review the core post-type sitemap query](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_sitemaps_posts/get_posts_query_args/)
- [Review wp_robots output](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_robots/)

## Part 4 — Who owns the output when the setting and public page disagree?

Inventory the production theme, plugins, must-use plugins, drop-ins, code, host, CDN, and cache. Assign each directive, redirect, canonical, and sitemap behavior to its emitting layer. The empty Playground lists do not describe another installation.

Use the specialist guide for a mismatch. Robots.txt policy, JavaScript delivery, documentation, and product clarity remain separate tasks.

| Layer | Likely reviewer | Evidence to collect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Settings → Reading | WordPress/site administrator | Saved checkbox and runtime blog_public value |
| Theme and wp_head | Theme owner | Raw public HTML from the active production theme |
| SEO, security, cache, and custom code | Plugin or engineering owner | Active, must-use, and drop-in inventory plus configured rules |
| Headers, redirects, and edge cache | Host/CDN owner | Final signed-out response headers and cache variant |
| Page status and visibility | Editor/site owner | Published URL plus preserved draft/private records |

- [Diagnose one exact robots rule](https://rankecho.io/resources/find/issues/ai-crawler-blocked-by-robots-txt)
- [Compare initial and rendered evidence](https://rankecho.io/resources/find/issues/javascript-only-evidence)
- [Review a public documentation task](https://rankecho.io/resources/fix/documentation-page)
- [Review commercial product clarity](https://rankecho.io/resources/fix/product-page-for-ai-search)

## Use this pack

1. Save a copy for one public page. Complete all fourteen fields with current settings, captures, named owners and approved intent; record unknown values explicitly.
2. Review the sitewide scope before changing the Reading setting. Preserve draft, private, staging and access controls, and assign one correction with its owner and rollback plan.
3. Verify the real signed-out response and sitemap separately from core function output. Record indexed state, search and business measures separately; this worksheet does not run those checks.

Inspect a sample fix — https://rankecho.io/sample-fix. Evaluate the Fix Engine — https://rankecho.io/product/fix-engine for bounded changes with human review and manual shipment. Full-page writing is a separate content add-on — https://rankecho.io/pricing/content, not included with the visibility subscription.