Pro Theme Rebuild Admin Notes

This page is for internal setup notes when preparing a website rebuild into Pro Theme and Cornerstone.

1. Confirm the source website

  • Record the public source website URL.
  • List priority pages, forms, menus, downloads, and any logged-in or private areas.
  • Decide whether the project is public-crawl only or whether temporary source access will be provided.

2. Create the destination staging site

Use a separate staging WordPress site rather than installing WordPress inside a subdirectory of the main website. A staging subdomain is usually the cleanest option.

Example format: rebuild-clientname.futurised.au or clientname-staging.futurised.au. Replace clientname with a generic project or client slug.

  • Install a fresh WordPress site on the staging subdomain.
  • Install and activate Pro Theme and Cornerstone.
  • Install and connect Novamira so the rebuild can be created safely through WordPress.
  • Install Gravity Forms or the required form plugin if forms are in scope.
  • Set the staging site to noindex and/or basic authentication if appropriate.

3. Capture the before-state visuals

  • Run a visual audit of the source website before rebuilding.
  • Capture desktop and mobile screenshots for the homepage and priority pages.
  • Store the audit as static files outside the WordPress Media Library.
  • Suggested archive path: /site/clientname/source-visual-audit/.

4. Inventory and rebuild

  • Crawl sitemap, navigation, footer links, and conversion paths.
  • Group pages by reusable layout before building.
  • Rebuild natively in Cornerstone using sections, rows, columns, text, images, buttons, forms, menus, headers, footers, and global blocks.
  • Use file backups under wp-content/novamira-sandbox/backups/ before writing changes through Novamira.

5. QA and launch notes

  • Compare the rebuilt pages against the before-state visual audit.
  • Check desktop and mobile layout, links, forms, menus, SEO metadata, redirects, and tracking.
  • Prepare launch notes before replacing or redirecting the live site.
  • Do not launch without explicit approval.