Site Objects Checklist

A site is more than its pages and templates. These CMS objects are easy to forget because nothing in a design mockup shows them, yet a finished site usually needs every one. Plan for them while deciding the site's structure, and confirm each before calling the site done.

• robots.txt and sitemap.xml. A full site ships both as CMS-managed objects rather than hand-written static files. Full Site Packages lists them along with the other pages a complete site needs (error, search, and contact pages) and the domain and plan rules that apply.
• Redirects. A Redirect sends one URL to another. Use one when a page has moved, so old links and search results keep working, and when a link in the design is really an outside destination you want to manage in one place or track. Linking straight to an external URL is also fine; a redirect adds a single point of change and nothing else, so decide per site. A Redirect is a content object, separate from the {% redirect %} Liquid method that sends the current request elsewhere.
• Folders. When a site has more than a handful of images or documents, organize them into folders so editors are not choosing from one long list. A picker field's folder filter can then narrow its choices to one folder.
• Image alt text. Alt is a property of each Image. Write it when the image is added, so every template that renders the image gets it (see Rendering Images).
• Image presets. Create an Image Preset for each size the design uses — card, thumbnail, banner — before templates refer to the preset codes (see Rendering Images).
• Tag pages. A Tag can have its own page with the same browser title, meta description, keywords, and include-in-search settings as an article. Fill them in for any tag whose page visitors and search engines will see.