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Go-Live Checklist

Work through this before you accept your first real customer order. Each item is quick, and each one catches a problem that's much more annoying to discover during a lunch rush.

1. Payments work

  • [ ] Stripe is connected and finished. Go to Settings → Payments. It should say your account is fully set up — not "onboarding incomplete." A half-finished Stripe account cannot take a single payment. See Setting Up Stripe Payments.
  • [ ] You know when your first payout arrives. New Stripe accounts hold the first payout longer than later ones. See Payouts & Timelines so it isn't a surprise.
  • [ ] You've decided whether online orders must pre-pay. Settings → Payments → Require payment for online orders. If off, customers can order and pay at pickup. See Ordering Settings.

2. Your menu is right

  • [ ] Every item a customer can order exists, with the correct price. See Managing Your Menu.
  • [ ] Prices are what you actually charge. Check a few against your printed menu.
  • [ ] Modifiers are attached to items that need them (sizes, sides, temperatures).
  • [ ] Anything not available right now is marked unavailable rather than deleted.
  • [ ] Hidden categories are actually hidden. Anything half-built should be switched off, not published.

3. Hours and timing

  • [ ] Store hours match reality, including split shifts and any day you close after midnight. See Store Hours.
  • [ ] Default prep time is honest. This drives the pickup times customers are offered. Too short and you'll be behind from the first order.
  • [ ] Kitchen cutoff before close is set, so you don't take an order five minutes before locking up.
  • [ ] Your timezone is correct in Settings → Restaurant. Everything time-related depends on it.

4. Orders reach the kitchen

  • [ ] You've decided how the kitchen sees orders — the kitchen display, printed tickets, or both.
  • [ ] If you're printing: the printer is connected, shows online, and a test print came out. See Receipt Printer Setup.
  • [ ] If you're using the KDS: the tablet is set up, signed in, and the screen stays awake.
  • [ ] Kitchen ticket copies are set to the number you actually want. See Receipt Layout.

5. The register (if you use it)

  • [ ] The card reader is paired and takes a test charge. See Using the Register.
  • [ ] The cash drawer opens from the register's Open drawer button. See Cash Drawer.
  • [ ] Register accounts are created if more than one person works the till. See Register Accounts.
  • [ ] Tipping is configured the way you want it — see Tipping.

6. Your team is ready

  • [ ] Everyone who needs access has been invited and has signed in successfully. See Users & Roles.
  • [ ] Roles are correct — kitchen staff shouldn't have billing access, and a weekend cashier doesn't need Owner.
  • [ ] Someone other than you can run a shift. If only one person knows how the register works, you have a scheduling problem, not a software problem.

7. Place a real test order

This is the step people skip, and it's the one that catches everything else.

  1. Open your ordering page at forklines.com/menu/your-restaurant on your phone, on cellular data — not on your shop's wifi, and not signed in as an admin. You want to see exactly what a customer sees.
  2. Add a couple of items, including one with modifiers.
  3. Check out and pay with a real card.
  4. Confirm: the order appears in the order queue, lands on the kitchen display, prints a ticket if you print, and the confirmation email arrives.
  5. Move it through Preparing → Ready and confirm the customer notification goes out.
  6. Refund the test order from the order detail so you're not out the money — see Refunds & Cancellations.

8. Tell people

  • [ ] Your ordering link is live and points where you expect.
  • [ ] Add it where customers look — Google Business Profile, Instagram bio, the door, the receipt.
  • [ ] If you're switching from a marketplace, keep both running for a week or two rather than cutting over cold.

Where to go next

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