Introduction
Install GDPRChecker on a WordPress site without placing consent enforcement behind analytics, cache plugins, or theme scripts. This guide gives the deployment and verification sequence.
What it means
Use a trusted header/footer insertion plugin or a child theme so WordPress updates do not remove the runtime snippet.
Load GDPRChecker before Google Tag Manager, GA4, Meta Pixel, and marketing plugins; order matters more than banner appearance.
Performance plugins can delay, defer, combine, or move scripts. Exclude the consent runtime from those optimizations when they break the required load order.
A successful heartbeat plus a clean-session scan is the completion signal, not merely seeing a banner in the WordPress editor.
Why it matters
WordPress plugins and theme updates commonly introduce new trackers or change script order. A verified runtime and scheduled scans make that drift visible.
Common mistakes
- Treating a copied snippet as installed without verifying a live runtime heartbeat.
- Placing the consent runtime after GTM, analytics, advertising pixels, or theme-injected scripts.
- Publishing a configuration change without testing a clean browser session and the Reject all path.
- Applying a broad blocking rule without reviewing the detected provider and category first.
Practical checklist
- Confirm domain ownership and open the site-specific Privacy Setup flow.
- Install or update the GDPRChecker runtime before non-essential tracking code.
- Publish the banner configuration and verify its live heartbeat.
- Test initial visit, Reject all, analytics-only, Accept all, and withdrawal in a private window.
- Run a compliance scan and keep the resulting evidence with the release record.
- Enable scheduled scans so later tag, plugin, theme, or campaign changes are detected.
How GDPRChecker helps
GDPRChecker records the selected WordPress installation path, verifies the live runtime heartbeat, and provides a site-specific setup path rather than relying on a generic code snippet.
After installation, Scheduled Scans can alert the site owner when a plugin, theme, or campaign introduces a new tracker.