Ops Index — the front door (start here)

2026-07-23 · note

Ops Index

Two things in one place: where the docs are (by theme) and what's actively in flight (the live queue). Reorg rationale + full triage: ops-triage-2026-07-22.md.

Status convention: active (in flight) · parked (real, deferred) · done/dead (→ archive/). Mark done + move to archive in the same commit that ships it.

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📚 Theme map (find a doc by topic)

🟢 Content · FAQ · GEO — content-faq-geo.md

Content quality, the FAQ overhaul, AI-citation (GEO), editorial authority. Sections: FAQ authoring rules · best-free-vpn build kit · corpus audit · overhaul spec · GEO citations · authority roadmap · comparison supercluster. Data appendix: faq-master-index.md (generated 552-item inventory). Handoff: bowtie #181.

🟢 Conversion · the money path — conversion.md

The conversion principle ("dream at the price, proof at the doubt") + the surfaces that apply it. Provider-template section: TrustScore hero shipped; the Jul 21 tweak (open score breakdown by default + swap assessment/pricing) is a live to-do.

🟢 Domain Broker — domain-broker-v2-launch-runbook.md

v2 at 100% (Part 1 shipped, #180); Part 2 (get-started A/B) in progress. History in archive/.

🟡 Ads · Attribution — google-ads-value-loop-plan.md

Offline conversion value loop; $1 leg fixed, qualified→5% leg unvalidated.

🟡 Growth · Feature Backlog — growth-backlog.md

Parked: perks/points · API docs hub (~60% there) · Speed Lab real testing (why data is static — cite RANK) · text-to-speech · accessibility toolbar.

📘 Documentation · System

system-architecture.md · deploy-architecture.md · translation-system.md · llms-txt.md · i18n-developer-guide.md · markdown-guidelines.md · adding-providers.md · diamond-standard.md · audits/reports.

🗓️ Digests — digest-YYYY-MM-DD.md · 🗄️ Archive (archive/, 27 done)

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🔨 Live queue (what's actually in flight)

Folded in from the old open-items-index.md (2026-07-23 refresh — done/shipped items dropped).

🗓️ Decision gates (have clocks)

• domain-broker revert → Fri Aug 14 2026. STAY on /domain-broker if any: section clicks ≥60/30d, or pos ≤20 w/ impr ≥ baseline, or "domain broker" >200 impr/mo at pos <30. Verdict so far: recover in place (note #44).

🚀 Ready / in progress

• Speed Lab provenance cleanup — speed-lab-provenance-cleanup.md. Tier 1 (7 provider metas + passing "we tested" lines → aggregate framing) ready for the worker. Tier 2 (~20 fabricated test-report posts) = DECIDED leave-as-is (Ben, 2026-07-23, informed).
• Google Ads audit — Tier 2 (5 fixes): kill "$775K saved" headline (unverified), buy-side-only retargeting headline, swap 4 LOW elite headlines for broker-intent, add $1M VPN.com story asset, pause dead Display 4-20 campaign. → Ads theme.
• Domain-broker recovery Phase 1 remnants: "Premium Domain Broker" entity eyebrow; verify child cross-linking; optional flatten 295 two-hop redirect chains.
• best-free-vpn sibling rollout: roll the Ranking layout to 11 sibling listicles + translate (page itself is live). Ties into the FAQ work. → Content theme.
• Email resilience polish (NeverBounce): fail-closed-to-flag on neverbounce_unknown; wire verifier-down push alert (needs ASKBOWTIE_ALERT_URL/TOKEN); rotate the API key (manual).

📋 Jul 14 meeting backlog (Ben)

• Homepage funnel overhaul (biggest lever) — one connected above-the-fold→mid redesign: prune to select use-case links; with/without/fear frame (cost-of-inaction + IP/device/country personalization); pre-purchase FAQ; illustrate pitfalls. → overlaps the advisor/quiz worker + conversion.md.
• Header nav + /vpn sub-nav collapse (Submenu.astro) — IA/design.
• ?fast low-data mode — MVP live; iron into a navigable mode (in-page nav + section toggles), not blunt strip-all.
• Domain-broker social-proof expansion — surface the live deal-count in static placements ("X deals worked this week").
• Add 5 languages (Hebrew[RTL], Russian, Thai, Norwegian, Polish) — infra ready; multi-hour bulk job, greenlit-pending.
• Accessibility toolbar revisit — team wants it back (font size/contrast/theme); native panel only, no overlay. Gate: reconcile with the doc's "native zoom is better." → Growth backlog.

⛔ Blocked

• Perks & points cash economy — gate: do the top affiliate networks return the sub-id on conversion postback? Shares the /out visitor-ID passback with Ads.

👀 Watching (no action unless they fire)

• Ads offline qualified→5% leg — $1 leg live; the GHL Qualified→5% restatement unwatched end-to-end (memory ads_offline_ghl_watch). Watch the next real qualified lead.
• bowtie feedback #10 (per-popup payload filter), #11 (trailing-slash matching); redirect worker HEAD→404 quirk; bowtie email-alert request.
• Active watches running: flow_alert #5 (best-free-vpn funnel), weekly schedule_report #4, cloud DOM-regression routine (Sat 9am ET), NeverBounce low-credit alarm, domain-broker redirect-equity (tied to Aug 14 gate).

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Maintenance: refresh the live queue with an /ops survey when it drifts. Gates are firm dates; everything else is priority-ordered within its bucket.