The setup wizard

The setup wizard is the owner's checklist for getting a new dealership ready. It collects your business details, locations and security settings, lets you review the legal text and preview the website, and ends with a go-live request that the MotoDealerHQ team approves. Your website stays private until that approval.

Before you start #

• You must be signed in as a Tenant Owner of the dealership. Other roles, including General Managers, can't open the wizard.
• Have your business phone or email, your location address and phone, and an authenticator app on your phone ready.
• Progress is saved for the dealership, not for you. If two owners share the work, the wizard opens at the first step that is not done or skipped.

Open the wizard #

1. Sign in at dealer.motodealerhq.com.
2. Go to dealer.motodealerhq.com/setup. The wizard opens at the first unfinished step.
3. The left panel lists all 14 steps. A check mark means done, a dash means skipped, and a circle means still to do. Select any step to jump to it.
4. On each step, select Save and continue. Optional steps also have Skip this step, and Back returns to the previous step.

Required steps #

1. Business identity. Dealership name, optional legal name, dealership type and time zone. Add a main phone, a main email, or both: the wizard won't continue without at least one.
2. Addresses and locations. Your existing locations are listed. To add one, fill in its name and phone (required) plus the street address, city, state and ZIP code. You need at least one location with a phone. A second location needs a plan with Multiple locations, and the total can't exceed your plan's location limit. Hours, maps and appointment settings live under Settings › Locations.
3. Owner two-factor sign-in. Shows whether two-factor sign-in is on for your account. If it isn't, select Set it up now, finish the setup, then come back. See two-factor sign-in.
4. Plan and trial. A read-only summary of your plan, its status, the trial end date (when one is set) and its limits. To change plans, use See plans and upgrade, which opens Settings › Billing.
5. Privacy, legal and consent. Lists the status of your website's legal pages (terms, accessibility and California privacy pages start as drafts), the versions of your deal and deposit agreements, and the consent text on your forms. Tick I reviewed the privacy, legal and consent text and I am responsible for it to continue.
6. Private preview. Select Open private preview to see your website as visitors will. The preview link works for 7 days. Tick I checked the preview to continue.

Optional steps #

You can skip any of these and come back later. Each one also links to the full settings page.

1. Brand and theme. Primary color, accent color and a tagline. Upload your logo and switch themes under Website › Theme & branding.
2. Domain. Keep the MotoDealerHQ address for now, or choose Use my own domain and enter it (for example www.yourdealership.com). Your plan must include Custom domains. The step then shows the DNS records to create. Verify the domain later on the Domains page; see Domains and HTTPS.
3. Staff and roles. Enter up to 25 email addresses, separated by commas, and pick one role for all of them. Each person gets an invitation email. Invite different roles in separate rounds, or later from Settings › Users.
4. Inventory import. Shows how many vehicles and import sources you have, with links to set up an import or add vehicles by hand.
5. Integrations. Lists connected integrations and their status, with a link to Settings › Integrations.
6. Finance and deposits. Turn Show estimated monthly payments on the website on or off. Advertising a payment can require credit-advertising disclosures, so check with your compliance contact. The step also shows whether online deposits are on; you set those up under Finance › Deposits & online deals.

Pass the validation checklist #

Step 13, Validation checklist, checks everything the MotoDealerHQ team needs before your site can go live. Each item links to the place where you fix it.

Required items that are missing show a cross. Recommended items show "recommended" but don't block you.

Request go-live #

1. Open step 14, Go-live request.
2. Optionally add a note for the MotoDealerHQ team.
3. Select Request go-live.

You can have only one request waiting at a time. The step shows the latest request and its status.

• Approved. Your website becomes public and can be indexed by search engines, your dealership moves from draft to trial, and the owner who asked gets an email.
• Sent back. You get an email with the team's note, and the note also appears on the go-live step. Make the changes and request go-live again.

Tips #

• Do the required steps first, then come back for the optional ones. The checklist only blocks on required items.
• Ask every other owner to turn on two-factor sign-in early. One owner without it blocks the request.
• Reopen the preview after big changes. The wizard always generates a fresh link.

Permissions #

Limitations #