General Community deployment checklist

1. DEACTIVATE the Community in the source instance before deployment. 
   
   To do this go to the Setup and in the Setup search box type All Sites then click on Workspaces link for the Community from the list. Then select Administration and under Settings -> Status -> Deactivate (if the Status is Active).
   
   NOTE: DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP

   If the Community is active when retrieved for metadata deployment, it will be deployed in ACTIVE state in production too, which can result in emails being sent, to EVERY SINGLE MEMBERS of the community so DEACTIVATE the Community before retrieving it for deployment.
   
   

2. Turn off email deliverability before publishing or activating the Community.

Workflow email alert

If org-wide email address is used, the org-wide email address must be in the production instance prior to deployment (and verified) or else we have to edit the metadata during deployment and change / remove the reference to the org-wide email address.

Components to check and include as part of the Community

1. SiteDotCom / ExperienceBundle.
2. Audience.
3. ContentAsset.
4. NavigationMenu.
5. Network.
6. Profile.
7. Custom Site.

In particular, every image in the Community site that is uploaded as ContentAsset (usually as a File) needs to be included in the list of component to be deployed, or the Community would be deployed with broken links and functionality.