diff --git a/.github/rdmo-app-ci-script.sh b/.github/rdmo-app-ci-script.sh
index 8512fa2..bc4f711 100755
--- a/.github/rdmo-app-ci-script.sh
+++ b/.github/rdmo-app-ci-script.sh
@@ -4,23 +4,24 @@ git clone https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/rdmorganiser/rdmo.git
 # need rdmo only for testing/config/settings
 git clone https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/rdmorganiser/rdmo-app.git
 
-cd rdmo-app
+cd rdmo-app || exit 1
 python3 -m venv env
 source env/bin/activate
 pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
 pip install rdmo"[allauth]"
 
 # install and set-up plugin
-cd ..
+cd - || exit 1
 pip install .
 cp rdmo_radar/sample.local.py rdmo-app/config/settings/local.py
-PLUGIN=$(basename $(pwd))
+PLUGIN="$(basename "$(pwd)")"
 PLUGIN_NAME="${PLUGIN/rdmo-plugins-/}"
 
 # set up rdmo-app settings
 # write to rdmo-app/config/settings/__init__.py
 cp rdmo/testing/config/settings/* rdmo-app/config/settings
-cd rdmo-app
+cd rdmo-app || exit 1
+mkdir vendor
 # set up instance
 # python manage.py download_vendor_files  # download front-end vendor files
 python manage.py migrate                # initializes the database
@@ -31,22 +32,19 @@ python manage.py loaddata -v 2 ../rdmo/testing/fixtures/*
 
 python manage.py check
 
-# test PROJECT_EXPORTS setting
-PROJECT_EXPORTS=$(python manage.py print_settings -f PROJECT_EXPORTS --format=value)
-echo "Testing for presence of setting in django settings"
-if [[ $PROJECT_EXPORTS == *"$PLUGIN_NAME"* ]]; then
-  echo "Plugin $PLUGIN_NAME is in PROJECT_EXPORTS.\n\t${PROJECT_EXPORTS}"
-else
-    echo "Plugin $PLUGIN_NAME is not in PROJECT_EXPORTS.\n\t${PROJECT_EXPORTS}"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-# test PROJECT_IMPORTS setting
-PROJECT_IMPORTS=$(python manage.py print_settings -f PROJECT_IMPORTS --format=value)
-echo "Testing for presence of setting in django settings"
-if [[ $PROJECT_IMPORTS == *"$PLUGIN_NAME"* ]]; then
-  echo "Plugin $PLUGIN_NAME is in PROJECT_IMPORTS.\n\t${PROJECT_IMPORTS}"
-else
-    echo "Plugin $PLUGIN_NAME is not in PROJECT_IMPORTS.\n\t${PROJECT_IMPORTS}"
-    exit 1
-fi
+# function for testing presence of plugin name in a certain django setting
+test_if_settings_contain_plugin () {
+  SETTING_NAME=$1
+  SETTING_VALUE="$(python manage.py print_settings -f $SETTING_NAME --format=value)"
+  echo "Testing if the value of the django setting ${SETTING_NAME} contains $2"
+  if [[ ${SETTING_VALUE} == *"$2"* ]]; then
+    echo -e "OK, Plugin $2 is in ${SETTING_NAME}.\n\t${SETTING_VALUE}"
+  else
+      echo -e "ERROR, Plugin $2 is not in ${SETTING_NAME}.\n\t${SETTING_VALUE}"
+      exit 1
+  fi
+}
+
+test_if_settings_contain_plugin "PROJECT_EXPORTS" $PLUGIN_NAME
+
+test_if_settings_contain_plugin "PROJECT_IMPORTS" $PLUGIN_NAME