Q:

wsp activation does nothing

I have created a site template, downloaded and imported my WSP into Visual Studio 2012, selected the needed lists and dependent columns. When I deploy to a new site collection from Visual Studio everything works fine, but when I download the solution to use on production (as I have no access to Central Admin) it uploads and activates in the solution gallery, however no lists are created and nothing is changed..
Am I missing something?

A:

Usually a WSP is going to contain features that need to be activated before they really do anything since a WSP is really just a glorified CAB file that SharePoint knows how to handle. 
These features could be site or list definitions, workflows, event receivers, custom code, and more. I write features that execute custom code for provisioning sites, lists, libraries, custom forms, and more. Without activating my features my WSPs do nothing.
Needless to say, check your solution to see how your features are scoped. If they are Site scoped that means you will be looking at "Site Collection Features." If they are Web scoped that means you will be looking at "Site Features." Once activated, if developed properly, you should be able to do what you would expect with the solution you've deployed. If you still are unable to do what you want we are going to need more information about your WSP, what it contains, and what steps you've taken to deploy it.

