{"id":1396,"date":"2019-11-27T12:45:10","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T04:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/?p=1396"},"modified":"2019-12-08T13:14:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T05:14:45","slug":"wordpress-maintenance-mode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode
(With Countdown Timer)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sometimes you need to do some work on a live site that might break the layout or functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should always test any changes on a staging site, but eventually the changes will make their way to the live site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The standard practice is to put the website into maintenance mode while you make the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The website will look the same to you, but to people not logged in, your website will look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It's a good idea to check your analytics and make these changes during a quieter period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's also a great idea to give people a sense of how long they might need to wait before the site is back. That's why we use a countdown timer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to put a site into maintenance mode with a countdown timer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Install & activate<\/a> the WP Maintenance Mode plugin by Designmodo<\/li>
  2. Set the countdown<\/a> module timer and turn it on<\/li>
  3. Activate<\/a> Maintenance Mode.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let's go through those steps in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Install & Activate the WP Maintenance Mode Plugin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There are many maintenance mode plugins around, but the one that I've used for many years is WP Maintance Mode by Designmodo. It has everything I need, is lightweight and stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I've tried other plugins, but they're just not as suited to what I need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Go to Plugins -> Add New<\/em> in the WordPress admin area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Search for \"maintenance mode\". Click \"Install Now\" next to the one by Designmodo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Once WP Maintenance Mode is installed, click \"Activate\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Set the Countdown Timer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The next step is to set the countdown timer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This won't turn maintenance mode on just yet, it's just a configuration step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Go to the WP Maintenance Mode settings either through the Installed Plugins<\/em> page or find it under Settings -> WP Maintenance Mode<\/em> in the sidebar of the WordPress admin area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Skip over to the Modules<\/em> tab and look for Countdown<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Set the Countdown (remaining time)<\/em> for how long you expect to need to make the changes. Try to be reasonably accurate, but it's better to overestimate the length of time you'll need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note<\/strong>: if the timer runs out, maintenance mode will not<\/strong> deactivate. The timer will just be \"stuck\" at 0:00:00:00.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Change the Show countdown<\/em> dropdown to \"Yes\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Set the Start date<\/em>. This is the time from which the remaining time<\/em> in the previous step is calculated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I usually just click \"Now\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    You'll see the time (and date if you've used this before on the site) change to the current time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Click \"Done\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Scroll to the bottom and click \"Save settings\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Activate Maintenance Mode<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    You can play with the design if you like, or change the words. That's all done in the Design<\/em> tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you're ready to turn maintenance mode on and start making those changes to the website, go to the General<\/em> tab and change the Status<\/em> from \"Deactivated\" to \"Activated\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Scroll to the bottom of the page and click \"Save Settings\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Congratulations, Maintenance Mode is now active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you go to the website in a browser where you're not logged in, you'll see a message that looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    However, when you're signed in, you'll see the website as it normally is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    There's also a helpful nag across the admin area of the site reminding you not to forget to deactivate maintenance mode when you're finished making the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    How to Deactivate Maintenance Mode<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Deactivating maintenance mode is as simple as going back to the WP Maintenance Mode settings (Settings -> WP Maintance Mode<\/em>) and under the General<\/em> tab changing the Status<\/em> from \"Activated\" to \"Deactivated\". Be sure to scroll to the bottom and click \"Save changes\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It's also a good idea to go to Plugins<\/em> and deactivate WP Maintenance Mode. The website won't break if you forget this step, but it's good practice to deactivate any plugins that you're not currently using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There's no need to delete WP Maintenance Mode. You can just keep it installed and inactive until the next time you need to make changes to the live website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sometimes you need to do some work on a live site that might break the layout or functionality. You should always test any changes on a staging site, but eventually the changes will make their way to the live site. The standard practice is to put the website into maintenance mode while you make the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPut A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes you need to do some work on a live site that might break the layout or functionality. You should always test any changes on a staging site, but eventually the changes will make their way to the live site. The standard practice is to put the website into maintenance mode while you make the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Intelliwolf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Haydon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Haydon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mike Haydon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7209e3ff14822e4d70d5f194a310f343\"},\"headline\":\"How To Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\"},\"wordCount\":684,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Plugin Customization\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\",\"name\":\"Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Plugin Customization\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/category\/plugin-customization\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How To Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode(With Countdown Timer)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/\",\"name\":\"Intelliwolf\",\"description\":\"WordPress, Web Design & Coding Tutorials\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Intelliwolf\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/intelliwolf-logo-300t.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/intelliwolf-logo-300t.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Intelliwolf\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7209e3ff14822e4d70d5f194a310f343\",\"name\":\"Mike Haydon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5f4754fae310a04dede91d15e57c8a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5f4754fae310a04dede91d15e57c8a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mike Haydon\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/about-mike-haydon\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)","og_description":"Sometimes you need to do some work on a live site that might break the layout or functionality. You should always test any changes on a staging site, but eventually the changes will make their way to the live site. The standard practice is to put the website into maintenance mode while you make the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/","og_site_name":"Intelliwolf","article_published_time":"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png"}],"author":"Mike Haydon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike Haydon","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/"},"author":{"name":"Mike Haydon","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7209e3ff14822e4d70d5f194a310f343"},"headline":"How To Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)","datePublished":"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/"},"wordCount":684,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png","articleSection":["Plugin Customization"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/","name":"Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode (With Countdown Timer)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png","datePublished":"2019-11-27T04:45:10+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-08T05:14:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/2019-11-27-maintance-mode-10-600x532.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wordpress-maintenance-mode\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Plugin Customization","item":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/category\/plugin-customization\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How To Put A WordPress Site Into Maintenance Mode(With Countdown Timer)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/","name":"Intelliwolf","description":"WordPress, Web Design & Coding Tutorials","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#organization","name":"Intelliwolf","url":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/intelliwolf-logo-300t.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/intelliwolf-logo-300t.png","width":300,"height":100,"caption":"Intelliwolf"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7209e3ff14822e4d70d5f194a310f343","name":"Mike Haydon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5f4754fae310a04dede91d15e57c8a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5f4754fae310a04dede91d15e57c8a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mike Haydon"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/intelliwolf.com\/about-mike-haydon\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelliwolf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}