How to Put Your WordPress Site in Maintenance Mode
If you’re planning a website upgrade or migration, you’ll need to put your WordPress site into maintenance mode so that visitors can’t access it while the work is being done. The good news is that setting up a WordPress maintenance mode page is simple and can be done quickly.
In this article, we’ll discuss what maintenance mode is and why you should use it. Then we’ll walk you through the steps to enable maintenance mode on your WordPress site. Let’s get started!
What Is WordPress Maintenance Mode?
WordPress Maintenance mode is a way to temporarily enable a “maintenance mode” page on your WordPress website to indicate that it’s down for maintenance and will be back up soon. This page should give contact information or any necessary updates about when your website will be back online.
Why Should You Enable Maintenance Mode?
Maintenance mode is important because it lets visitors to your website know in advance that your website is currently unavailable due to ongoing maintenance. This prevents confusion and ensures that users don’t try accessing a site that is unavailable.
It’s also important for SEO. During your website’s downtime, Google and other search engines will mark your site as “temporarily unavailable” and this can have a negative impact on your rankings. Enabling maintenance mode avoids this scenario by providing a “temporarily unavailable” page that notifies search engines and users that the website is being updated and will be back shortly.
How to Put Your WordPress Site in Maintenance Mode
Now that you know why it’s important to put your WordPress site into maintenance mode, let’s look at how to do it. The easiest way to enable maintenance mode on your WordPress site is to use a plugin. Here’s how to do that:
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- Log into the WordPress dashboard and install and activate the WP Maintenance Mode plugin.
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- Once activated, go to Settings > WP Maintenance Mode to access the plugin’s settings page.
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- On the settings page, enable maintenance mode and/or enable the option to exclude individual users (e.g. yourself).
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- Create an email address to receive notifications about when maintenance mode is enabled and disabled.
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- Create a custom message for your maintenance page. You can also upload a custom logo or feature image.
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- Click the “Save Changes” button to save your settings and finish setting up maintenance mode on your WordPress site.
Wrapping Up
Putting your WordPress site into maintenance mode is an important part of website upkeep. Fortunately, it’s easy to do with the WP Maintenance Mode plugin. By following the steps above, you can have your WordPress site in maintenance mode in no time.
Do you have any questions about installing maintenance mode on your WordPress site? Let us know in the comments section below!
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