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WordPress Maintenance Mode Without a Plugin: DevKit Pro

devkit

Most WordPress maintenance mode plugins add one more plugin to the site, and then you spend half an hour or more styling a page nobody will look at for long. DevKit Pro has maintenance mode built in: turn it on, pick what to hide (the whole site, just the homepage, one post or page, or an archive), and save. Logged-in admins still see the real site, so you can keep working.

Maintenance mode, site-wide

When you are rebuilding or migrating a site, visitors should not see it half-finished, but you still need to work on it. Here is how to hide the whole site from visitors in DevKit:

  1. In the WordPress admin, go to DevKit and open the Maintenance tab.
  2. Under Maintenance Mode Settings, switch Enable Maintenance Mode to On. It is off by default.
  3. Leave Entire Website selected.
  4. Click Save Changes.

If you visit the homepage while logged in, nothing changes. That is on purpose: logged-in users are never locked out of the site they are working on. To see what visitors get, open the site in an incognito window. They see a plain dark page with the heading Maintenance Mode and the line "Our site is undergoing maintenance. We'll be back shortly!"

There are no styling options, and that is also on purpose. A maintenance page only needs to tell people the site is down for a while, so there is nothing to design.

Hide just the homepage

Sometimes the site is ready enough to show a client, but you don't want the public landing on it yet. Select Homepage/Frontpage and save. Only the front page shows the maintenance notice. Other pages stay visible, so you can send the client a direct link to the pages you want them to review. Visitors who arrive at the homepage get the notice, so they can't use the navigation to browse the rest of the site.

Hide a single post, page or custom post type

You may be redesigning one page, like a product page, and not want visitors to see it until it's finished. Choose Select Post/Page and pick the entry you want to hide. The list covers any single item: posts, pages and custom post types.

  1. Select Select Post/Page.
  2. Search for and select the post, page or CPT entry.
  3. Click Save Changes.

In the video we hide a single post. Logged out, that post shows the maintenance notice, and every other page on the site works as usual.

Hide by taxonomy archive

If a whole section of the site isn't ready, hide its archive instead of each post one by one. Choose Select Archive and pick from the dropdown:

  • Categories Archive
  • Tags Archive
  • Formats Archive

Click Save Changes, and the archive you picked is hidden from visitors.

Why no external plugin is needed

A separate maintenance plugin is often bloated and needs styling before you can use it, which can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Because maintenance mode is part of DevKit, it's a toggle and a radio button. You have one less plugin to install and update, and you can get back to the work that matters.

Want more options in maintenance mode? Tell us in the YouTube comments and we'll consider adding them.

Who is this for

  • Developers rebuilding or migrating a live site who need visitors kept out while they keep working as admins.
  • Agencies showing work to clients who want to hide the homepage but still share other pages.
  • Site owners redesigning one page or section who want to hide just that post, page, CPT or archive instead of the whole site.
  • Anyone already using DevKit Pro who would rather not install and style a separate maintenance plugin.

FAQ

Can I still see my site while maintenance mode is on? Yes. Logged-in users see the normal site. Only logged-out visitors get the maintenance notice. Use an incognito window to check what visitors see.

Can I put only one page into maintenance mode in WordPress? Yes. Choose Select Post/Page and pick the post, page or custom post type entry. The rest of the site stays online.

Can I hide only the homepage? Yes. Choose Homepage/Frontpage. Only the front page shows the notice, and you can still share direct links to other pages.

Can I customize the maintenance page design? No. There are no styling options. The page shows a "Maintenance Mode" heading and "Our site is undergoing maintenance. We'll be back shortly!" so there is nothing to set up.

Can I hide category or tag archives? Yes. Choose Select Archive, then pick Categories Archive, Tags Archive or Formats Archive.

Get DevKit Pro → dplugins.com

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