Option to put site in maintenance mode

[discobot]

Add an option in “Settings > General” with a meta box to put the site in maintenance mode and add a message that uses the site’s theme.

---

Read-only archive: Issues · ClassicPress/ClassicPress · GitHub

Author: qwow5

Vote count: 29

Status: open

Tags:

• difficulty-moderate
• request-add-feature

---

Comments

I’ve wanted this before, but “add a message that uses the site’s theme” is a difficult requirement to fulfill 100%!

~ posted by James Nylen

Maybe is easier to put the site name and a personal message.

~ posted by Oxlahun Caban

Maybe we can check if an user is logged in and then Redirect 303/307 (?) to a configurable url (old site, html page)…

~ posted by Simone Fioravanti

There is actually a built-in maintenance message in WordPress Core whenever the temporary file /.maintenance exists (e.g. during Core updates). This is extremely bare bones because its goal is function over form – there literally needs to be a way to prevent files loading when Core is being updated.

Anything beyond such a minimal function is risky, and risks overstepping the bounds of CMS infrastructure. Even thinking “something is better than nothing” can end up being untrue, because the more features you add to Core the more potential issues with design, assets, security, performance, etc.

I’d possibly support a very minimal Maintenance Mode, but probably only if it avoided database queries and UI markup.

For example:
GitHub - littlebizzy/maintenance-mode: Minimalistic plugin with a simple one-click on/off switch and zero settings to worry about, featuring default WordPress styling without any images.

/* Maintenance Mode Functions */
define('MAINTENANCE_MODE', false); // default = false

But at the end of the day, its still code bloat. Many or most users probably will not want it or need it. What’s the point of removing e.g. XML-RPC and other code bloat if other code bloat is put in its place? Etc.

~ posted by Jesse

I think using the given core implementation with slight override changes would be a good thing. Like adding a button to the menu bar to turn on/off. And letting people know the site is in maintainence mode. Reason being not every update/upgrade works as planned, with on/off switch, you would let visitors know AND you can finish up with being too hasty.

~ posted by Jimmy M. Coleman

Hi Jimmy, thanks for leaving your feedback, however your vote has not been recorded here! In order to vote on this petition, click the arrow next to the number at the top left of the page.

~ posted by James Nylen

[anon98749105]

Yes please.

[Mark]

I am possibly misinterpreting this.
If a site is in maintenance mode it is unusable for either viewing or editing?
If I have a problem on a live site, client messed up a page, deleted menu etc. I would use an “under construction” plugin, with custom page while repairs are done.

[viktor]

@Mark

I would use an “under construction” plugin, with custom page while repairs are done.

That’s what this petition asks for, without a plugin.

[Simone]

The most difficult part is to agree on how an “under construction” site have to look.
Some templates have their own option, many plugins show fancy(?) countdowns, others contact forms.

Usually I create a custom HTML page and then redirect not logged in users to that page:

add_action('template_redirect', 'xsx_redirect_page');
function xsx_redirect_page() {
	if (is_user_logged_in()) {
		return;
	}
	if (defined('WP_CLI') && WP_CLI) {
		return;
	}
	$allowed_pages = [7966]; // 7966 is login page
	if (!in_array(get_queried_object_id(), $allowed_pages)) {
		wp_redirect('https://xxx.com/uc.html', 307);
		exit();
	}
}

[azurecurve]

As there are many ways people want a maintenance mode to work this should remain plugin territory.

[viktor]

I think a simple maintenance mode in the core would be good. All our hosting customers have that option under Settings > General. It’s a dropdown where they can select disabled, coming soon, and under maintenance. It’s important to differentiate between the two because they have different status codes to help search engines understand what’s going on. The actual page is basically what you get when you use wp_die(). Very simple, no fuss.

[timkaye]

I agree, especially if it can be done essentially by leveraging code that’s already in core (like maintenance mode when updating). Do you have some code which you could use for a possible PR?