How to Take Your Website Offline WordPress

As a WordPress user, you may need to take your website offline for various reasons. This could include maintenance purposes or updating the design or content. Taking your website offline temporarily allows you to work on it without affecting your visitors’ experience. In this article, we will discuss the steps to take your website offline WordPress.

Step 1: Install a Coming Soon Plugin

The first thing you need to do is to install a coming soon plugin. This is a plugin that creates a landing page that informs visitors that the website is down temporarily. There are several coming soon plugins available in the WordPress repository, here are some popular ones:

• SeedProd
• Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode
• Under Construction Page

Step 2: Enable Coming Soon Mode

After installing the plugin, you have to activate the coming soon mode to redirect all traffic to the landing page. Here are the steps to enable coming soon mode:

1. Go to the plugin settings page
2. Enable the coming soon mode toggle
3. Customize the landing page to suit your preferences

Step 3: Exclude Specific Pages

If you have a contact form or a checkout page, you may want to exclude specific pages from being redirected to the coming soon landing page. To exclude specific pages, follow these steps:

1. Go to the plugin settings page
2. Click on the “Exclude Pages” tab
3. Enter the URLs of the pages you want to exclude

Step 4: Test Your Website

After enabling the coming soon mode and excluding specific pages, you need to test your website. Here’s how:

1. Log out of your WordPress account to simulate a visitor experience
2. Go to your website’s URL and confirm that you are redirected to the coming soon landing page
3. Verify that the excluded pages are still accessible

Step 5: Design and Customize the Landing Page

You may want to add more information or customize the landing page to match your brand’s theme. Most coming soon plugins come with built-in customization tools that allow you to modify the landing page’s design. Here are some customization options:

• Choose the background color or add a background image
• Add links to your social media profiles
• Add your logo or a custom header image
• Change the font type and color

Step 6: Add Custom Code

If you want to add custom code to your coming soon page, you can do so in the plugin settings. Here are some custom code options:

• Add Google Analytics tracking code
• Add custom CSS styles
• Add custom JavaScript code

Step 7: Schedule the Launch Date

You need to schedule the launch date. This is the date when your website will be back up and running. Most coming soon plugins allow you to set a launch date, and the plugin will automatically redirect visitors to the live website on that date.

Step 8: Deactivate the Coming Soon Plugin

Once you have launched your website, you need to deactivate the coming soon plugin. This will revert your website to its original state and remove the coming soon landing page. Here are the steps to deactivate the plugin:

1. Go to the plugin settings page
2. Disable the coming soon mode toggle

Conclusion

Taking your website offline WordPress is crucial for website maintenance, troubleshooting issues, or redesigning. By using a coming soon plugin, you can create a landing page that informs visitors that your website is down temporarily. The steps above will guide you on how to take your website offline and enable the coming soon mode. Remember to test your website and customize the landing page to make it more appealing to visitors. Happy developing!