How to Lock Your WordPress Site for Maintenance (Easy Guide)

Every WordPress website requires regular maintenance to stay secure, fast, and updated. However, performing updates or making design tweaks on a live site can be a risky move. If visitors land on your site while you are actively troubleshooting or breaking elements in the backend, they will be greeted with broken layouts and error messages. This creates a terrible first impression and can scare away potential customers.

To prevent this embarrassment, you need a way to gracefully lock your site from public view while keeping it accessible to your team.

In our featured video tutorial, we explore a fantastic, lightweight solution from the WordPress repository called AWESWP Lock.

Why Choose AWESWP Lock?

Many maintenance mode plugins on the market are bloated with heavy landing page builders and upsells that leave nasty, permanent traces in your database even after you delete them. AWESWP Lock takes a refreshingly simple, functional approach:

1. Automated Timed Access: If you know your server maintenance or plugin updates will take exactly two hours, you can set a countdown timer. The plugin will automatically lock the site and unlock it once the time expires.
2. Role-Based Exclusion: One of the best features of this plugin is its ability to block external, non-registered users while keeping the site fully visible to administrators and editors. This means you can test your live site in real-time without the public seeing your work.
3. Custom Messaging: You can easily ditch the generic “Down for Maintenance” text. The plugin allows you to write custom messages and even upload custom images to match your branding.

Watch our complete walkthrough above to see how to install this plugin and configure your automated maintenance windows in under five minutes!