Description
Pavel Silinskii Maintenance Mode is built for developers and agencies who deploy WordPress sites from scripts and CI/CD pipelines.
Wrap your deploy in two commands:
wp psmm on --for=15m
# git pull, composer install, wp core update-db ...
wp psmm off
If the deploy script fails halfway, the site comes back by itself when the timeout ends — no more sites left in maintenance overnight.
Why not core wp maintenance-mode? Core’s mode locks out everyone, administrators included, shows a plain “Briefly unavailable” message, and has a fixed 10-minute window. This plugin:
- Serves a branded page with HTTP 503 and a Retry-After header matching your timeout
- Keeps the site available to administrators, chosen roles, whitelisted IPs and bypass-link holders, so you can check the deploy before visitors do
- Lets you choose the timeout per deploy: 90s, 15m, 2h, 1h30m
- Never blocks wp-admin, login, the REST API, AJAX, cron or WP-CLI itself
WP-CLI commands:
wp psmm on [--for=<duration>]— enable, optionally with an automatic timeoutwp psmm off— disablewp psmm status [--format=table|json|yaml]— state, end time and bypass linkwp psmm is-active— exit code 0 when active, 1 otherwise, for use in scripts
Also works without the command line, from Settings Maintenance Mode:
- Expected end date with a live countdown and optional auto-disable
- Customizable title, message, logo, background and text colors
- Secret bypass link for clients and testers (valid for 7 days, revocable)
- Preview button and a red “Maintenance Mode: ON” admin bar indicator
- Theme override via psmm-maintenance.php
- No external scripts — no CDN, no tracking
Installation
- Upload plugin files to /wp-content/plugins/pavel-silinskii-maintenance-mode/
- Activate through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Settings Maintenance Mode to customize the page.
- Enable maintenance mode there, or run
wp psmm on --for=15mfrom your deploy script.
FAQ
-
What happens if my deploy script fails before `wp psmm off`?
-
With
--for, maintenance mode turns off by itself when the timeout ends. Without it, the mode stays on until you turn it off. -
Will maintenance mode hurt my SEO?
-
No. The page is served with HTTP status 503 and a Retry-After header, which tells search engines the outage is temporary and when to come back.
-
I enabled maintenance mode but I still see my site.
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Administrators always see the live site. Use the “Preview maintenance page” button or open the site in a private window.
-
Visitors still see the live site.
-
A page cache (plugin, server or CDN) may be serving cached pages. Purge the cache after enabling maintenance mode.
-
How do I give a client access without an account?
-
Copy the secret bypass link from the Access section, or run
wp psmm status. Clear the key and save to revoke all shared links. -
Can I use my own template?
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Yes. Copy templates/maintenance.php to your theme as psmm-maintenance.php, or use the psmm_template filter.
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Contributors & Developers
“Pavel Silinskii Maintenance Mode” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release