Introduction to Breakdance’s Maintenance Mode
This guide explains how to use Breakdance’s built-in maintenance mode functionality, which is essential for hiding your site from public view while it’s under construction or undergoing updates.
Accessing Maintenance Mode
Navigating to Maintenance Mode
- Open your WordPress dashboard.
- Locate and click on Breakdance > Settings in the admin menu.
- Click the “Maintenance Mode” tab.
Configuring Maintenance Mode
Enabling Maintenance Mode
- By default, maintenance mode is disabled. To enable it, click on the Mode dropdown.
- You will be presented with two options: “(200) Coming Soon” and “(503) Maintenance.”
- If your website is already live and indexed by search engines, but you need to perform maintenance, select “(503) Maintenance.” This informs search engines that your site is temporarily unavailable, preserving your search ranking.
- If your website is not yet live, and you want to inform visitors that it’s coming soon, select “(200) Coming Soon.” This option is suitable for new websites and will not affect search engine indexing.
- Select the page to display when maintenance mode is active. If you haven’t created a page yet, you will need to create one.
Role-Based Bypass
By default, logged in Administrators will not see the maintenance mode page. You can change which roles bypass the maintenance mode page in the maintenance mode settings. You can also choose to let all logged in users, regardless of role, bypass the maintenance mode page.
Using URL Parameters for Access
- Within maintenance mode settings, you can enable a URL parameter option.
- Set the desired key & values for the URL parameter (e.g., “client=yes”).
- Users who access the site using this URL parameter will bypass maintenance mode, allowing them to view the site without logging in.
Testing Maintenance Mode
- Open an incognito window in your browser and visit your website to ensure the maintenance mode page displays correctly.
- Test the URL parameter function, if enabled, by visiting the site with the specified URL parameter.
Disabling Maintenance Mode
- When you are ready to make your site live or available to the public, return to “Maintenance Mode” settings.
- Disable maintenance mode and save your changes. This makes your site accessible to all users and search engine bots.
Additional Notes
Always ensure to disable maintenance mode after completing your website updates or changes. Keeping your site in maintenance mode can affect your site’s visibility and search engine ranking. Remember, the “503 Maintenance” status is essential for existing websites undergoing maintenance to inform search engines that the site will return, preserving SEO rankings.
