PolyCMS Plugin: Maintenance Mode

Last updated on May 16, 2026 3:05 AM

Overview

The Maintenance Mode plugin displays a customizable "Under Maintenance" or "Coming Soon" page to all public visitors while logged-in administrators continue accessing the full CMS frontend.

Activation

Navigate to Blog > Plugins.
Find Maintenance Mode and click Activate.
Click Settings to configure the maintenance page.

Configuration

Maintenance Message

Enter a custom message displayed to visitors. Supports basic HTML for formatting:

<h2>We'll be right back!</h2>
<p>Our site is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance.
Please check back in a few hours.</p>

Enable/Disable Toggle

Turn maintenance mode on or off without deactivating the plugin. This allows you to configure settings first, then enable when ready.

Admin Bypass

Logged-in staff members with PolyCMS permissions automatically bypass maintenance mode. This means:

Visitors see the maintenance page on all frontend URLs.
Logged-in admins see the normal blog frontend and can preview content.
Admin panel remains fully accessible regardless of maintenance mode status.

Use Cases

Scenario	Description
Site Launch	Show "Coming Soon" while building initial content
Major Updates	Protect visitors from incomplete theme/content changes
Content Review	Block public access during content audit
Design Refresh	Hide frontend while changing themes

HTTP Status Code

When maintenance mode is active, the server returns HTTP status 503 (Service Unavailable) with a Retry-After header, signaling to search engines that the outage is temporary and not to deindex the site.