Overview
This article describes several options to create a static Coming Soon page that is set as the homepage for your WordPress website. This type of page is useful when you need to display a general page to visitors before your full website is made public.
Creating a static page
There are several options you can follow to create a static page, depending on your needs and level of expertise.
Option 1 — Create a static page
To create a static page in WordPress:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- In the left panel, navigate to Pages > Add New.
- Edit the Coming Soon page as you would like it to appear.
- On the top right, click the Publish button.
- A confirmation message appears on the top right.
- On the top left, click the WordPress icon to return to the dashboard.
- In the left panel, navigate to Settings > Reading.
- On the Reading Settings page, click the Homepage dropdown and choose the Coming Soon page you just created.
- Click the Save Changes button to save this new homepage.
- Visit your site's homepage to view the new page you created.
Option 2 — Manually enable WordPress' scheduled maintenance page
An alternative to creating a Coming Soon page is to enable the WordPress scheduled maintenance page.
- Log in to your server and create a file named .maintenance.
- Add the following lines to the file:
<?php
$upgrading = time();
?> - Visit your site. You should see the default maintenance message.
To remove the scheduled maintenance page, delete or rename the .maintenance file.
Option 3 — Use a plugin to create a Coming Soon page
There are also third-party plugins that can be used to create a Coming Soon page with some extra options. Below is a list of some third-party plugins.
How to manage maintenance mode
When you update your plugins, themes, or core WordPress files, your WordPress site displays the following message:
Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.
WordPress automatically removes that message once the updates are complete. However, in some cases, conflicts or errors leave the message active on the site, even after the updates are completed. The following sections show you how to remove the message.
Removing the WordPress scheduled maintenance message
If the scheduled maintenance message remains active on your site, use the following instructions to remove it:
- See this article for instructions on how to log in to your web server. You can use the file manager in the panel or a third-party client to log in.
- Once logged in, navigate to your website directory where your files are located.
- In this directory, look for a file named .maintenance and delete it.
- Once you delete the file, make sure to clear any caches on your site and then refresh your browser. The message should no longer appear on your site.
Using a customized site maintenance page
This article explains how to use a customized site maintenance page in an .htaccess file.