Sometimes, you might need to take your website offline for a little while. Maybe you are fixing something, updating content, or making big changes. If you have a Wix website, you don’t have to worry. Wix lets you create a “temporarily down” or “maintenance” page easily. This way, visitors will see a friendly message instead of a broken site. In this article, I will show you how to do this step-by-step.
Why Make a Temporarily Down Page?
When your website is down for maintenance or updates, visitors might get confused or think your site is broken. This can make them leave and maybe not come back. A good maintenance page tells visitors the website is temporarily unavailable but will be back soon. It keeps your visitors informed and shows you care about their experience.
How To Create a Maintenance Page on Wix
Step 1: Log In to Your Wix Account
Go to Wix.com and log in with your username and password. After logging in, you will see your dashboard with your websites.
Step 2: Choose Your Website
Select the website you want to put into maintenance mode. Click “Edit Site” to open the Wix Editor.
Step 3: Create a New Page
You need a special page to show your visitors while your main site is down. In the Wix Editor:
- Click Menus & Pages on the left side.
- Click + Add Page.
- Name this page something like “Maintenance” or “Coming Soon.”
Step 4: Design Your Maintenance Page
Now, design your page with a simple message. You can write something like:
“Sorry, our website is temporarily down for maintenance. We will be back soon!”
You can also add your logo, contact info, or social media links. Wix has many templates you can use for this page.
Step 5: Hide Other Pages
To make sure visitors don’t see your normal pages while your site is down, you need to hide them:
- Go back to Menus & Pages.
- For each normal page, click the three dots (…) next to the page name.
- Choose Hide. This stops visitors from accessing those pages.
Step 6: Set Your Maintenance Page as Homepage
To make the maintenance page the first page people see, set it as your homepage:
- Click on the maintenance page in Menus & Pages.
- Click the three dots (…) next to it.
- Choose Set as Homepage.
Step 7: Publish Your Website
When your maintenance page is ready and all other pages are hidden, click Publish at the top right. Now, when visitors go to your website, they will see the maintenance page instead of your normal site.
How To Take Your Website Back Online
When you finish your updates, you want to put your website back to normal. Here’s how:
- Go to Menus & Pages in Wix Editor.
- Unhide all the normal pages by clicking the three dots (…) and choosing Show.
- Set your normal homepage back as homepage (just like you did for the maintenance page).
- Publish your site again.
Now your full website is live again for visitors!
Final Tips
- Use simple, clear language on your maintenance page.
- Give visitors an idea of when the site will be back.
- Add contact info or social links in case people want to reach you.
- Keep your maintenance time short so visitors don’t lose interest.