How to Enable Maintenance Mode in BigCommerce?

If you strive to save the data or settings and you need to pause or suspend your BigCommerce account for months, Maintenance Mode functions as a useful option. Hopefully, you do not need to activate the maintenance mode for your BigCommerce stores. However, in case you are supposed to set it in motion for your site, we have detailed instructions on how to enable maintenance mode for BigCommerce store to ensure that you will complete it in just a few seconds. Let’s get started!

What is maintenance mode?

Among numerous account options, maintenance mode is the one to help you save your data and settings even if you are pausing or suspending your account. Regardless of their settings, account preferences, appointments from the past or in the future, or customer records, this mode also matters.

There is no denying that you will lose data as well as settings if you decide to cancel the account and want to be reactive someday. The reason is that all the information is supposed to be purged from the servers regularly. Hence, you should opt for the option of maintenance mode in order to keep them saved.

Why should you use maintenance mode?

Though it is not expected to activate this maintenance mode, it still brings about some benefits for your BigCommerce store.

• Avoid extra regular bills: If your organization is seasonal, your BigCommerce stores can avoid paying the bill as soon as the season is off. So, setting your store to “Down for maintenance” will result in a significant saving. Moreover, there is no need to pay monthly subscription fees while you are not using your BigCommerce account.

• Save system’s data and settings: As previously mentioned, it is such a great thing if your account is preserved together with data and settings.

How to enable maintenance mode in BigCommerce store

Step 1: Log into the BigCommerce Store

First of all, make sure that you log into your account for the BigCommerce store. Click Log in and fill in the email address and password.

Step 2: Set to Down for maintenance in Store Setup

To access the mode “Down for maintenance”, your task is to approach Setup & Tools. Then, go to Store Setting to choose Store Status. In this tab, you will notice Down for Maintenance which is under the Store Status. In this step, flip its switch to mode “Down for Maintenance”.

Step 3: Enter the custom message

It is a piece of cake to enable maintenance mode in the BigCommerce store. And, the next step is to customize your message, which will be displayed to customers. Though there is no restriction on the character limit for this field, the storefront page is specifically designed not to exceed 2,000 characters. The message also admits HTML, which lets you have more choices to structure the custom message. Besides this customized message, a default message is also available to display to customers.

Step 4: Save

After finishing all the above steps, remember to click Save to save changes.

Step 5: Advanced customization (optional)

It is not compulsory to implement advanced customization for your BigCommerce store. However, if you wish to do it, stick to the below steps for your implementation.

- Click Design
- Go to Edit HTML or CSS
- Look for a file named “maintenance. htlm” which lies under the “Layouts”: This file allows you to customize your page appearance when it is in the mode of “Down for Maintenance”. Next, it is time for you to edit some sections, including background images, Page titles, and CSS. Follow that, remove the button “Login” that is set default. When you feel that your customizations are OK, click “Save”.

What can maintenance mode do in your BigCommerce store?

View storefront

When your BigCommerce store is in maintenance mode, you can view the storefront if you sign into the user account of your store. By clicking “View Store” in your control panel’s upper left, you can connect to myriad channels, including WordPress. Afterward, go to “View Storefronts” for choosing the storefront you want to view.

Additionally, you can know what visitors to your site will see. A homepage of your store will show the notification box on the screen’s left side. This exhibits that the maintenance mode is active within your BigCommerce store. Go to the link indicated in the below image, you are able to view the maintenance message of your store.

SEO impact

SEO plays an indispensable role in promoting your BigCommerce site in general and your sales in particular. While you are suspending your site, maintenance mode is a sign for search engines to recognize your site. So, if the search engine makes a great attempt in crawling your BigCommerce website, it notices that the page is in maintenance mode, then receives the response from 503 servers. This kind of response suggests a search engine to come back later, and it will not de-list your BigCommerce site from its indices.

Conclusion

Don’t hesitate to share the articles with those who are concerned. So, set your site to maintenance mode if you are not utilizing your site. Hope you know how to enable maintenance mode in BigCommerce stores with our step-by-step instruction.