Put WordPress in a Read-Only State with Code Freeze

When you’re migrating a WordPress site from one server to another, there’s a point where you just need to stop writing posts and making changes in the old location. Perhaps you’ve made your final backup before preparing to move the site. Or maybe you’re waiting for DNS to propagate, which can sometimes take up to 48 hours. This isn’t usually such a problem, but with a multi-author site you’ll need to get everyone on the same page.

Code Freeze is a new plugin you may want to consider using during your WordPress migration. It temporarily puts your WordPress site into a “read only” state so that no more updates can be made. Specifically, it restricts the following:

• Disables adding/editing/deleting new content, media, themes, etc.
• Disables installing/activating/deactivating/updating/deleting all plugins (except this one)
• Disables new comments/trackbacks on all content items
• Removes the QuickPress widget and notices to upgrade core or plugins
• Provides notice to dashboard users that any changes will be lost
• Provides generally “read only” access to the dashboard

When a user attempts to do anything in the dashboard, he’ll see a message advising that the Code Freeze is in effect and any changes made will be lost.

The Code Freeze plugin makes no changes whatsoever to the database and it has no settings. When it’s activated, it’s turned on. When you want to turn it off, simply deactivate the plugin. If you want to make sure everything is in order after migration before letting authors post, leave the plugin on until you’ve verified your site. Even if you’re not moving your site to another location you can still use this plugin as a simple short-term “lock down” for any reason.

Bookmark the Code Freeze plugin to have on standby the next time you need to put WordPress in a read-only state.

Tags:

• code