If you’re working on your own WordPress website, whether it’s a new build or a web redesign, it’s a good idea to hide your WordPress site while editing. This ensures that visitors don’t land on a half-baked version of your site and get the wrong impression.
Leaving your site visible while it’s still under construction can do more harm than good. That can affect your SEO down the line and make it harder to rank well once your site is actually ready.
The good news? WordPress makes it super easy to keep your site hidden while you work on it, no need to know code or be a tech expert.
In this post, we’ll walk you through 9 simple and effective methods to keep your WordPress site private while you’re editing. Let’s make sure your site makes the right first impression, only when it’s truly ready.
Can You Hide Your WordPress Site While Editing? Check Out
Yes, you absolutely can, and it’s not only possible but also highly recommended in many cases. Whether you’re building a new website, redesigning an existing one, or making significant updates, it’s a smart move to temporarily hide your WordPress site from public view.
Doing so helps protect your SEO reputation, ensures a smoother user experience, and maintains privacy, especially when developing client projects.
One of the most common concerns website owners face is how unfinished or broken pages might impact SEO. If search engines crawl and index an incomplete site, it could harm your site’s credibility and search visibility. That’s why it’s important to limit access during the development phase.
Additionally, users who accidentally visit a half-finished website might get confused or have a negative impression of your brand. This makes it crucial to present a polished version only when it’s ready to go live.
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When You Need to Hide Your WordPress Site
There are several situations where temporarily hiding your WordPress site is a smart and necessary move. Below are common scenarios, each explained in detail:
- Redesigning or revamping your site: When you’re working on a complete redesign or restructuring of your website, it’s likely that certain elements, like layout, images, content, or navigation, are being changed. During this time, your site may appear broken or incomplete to visitors. By hiding it, you avoid giving users a confusing or unprofessional experience.
- Working on a client project in progress: If you’re developing a site for a client, privacy is often a key concern. Clients typically don’t want their unfinished website visible to the public, especially if it doesn’t yet reflect their brand or messaging. Hiding the site during development helps ensure that only approved stakeholders see it, and allows for smoother revisions and collaboration before launch.
- Preventing premature indexing by search engines: Search engines like Google can index your site even if it’s still under construction. This means incomplete pages, placeholder text, or broken links might appear in search results, which can hurt your SEO and confuse users. By disabling indexing during the build process, you ensure your site isn’t prematurely listed with poor-quality content.
- Avoiding user confusion from half-built pages: Visitors landing on a partially completed website may quickly leave if they encounter errors, inconsistent design, or missing information. This not only affects your bounce rate but can also lead to a loss of trust. Using a “Coming Soon” or “Under Maintenance” page informs users that something new is on the way and encourages them to return later, creating anticipation rather than confusion.
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How to Hide My WordPress Website While Editing
When working on your WordPress website, it’s smart to keep things private until everything is polished and ready to go live. Thankfully, there are several effective ways to hide your site during the editing process.
Below is a quick overview of the most popular methods, plus how to choose the one that works best for your situation.
Method 1: Use Maintenance Mode or Coming Soon Plugins
This is hands-down the easiest way to hide your WordPress site during editing, especially if you’re not comfortable with coding.
Maintenance mode lets you display a simple branded message like “Coming Soon” or “We’re Making Improvements” while your actual content stays hidden. The rest of the site remains accessible only to logged-in administrators.
There are several reliable plugins available for this:
- SeedProd: One of the most popular and beginner-friendly plugins. Comes with drag-and-drop customization and built-in templates.
- WP Maintenance Mode: Lightweight and easy to set up. Includes countdowns, contact forms, and newsletter signups.
Here’s how to activate and customize your maintenance page:
- Install the plugin of your choice from the WordPress plugin directory.
- Activate it, and go to the plugin settings under your dashboard (often under Settings or Tools).
- Choose your mode, usually either “Coming Soon” (for pre-launch) or “Maintenance” (for site updates).
- Customize the message and design using the plugin’s visual editor or template options.
- Save and enable the mode, your visitors will now see the maintenance screen, while you can continue editing in the backend.
Most plugins also give you the option to whitelist logged-in users so you and your team can preview the site as needed.
Method 2: Set Your Site to Private
If you want to completely restrict public access to your site while editing, you can make your WordPress site private. This is especially useful if your site is still in early development and not ready for any kind of public view.
Here’s how to do it:
- Go to Settings ⟶ Reading in your WordPress dashboard.
- Scroll down to the section labeled Search Engine Visibility.
- Check the box next to “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
- To go further, install a plugin like My Private Site or use hosting tools that make the site accessible only to logged-in users.
These steps ensure that your site isn’t visible to the general public or indexed by Google, Bing, or other search engines.
Limiting Access Through WordPress Dashboard Settings
While WordPress doesn’t offer a built-in “Private Site” mode, you can use membership or access control plugins like Members or Private Only to:
- Restrict content visibility to specific user roles
- Redirect non-logged-in visitors to a login page
- Customize messages for unauthorized access
This method is useful if you’re working in a collaborative environment and need different levels of access for developers, writers, or designers.
Method 3: Password Protect the Entire Site
One of the simplest ways to hide your WordPress site during development is by password protecting the entire website.
This method is especially useful when you’re working on a client project or staging environment and want to restrict all public access without relying on complex code or server configurations.
To do this, you can use the free “Password Protected” plugin available in the WordPress Plugin Repository. Once installed, navigate to Settings ⟶ Password Protected in your dashboard.
From there, you can enable password protection for the whole site with just a checkbox. You’ll also be prompted to create a password that must be entered by anyone trying to access the front end of your site.
This method is lightweight, easy to set up, and perfect for those who want a quick solution to temporarily block access to the entire website while continuing to work on it behind the scenes.
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Method 4: Hide Individual Pages or Posts
Another simple way to hide your site during development is by password protecting the entire front-end. One of the easiest plugins for this job is called Password Protected.
Here’s how to use it:
- Go to Plugins ⟶ Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
- Search for “Password Protected”, then install and activate it.
- Navigate to Settings ⟶ Password Protected.
- Check the box that says “Password Protected Status” to enable it.
- Set a secure password that users will need to enter to view your site.
- Save your changes.
This instantly puts a lock on your site. Anyone trying to visit will be prompted to enter the password.
Method 5: Discourage Search Engines from Indexing
If your website is still in progress, you probably don’t want search engines like Google or Bing to start indexing and showing your unfinished pages in search results. WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you prevent this while you’re editing.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Click on Settings, then select Reading.
- Look for the section called Search Engine Visibility.
- Check the box that says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
- Click the Save Changes button.
This tells search engines that your site is not ready and shouldn’t appear in search results. It’s a soft request to search engines, so while most of them will respect it, it’s not guaranteed protection, especially if your site is already linked from other websites.
For more control, you can edit your site’s robots.txt file. This file tells search engines which parts of your website they should or shouldn’t access. You can add this code to block all bots from your site:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
This method is useful when your site is technically visible but you don’t want it to show up in Google while you're still editing.Method 6: Build Your Website Locally
One of the best ways to keep your website private while editing is to build it on your own computer. This method is called local development, and it means no one can access the site unless they are using your computer.
What is Local Development?
Local development means you’re creating and editing your website offline, without it being connected to the internet.
It’s completely private, and you can take your time making changes before anyone else sees your work. Once you’re happy with how your website looks and functions, you can move it to a live server for the public.
Check Out: How to Setup a WordPress Development Environment
Tools for Local Development
To build a local website, you need software that mimics a web server. Here are some commonly used tools:
- XAMPP: A free tool that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It includes everything you need to run WordPress locally.
- Local by Flywheel: A user-friendly tool with an easy setup process, perfect for beginners and designers.
- MAMP: A simple solution, especially popular with macOS users.
All of these tools allow you to install WordPress on your own computer and view your site using a local address.
How to Move Your Site from Local to Live
Once your site is complete and ready to go public:
- Use a plugin like All-in-One WP Migration, Duplicator, or WP Migrate Lite to export your website.
- Upload your site files and database to your hosting provider using cPanel or FTP.
- Update your domain and permalinks to match your live site.
- Test everything to make sure it works properly online.
Local development is great because it keeps your editing environment 100% private. You can also make large changes without worrying about breaking the live version of your site.
Method 7: Restrict Site Access Using .htaccess
If you’re comfortable with slightly more technical tasks, you can use a file called .htaccess to control who can see your website. This method works on servers that use Apache (which many WordPress hosting providers do).
How to Whitelist Your IP Using .htaccess
You can set up your site so that only your IP address can access it. Anyone else trying to view the site will get a “Forbidden” error message. This is useful if you want to make sure no one else can see your website while you’re editing.
Here’s how to do it:
- Connect to your website using an FTP client (like FileZilla) or use your hosting provider’s file manager.
- Find the .htaccess file in your site’s main directory. This is usually in the same place as wp-config.php.
- Make a backup of the file before editing it.
- Open the file and add the following lines of code:
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 123.456.789.000
Save and upload the updated file to your server. Now, only your computer (with the allowed IP) will be able to view the site. Everyone else will be blocked.Method 8: Control User Roles and Permissions
When you’re working on your WordPress site with a team or client, it’s important to make sure only the right people can view or edit certain parts of the website. WordPress has a built-in user role system that helps you manage who can see and do what on your site.
By default, WordPress offers several user roles:
- Administrator: Full access to everything on the site.
- Editor: Can publish and manage posts, including other users’ posts.
- Author: Can publish and manage only their own posts.
- Contributor: Can write and manage their own drafts but cannot publish.
- Subscriber: Can only manage their own profile.
If you’re still editing or designing the site, you may want to give collaborators a limited role (like Editor or Contributor) so they don’t make changes that affect other areas of the site.
For clients or reviewers, you might want to create a temporary account with read-only access, so they can see the progress without being able to edit anything.
Method 9: Additional Security Measures During Editing
While hiding your WordPress site during editing is important for appearance and search visibility, it’s also crucial to secure your site during this phase.
Security issues can happen even while your site is being built, so taking extra precautions is a good idea.
Enable SSL and Strong Passwords
Always make sure your site uses HTTPS (SSL), even during development. Most hosting providers offer free SSL certificates (e.g., via Let’s Encrypt), and it adds a layer of protection by encrypting data between your site and users.
Also, use strong passwords for all admin and user accounts. Avoid using easy-to-guess credentials like “admin” or “password123.”
You can use password managers like 1Password or Bitwarden to generate and store strong passwords securely.
Discover: How to Install a Free SSL Certificate in WordPress
Bonus Tip: Use a Staging Site
A staging site is like a practice version of your WordPress website. It lets you safely make changes, test new features, or redesign your site without affecting your live website that visitors see.
Benefits of a Staging Site
- Safe Testing: You can try out new plugins, themes, or design changes without worrying about breaking your live site. If something goes wrong, your public site remains untouched.
- Version Control: Many staging setups let you keep different versions of your site. This means you can easily go back to an earlier version if needed.
- Collaboration: If you work with a team or clients, a staging site lets everyone review changes in a safe, private environment.
- SEO Protection: Since the staging site is not public, search engines won’t index unfinished pages or duplicate content.
How to Create a Staging Site with Your Hosting Provider
Most popular hosting providers include an easy way to create staging sites. Here’s a general idea of how it works:
- Log into your hosting control panel (like cPanel, Site Tools, or your hosting dashboard).
- Look for a Staging or WordPress Tools section.
- Choose the website you want to create a staging copy of.
- Click Create Staging Site or similar.
- Wait a few minutes for the system to duplicate your live site.
- Access the staging site via a special URL provided by your host.
Some hosting providers that offer simple staging options include DreamHost, Hostinger, WP Engine, Kinsta, and others.
Use BlogVault for Easy Staging and Backup
If your hosting provider doesn’t offer staging or you want a reliable independent tool, BlogVault is a popular choice for WordPress staging and backup. It allows you to create a staging site with one click and easily push changes live when ready.
- BlogVault also offers automatic backups and security features, making it a great all-in-one solution.
- You can try BlogVault for free and upgrade for full features.
Adding a trusted tool like BlogVault ensures your website development is safe, controlled, and easy to manage, even if you’re not very technical.
Conclusion
In summary, knowing how to hide your WordPress site while editing is essential for keeping your work private and preventing visitors from seeing unfinished pages. Whether you use simple methods like maintenance mode plugins or password protection, or more advanced options like staging sites and local development, you can choose the approach that best fits your needs and experience level.
Always remember to test your changes thoroughly before making your site live to avoid any issues. By properly hiding your site during development, you ensure a smooth, professional launch and a better experience for your visitors once your site goes public.
