Maintenance Mode confusion

The two options allow you to either use the prebuilt maintenance mode page or create your own maintenance mode page and use it.

So option 1: use the selected (default) enfold prebuilt “maintenance mode” page

Or Option 2: use the custom “maintenance mode” page (if you created one) and redirect traffic to that page while in maintenance mode.

In maintenance mode, your website it blocked, so visitors will either see whatever maintenance mode page you’ve selected. That could be the default enfold page or a custom maintenance page you’ve created. Technically, you can direct them to any page you like, but they won’t be able to navigate away from the page while in maintenance mode, which is why people generally use a splash/landing “mainstream mode” page.

As for the GTmetrix error. To put it very simply, Think of maintenance mode as a locked door to a building. GTmetrix error simple says I went to the building but the door was locked, so I couldn’t get to what’s inside.

As soon as you turn off maintenance mode, the door will be unlocked and GTmetrix will be able to do its thing like it normally would.

Hope that helps!

Alwin,

I apologize if my explanation wasn’t clear. Please read the information below.

This link is to the documentation about maintenance mode and other pages that come built into the Enfold theme.

And here is an example of what that might look like using a prebuilt page in your theme.

The idea behind a “Maintenance Mode” or “Construction” page, “Coming Soon” page is to let your visitors know that the site is being worked on. A coming soon or construction page lets your visitors know that you’re still building the site and it will be ready very soon. It allows you to make changes to the website without the visitors seeing a bunch of weird stuff happening.

As the admin for the site, you’re still going to be able to view the website normally, but all other traffic to your website will only see the maintenance mode page you’ve selected. Referring back to my earlier example, the maintenance page is like a locked door, it keeps everyone outside while you’re inside building the site or making changes.

As for the GTMetrix, when it reaches your maintenance page, it can’t go any further so it give you the error message you encountered, which simply means it reached the locked door/maintenance mode of your website. Once, the page is taken down and the site returns to normal, it will be able to visit your site as it normally would.

Hopefully, that helps. Please read the documentation and if you need further explanation of a maintenance mode is and how it works, there are some great youtube videos that you may want to look at too.

I’m sorry I wasn’t any help to you. I’m just a regular participant like you, so I’m limited in what I can do here.

I’m assuming you loaded a demo in which to build from, if you don’t see a prebuilt page, then your demo may not include one. Demos built after 2017, include them, older versions do not.

Even if your demo did include one, you’d have to completely edit it to fit your needs, as it’s filled with example text. See the example, I shared earlier.

If you’re still not understanding what maintenance mode is and how it works, maybe someone else can offer a better description. You’re also welcome to use a plug-in, they will accomplish the same thing. But learning what it is and how it works, will help you understand the GTMetrix error message. I apologize that I wasn’t able to explain clearly enough how maintenance mode works and why GTMETRIX will always give you an error.

Maintenance mode is essentially like taking your site offline, it makes it unavailable to everyone but you. When you set up maintenance mode, you redirect visitors to a maintenance mode page or any other page you’d like. Bots and other services, like GTmetrix can’t read, so the server tells them the site is temporary unavailable. As the admin, you can see the site as normal, visitors will see your maintenance page, and any bots and services will be told by the server your temporary unavailable.

As for the difference in the two options, perhaps someone else can jump in here and offer a better answer.

I don’t want to confuse you with server settings or give you a wrong answer, so I’ll let someone else explain the rest to you.

Sorry, I wasn’t more of a help.