What to expect during planned maintenance

Occasionally we need to carry out maintenance work that may briefly take your website offline or make it temporarily inaccessible. This is normal and planned — we'll always let you know before it happens. This guide explains what to expect.

What planned maintenance includes

Most care work happens invisibly — software updates, backups, and security scans run in the background, and visitors rarely notice anything. Planned maintenance refers to specific types of work that require brief downtime or preparation:

Regular plugin updates and content changes don't count as planned maintenance. They don't need a maintenance window.

How we notify you

We'll always give you notice before planned maintenance. How much notice depends on the scope:

We'll tell you:

• What we're doing and why
• When it's scheduled to happen
• How long it's expected to take
• What visitors will see (a maintenance page, or an error, or nothing at all)
• What to do if something looks wrong after it's done

What your visitors see during maintenance

Depending on the type of work, visitors may see:

• A maintenance page — a simple message like "We're currently carrying out scheduled maintenance. We'll be back shortly."
• A brief loading error — if the downtime is very short, most visitors won't hit it at all
• Nothing at all — many types of maintenance are invisible to visitors

We aim to minimize and communicate any disruption. For critical or time-sensitive businesses (e-commerce stores, booking sites), we'll plan maintenance for off-peak hours whenever possible.

When we schedule maintenance

We try to schedule planned maintenance for:

• Early morning (before your business opens)
• Late night
• Low-traffic periods specific to your business

If you have a time that absolutely must be avoided — a product launch, an event, a seasonal peak — let your project lead know in advance and we'll work around it.

What to do during a maintenance window

Common questions

Can I delay a maintenance window if the timing doesn't work?

Yes, within reason. If the proposed timing conflicts with something important for your business, let us know as soon as possible. We can usually reschedule, though security patches may have a shorter window for flexibility.

What if my site is still down after the maintenance is supposed to be done?

Contact us immediately. Either the work is taking longer than expected (and we should have already told you that), or something has gone wrong. Either way, we want to know right away.

Does my site need to go down for every update?

No. Most updates, including most plugin and theme updates, don't need a maintenance window. While an update installs, WordPress can switch the site into maintenance mode, so a visitor who arrives at that exact moment may see a short "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance" message. It normally clears as soon as the update finishes. Only more significant work requires a maintenance window.

How long is a typical maintenance window?

For most work, under 30 minutes. Hosting migrations or major platform changes may take longer — up to a few hours in some cases. We'll tell you the estimated duration before we start.

Related guides

• Software updates explained
• How we test changes before they go live
• Restoring your site from a backup
• Uptime monitoring explained
• When & how to request emergency support
• My website is down