Holiday Mode for WooCommerce

Follow these steps to install and configure the plugin:

Upload the plugin folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress Go to WooCommerce -> Settings -> Holiday Mode to configure your settings

Will items already in a customer’s cart be removed when Holiday Mode starts?

Yes, if the “Disable purchasing” setting is enabled. As soon as Holiday Mode becomes active, existing cart contents are removed automatically so nobody can check out with items added before your break started.

Does Holiday Mode reactivate my shop automatically once the end date passes?

Yes. Once today’s date is past your configured end date, Holiday Mode stops being active on the next page load – you don’t need to log back in and switch it off manually. You can also turn it off early at any time from the settings page.

Can I warn customers before the shop actually closes?

Yes. Set “Advance notice” (under WooCommerce -> Settings -> Holiday Mode) to the number of days before your start date you’d like to give customers a heads-up. During that window, a separate, distinctly styled notice is shown – purchasing stays fully enabled until Holiday Mode itself becomes active on the configured start date.

Will Holiday Mode hide my shop from Google or affect my SEO?

No. Holiday Mode only disables purchasing and displays your absence message – it doesn’t hide pages, add noindex tags, or otherwise change how your site is treated by search engines.

Does this work with caching plugins like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache?

Yes. Saving your Holiday Mode settings automatically flushes the page cache of all major caching plugins (W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Fastest Cache, Cache Enabler, Breeze, WP-Optimize, Hummingbird, SiteGround Optimizer, Swift Performance), and pages are marked as non-cacheable for as long as Holiday Mode is active, so visitors always see its current status.

Does this work with a headless/decoupled storefront (e.g. a custom app built on the WooCommerce Store API)?

Yes. New orders are blocked the same way for headless storefronts as for a regular WordPress theme: products become non-purchasable and adding to cart or checking out is rejected while Holiday Mode is active. Your frontend can also ask the WooCommerce Store API directly whether Holiday Mode is active and what your absence message is, so it can be displayed even though it never renders any WordPress page. No setup is required for this – it is available as soon as the plugin is active, using your existing Holiday Mode settings.

(For developers) What does the Store API extension data look like?

Holiday Mode is included automatically in the Cart and Checkout endpoint responses ( /wc/store/v1/cart and /wc/store/v1/checkout ), under extensions.holiday-mode-woocommerce :

{ "active": true, "purchasing_disabled": true, "message": "We are on vacation, back on 1 September.", "notice_type": "error" }