Closing for a holiday

When the site should stay up and only orders should stop, choose Shop closed for orders under Page → Mode (it needs WooCommerce). Every page stays open, shoppers cannot buy, and where the Add to cart button was, and over the shop, cart and checkout, a notice says We are not taking orders until the Switch off at date you set under Settings. Then press Close the shop for orders on the Dashboard: nothing pauses until you do. To start the break later, set Switch on at as well before pressing it; buying pauses at that time and starts again at the switch-off time by itself.

Things you may want while you are away:

• keep a gift card or a download on sale under Products that stay on sale or Categories that stay on sale;
• let wholesale customers order by ticking their role under Roles that can still buy (administrators and shop managers can, to begin with);
• keep taking orders and only warn about slower delivery with Show the notice but keep taking orders. Left as it is, the notice then says Orders placed now are sent out after the switch-off date, and the Notice field changes to match as you turn the switch on or off. A notice you wrote yourself stays as you wrote it.

Orders you add in wp-admin and subscription renewals always go through. Nobody on your subscriber list is emailed when the shop takes orders again.

If your coming soon page is still up when you choose Shop closed for orders, saving takes the page down and your site is public from then on. That is your launch, so Save asks whether to email your subscribers, and the launch email goes out only if you say yes. While WooCommerce's Site visibility hides your store with the launch email on, Save asks nothing, and the email waits until you set the store live: the Dashboard asks before it goes.

Signed in as an administrator you can still buy, so you see the shop as normal. Open it in a private window to see what shoppers see.