Content Freeze
The Content Freeze plugin allows an admin to 'lock' all content on the site to prevent the site being edited.
Use with caution
Content Freeze works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 42/100 on our health check.
- Momentum — downloads up 37.3% vs the previous 30 days
- Small user base (200+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in over a year
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Content Freeze stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| code lock | #47 |
| content freeze | #1 |
| content lock | #24 |
| maintenance | >100 |
| migration | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews
About Content Freeze
From the official readme · v0.1.4Description
Need to stop your clients and users from editing a site while you do maintenance or a server migration?
The content freeze plugin solves the problem of telling the client “Please don’t edit anything on the site today because your changes may be lost” and then finding out after the event that they spent the whole day making changes to the site. You want to keep your clients happy, and restricting access during maintenance and migrations helps avoid confusion and inconvenience for all involved.
The content freeze plugin allows an admin to ‘lock’ the site to prevent the anything being edited. Users can still visit the site, but no one can make changes behind the scenes without your permission.
It is very simple to use. When installed, an admin can switch the content freeze on. At that point, only the admin who activated the content freeze can log in and all other users (including other admins) are locked out temporarily. When they try to log in they will see a message teling them that the site is currently frozen and they therefore cannot login at this time.
We plan to add some more features in the near future, including scheduling and also optimising it for use on multisite networks. Contributions welcome.
Installation
The content freeze plugin is really plug and play. Just upload the plugin and activate.
1. Upload the contents of the package to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
To start/stop a content freeze, go to Settings > Content Freeze and click the Freeze Content / Unfreeze Content button.
Frequently asked questions
Will it work with all themes?
Yes, it should work fine with all themes. If you find a problem, let us know.
Does it work on multisite installations?
Yes it does, but you have to activate the freeze on each individual site within your network. Once activated, you not to visit the wp-admin url to access any individual sub-sites that are not locked (wp-login.php urls won’t work during the freeze). In the future we hope to add a network freeze option.
Can I schedule a content freeze?
Not at this time, but we hope to add that feature soon.
Does it guarantee that no changes can be made to my site during a content freeze?
Not 100%. The only person that could make any changes to the site from inside the CMS is the person who is in control of the content freeze. It is generally safe to assume that this person will respect the content freeze and not make any changes. It is also possible for people to leave comments on your site, but we will soon add a comment lock to prevent this.
Changelog
0.1.4
- Fixed: error when no options have been stored yet. Props: @adamtomat
0.1.3
- Enhancement: ability to freeze all the network
0.1.2
- Fixed: redirect issue when user gets logged out
0.1.1
- Fixed: Content Freeze didn’t save setting when WP debug mode was active
0.1
- Initial version
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
FAQ
Content Freeze: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 7, 2026
Is Content Freeze free?
Yes. Content Freeze is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Content Freeze safe to use in 2026?
Content Freeze works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 42/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Content Freeze?
Content Freeze is active on 200+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 37,480 times since it launched in May 2015. It was downloaded 559 times in the last 30 days.
Does Content Freeze work with WordPress 7.1?
Content Freeze is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.11, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Content Freeze last updated?
The latest version, 0.1.4, was released on July 4, 2025 (1 year ago).
Who makes Content Freeze?
Content Freeze is developed and maintained by Tom Greenwood.
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