How to Let Clients Review a WordPress Site Before Launch

June 20, 2026

You can let a client review a WordPress site before launch, even while it is still in maintenance or coming-soon mode, by sending them a private review link. They open the page, leave feedback pinned to the exact spot, and approve it, with no login and without you taking the site live for everyone else. The site stays hidden from the public the whole time. Only the link you sent gets through.

Most agencies know this corner well. You are building a site behind a coming-soon screen. The client asks for a look before launch. Now you are stuck choosing between two bad options: flip the whole site public before it is ready, or set up a temporary login, send credentials, and hope they work it out. The second one usually ends with the feedback never arriving, because you have just asked a busy client to log in to something before they can even tell you the heading is too big.

There is a better way. Here is why maintenance mode gets in the way, the workarounds people reach for, and how to actually do this on Bricks and Elementor.

Why maintenance mode blocks client review

Maintenance mode does one job, and it does it well: it hides an unfinished site from the public. Anyone who is not logged in sees a holding page instead of the real pages. Coming-soon mode is the same idea with a friendlier label and a 200 status code. Both are the right default while you build.

The friction starts the moment you want one person, your client, to see one page. They are not logged in, so they hit the wall like any random visitor. You cannot send them “the link” because the link just shows the holding page. So the review stalls before it begins.

The workarounds, and why they are a pain

  • Turn maintenance mode off. Now the half-built site is public, indexable, and visible to anyone who guesses the URL. You are trading one problem for a worse one.
  • Create a temporary account. You make a user, set a password, email it over, and write a short tutorial on how to log in. Every extra step loses a few clients. Some never reply.
  • Send screenshots or a Loom. Fine for a quick “what do you think”, useless for precise feedback. You end up decoding “move the blue button, no, the other one” over three emails.
  • Share a staging URL with its own login. Same login friction, plus now you are explaining the difference between staging and live to someone who just wants to see their homepage.

None of these are terrible on their own. Stacked together, on every project, they are a real tax on your time and a real reason approvals drag.

The better way: a review link that opens the page

The cleaner approach is a private review link that knows the difference between a client you invited and a stranger off the street. A tool like Reviso, which gives clients no-login feedback, generates a link tied to the specific page (or pages) you want reviewed. When that link carries a valid token, the page renders normally, even with maintenance mode switched on. Every other request still hits the holding page.

So the client gets the real page to comment on. The public gets the coming-soon screen. You never touch the maintenance setting.

As of Reviso 1.1.2 this works automatically with the built-in maintenance and coming-soon modes in both Bricks and Elementor. There is nothing to configure. Generate the link, send it, done.

How to do it on a Bricks site

  1. Leave Bricks maintenance mode on. Settings live under Bricks > Settings > Maintenance. You do not need to change anything here.
  2. Open the page you want reviewed and generate a Reviso review link from the admin bar. No client account, no extra plugin for them to install.
  3. Send the link. The client clicks it and lands on the actual page, behind the wall, with the Feedback button waiting in the corner.
  4. They pin their comments straight onto the elements they mean. A screenshot and the page context attach on their own, so you are not guessing later.
  5. You resolve the notes inside the builder, then close the round with a clear client sign-off so launch is not ambiguous.

Because the comments pin to real Bricks elements on the live page, this doubles as a proper website proofing pass, not just a comment thread.

How to do it on an Elementor site

Same idea, same result. Keep Elementor maintenance mode on (Elementor > Tools > Maintenance Mode), generate the review link, and the client opens the page through the wall. Reviso uses Elementor’s own maintenance hook to let a valid reviewer through, so you are not fighting the builder or editing any code. Feedback pins to Elementor elements and you action it inside the Elementor editor.

Is it safe? What the client can and cannot see

This is the first question worth asking, and the answer is the whole point. The bypass is scoped to the link, not the site:

  • Only a valid, current review link gets through. A revoked or expired link sees the maintenance screen like anyone else.
  • The link is tied to the pages in that review. Wander off to a page outside its scope and the wall is still there.
  • Search engines never get in, so nothing half-finished gets indexed.
  • You can revoke a link at any time, which closes the door again instantly.

In other words, you are not making the site public to share one page. You are opening one door for one guest, and you hold the key.

What about draft and unpublished pages?

The same review link also lets a reviewer see pages that are still drafts, without publishing them. That matters near launch, when half your pages are live and half are not. You can collect feedback on a draft layout, make the changes, and only publish once the client has actually signed it off, rather than pushing things live just so someone can look.

FAQ

Can a client review a WordPress site that is in maintenance mode?
Yes. Send a private review link and the client opens the real page through the maintenance wall, with no login. The site stays hidden from everyone else. Reviso supports the built-in maintenance and coming-soon modes in Bricks and Elementor.

Do I have to turn off maintenance mode to share a page with a client?
No. That is the main benefit. The review link lets the invited client in while the maintenance screen stays up for the public, so you never expose an unfinished site to share one page.

Does the client need a login or account?
No. The link is the access. They click it, the page loads, and they leave pinned feedback. Nothing to install, no password to remember.

Does this work with coming-soon plugins like SeedProd?
Not yet. Reviso handles the maintenance and coming-soon modes built into Bricks and Elementor. Standalone coming-soon plugins work differently and are not covered, so for those you would still lift the wall or use a temporary login.

Can I share a page that is still a draft?
Yes. A valid review link can show draft and unpublished pages to the reviewer without making them public, which is handy for getting sign-off before you publish.

Building a site behind a coming-soon screen right now? Try the Reviso demo or install the free plugin and send your next client a review link they can actually open.