More than a coming soon page — give clients a private magic link to preview the live site, then collect feedback and on-page annotations.
WordPress.org Listing · Changelog · Installation · Report a Bug
Most "coming soon" plugins stop at hiding your site behind a countdown timer. Erdo Client Preview adds the three things agencies and freelancers actually need when working with clients on a live site:
- Magic links — a private, password-free URL per person that bypasses the gate
- Visitor feedback — clients leave messages directly on the page they're viewing, no email back-and-forth
- Live annotations — clients click any element on the site and pin an exact note about it, like a built-in design-review tool
Everyone without a link sees your custom coming soon / under construction page. Everyone with one browses the real, live site — and can tell you exactly what they think while they're there.
| Magic links | Live annotations |
|---|---|
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| Feedback tab | Settings panel |
|---|---|
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Magic Links — per-person access, not a shared password
- Label each link ("John - Client", "Anna - Designer") with individual expiry (24h, 48h, 7d, 30d, or never)
- Per-link redirect URL, revoke a single link without affecting others
- Usage counter, access history, and optional email notification on use
- 32-character cryptographic tokens stored only as HMAC-SHA256 hashes — the raw token is never saved, and the bypass cookie is signed,
HttpOnly, and verified withhash_equals()
Visitor Feedback — messages straight from the page being reviewed
- No-account-required widget on the coming soon page and on the live site for magic-link visitors
- Reply from the admin, visitor sees the reply automatically; "Past Feedback" history; email alerts; bulk actions
Live Annotations — pinpoint feedback on the exact element
- Magic-link visitors click any element on the live site and pin a note directly on it
- Admins see a persistent numbered pin on every page they visit, reply inline, track status, bulk actions
Two Modes
- Maintenance (HTTP 503 + dynamic
Retry-After) for deployments and migrations - Coming Soon (HTTP 200, indexable) for new launches, with a built-in email subscription form
Scheduled Activation — one-time window or recurring weekly schedule, cron-driven with a real-time fallback so the site is never accidentally left open or stuck gated.
Access Control — IP whitelist, admin bypass, page/post-type exclusions, and automatic bypass for XML-RPC, REST, WP-Cron, WP-CLI, and wp-login.php.
White Label — replace the plugin's name/logo with your agency's on the settings page and admin menu.
Emergency Rescue URL — a secret link that disables maintenance instantly, no login required.
- Web agencies and freelancers — gate a client site during updates, share a private link so the client can review progress and leave feedback/annotations, revoke the moment the project ships
- Site owners launching a new project — collect subscribers in Coming Soon mode, no third-party service needed
- Developers and DevOps — schedule maintenance windows for migrations and deployments without manual intervention
- Upload the
erdo-client-previewfolder to/wp-content/plugins/, or install directly from Plugins → Add New by searching "Erdo Client Preview" - Activate through the Plugins menu
- Go to Client Preview in the admin menu
- Choose Maintenance or Coming Soon mode and enable
- Generate a magic link and share it with your client
Full FAQ and changelog are on the WordPress.org plugin page.
Runs entirely in your browser, no server or account needed.
Issues and pull requests are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. This repository mirrors the plugin shipped on WordPress.org; releases are cut from the Stable tag in readme.txt.
This plugin never stores raw magic-link tokens (HMAC-SHA256 hashes only), signs the bypass cookie, and uses hash_equals() for constant-time comparison throughout. If you find a security issue, please open an issue or contact the author directly rather than disclosing it publicly.
GPLv2 or later — see LICENSE.