Everything below reflects the current release (v1.3.1). Arming your first freeze takes about two minutes.
You need WordPress 6.0+ on PHP 7.4+, an administrator login, and the plugin zip plus licence key from your purchase email. Installation never touches your theme or content.
In wp-admin go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip from your purchase email, install and activate. Run one edition only.
Open the Licence screen and paste your key. Unlicensed, enforcement pauses — settings and the log are kept safe.
On the notice settings: your logo, accent colour, heading, message and signature. Blocked users see courteous stage management, not an error page.
Tick what to freeze: any post type (each with a live count), menus, widgets, WooCommerce settings, global site settings incl. the theme, plugin management, user management — plus any named option key under Advanced.
Start immediately or at a scheduled date/time. End manually, at a date/time, or after a duration — 1 minute to months. Once armed, a live countdown shows everywhere, computed server-side so timezones can never disagree.
Tick exempt roles or name exempt users. You are always exempt automatically — you cannot lock yourself out — and exempt accounts can't be deleted while the freeze holds.
Tick Enabled and save. The admin bar chip and banners confirm the freeze is live; a scheduled freeze shows a countdown until it starts.
The screens you'll actually live in.
Non-exempt users see your branded lock screen on frozen areas; the front end is untouched and WooCommerce orders keep flowing — the freeze governs admin changes, not traffic.
Every blocked action is recorded: timestamp, user, role, scope, what they tried and their IP. Filter by scope or export to CSV.
Exempt users can open the freeze controls at any time and untick Enabled — or shorten/extend the window. Non-exempt users can't touch the controls while a freeze is active.
With an end time or duration set, everything unlocks itself on the second — no midnight logins to remember.
Under the plugin-management scope, the freeze plugin itself can't be deactivated mid-freeze — switching it off is not the loophole.
Run one edition at a time; a second edition bails with a polite notice.