🏝️ Vacation mode that works the way a modern WooCommerce store should.

Running an online store is different from running a physical one. The lights never really turn off. Even when you step away for a few days, customers still visit your storefront, browse products, and expect clear information.

Vacation mode shouldn’t just “close the shop.” It should help you manage that moment gracefully.

Store Vacation for WooCommerce 1.5.0 is about making that experience smoother—for both store owners and customers. This release focuses on smarter automation, clearer storefront behavior, and a simpler admin experience.

Let’s walk through what’s new.

Instant Store Status with Automatic Cache Refresh

Caching is essential for performance, but it can become frustrating when store status changes don’t appear immediately.

A store might be closed, but visitors still see the shop open because a cached page hasn’t refreshed.

Version 1.5.0 solves this.

When the vacation state changes, the plugin automatically triggers a cache refresh. This ensures visitors immediately see the correct store status when your shop moves between states like:

• Open
• Closing Soon
• Closed

The system is designed to work with many popular caching plugins and hosting-level caching layers.

And because control still matters, the admin area now shows a reminder notice after schedule updates with a one-click cache clearing button.

Simple. Reliable. No guesswork.

Hide Purchasing Elements Without Closing the Store

Sometimes you want customers to browse your products but not place orders.

Maybe you’re away. Maybe you’re restocking. Maybe you simply need a pause.

The new Hide Store Elements option allows you to temporarily remove key purchasing elements while keeping the storefront visible.

You can hide:

• Product prices
• Add to Cart buttons
• Mini Cart widget
• Mini Cart block

Customers can still explore your catalog, but the purchasing path disappears until the store reopens.

When vacation mode ends, everything returns automatically.

Flexible Store Behaviour

Vacation mode isn’t a single switch anymore. Different stores need different behaviors.

With the new Store Behaviour controls, you decide exactly how your store responds during vacation.

Replace Shop Pages with Custom Content

Instead of showing product listings, you can replace shop pages with your own message or announcement.

This works across:

• Shop page
• Product archives (categories, tags, brands)
• Single product pages

It’s perfect for sharing things like:

• vacation notices
• reopening dates
• promotional messages
• contact details

Your storefront stays informative, even while sales are paused.

Password-Protected Shop Access

Sometimes you want to close the store to the public but keep access for a specific group.

Now you can password-protect your shop pages during vacation mode.

This works well for:

• wholesale stores
• private catalogs
• early access promotions
• maintenance periods

Visitors simply enter the password to view the shop.

Private Access Links

For even more flexibility, you can generate private access links.

These special URLs unlock the shop for anyone who has them—even while vacation mode is active.

This makes it easy to share access with:

• VIP customers
• team members
• partners
• product testers

It’s a simple way to keep your store partially open without exposing it to everyone.

Track Orders Placed During Vacation

Some stores allow limited purchases during vacation mode—like preorders, excluded products, or orders from trusted customers.

To keep things organized, orders placed during vacation are now automatically tagged.

Inside WooCommerce, you can quickly filter and review those orders, making it easier to manage fulfillment once you return.

Guided Onboarding for Faster Setup

Getting started should feel straightforward.

The new guided onboarding tour helps first-time users understand the most important settings, including:

• vacation scheduling
• storefront behavior
• notices and announcements

Instead of exploring every option manually, users are guided through the essentials.

A New General Dashboard

The admin experience has also been streamlined with a new General dashboard.

From this page, you can quickly access key controls such as:

• shortcuts to important settings
• an Emergency Close toggle
• a Discover feed highlighting useful features

The goal is simple: help store owners get where they need to go faster.

Notice Templates for Quick Announcements

Writing store notices from scratch isn’t always necessary.

The notice editor now includes a Templates library with ready-to-use messages. With one click, you can insert a template or replace your existing content.

It’s a small feature that saves time—and helps keep customer communication clear.

A Better Notice Editor

Vacation notices now use the WordPress rich text editor, bringing better formatting and a more familiar editing experience.

The editor is configured to use line breaks instead of automatic paragraphs, which works better for short notices and announcements.

Compatibility Improvements

This release also improves compatibility across the WooCommerce ecosystem.

Enhancements include:

• better support for block-based themes
• improved handling of mini cart elements in theme headers
• more reliable taxonomy validation, ensuring category or brand exclusions correctly affect products in child terms

WooCommerce 10.5 Compatibility

Store Vacation for WooCommerce is now fully compatible with WooCommerce 10.5, ensuring everything works smoothly with the latest platform updates.

Vacation Mode That Fits Modern Stores

Version 1.5.0 transforms vacation mode into a more flexible store management tool.

You can now:

• automatically refresh cache when store status changes
• hide purchasing elements while allowing browsing
• replace shop pages with custom announcements
• restrict access using passwords or private links
• track orders placed during vacation
• configure settings faster with guided onboarding

The result is a vacation mode that feels less like “closing the door” and more like intentionally managing your storefront while you’re away.

And sometimes, that’s exactly what a modern WooCommerce store needs.