Store Status Feature
If your site is live to the public and you would like to make design/functional changes to the store without having your customers see the process (or possibly have your changes interfere with their shopping experience), you can use the Store Status function to prevent access to the store temporarily.
By closing the store, you can create an 'under construction' page that the public will see when they go to your domain.
Furthermore, you can limit access to the store so only you and your staff can see the site during the design and functionality edits.
To close the store:
Go to Settings > Design > Store Status.
Check the Store Closed radio button.
Create the message you would like your customers to see in the WYSIWYG editor.
Click Save at the top right to close the store.
As an alternative to closing the entire store, you can also select to only close the checkout portions of your site by selecting the "Checkout Closed" radio button. This will still allow your customers to browse your products and site in general but will place your Store Closed Message if the customer tries to proceed to checkout.
Additional Information:
Please also note that the store will be viewable to you if you attempt to view it under the following two conditions:
A: You are currently logged into the store's Online Store Manager.
-and-
B: You are viewing the store from the same browser that is logged in to the Shift4Shop Online Store Manager.
To view the store fully - in all instances - from your own network/Internet connection, follow the steps outlined below.
Grant Access To Your IP
Once you close the store, you can grant access to your connection's IP address so that you can see the changes you make to the store while it remains closed to the public.
To do this, click the Add My IP button under the Grant Access To These IPs section, and the system will automatically populate your connection's IP into the field.
To open the store:
To make the store accessible to the public once again, follow the same steps described above and select the Store Opened radio button.