Don't Let WordPress Ruin Your Christmas

Christmas should be about switching off, not logging into wp-admin while everyone else is off having fun and opening presents.

And yet… every year, WordPress has a habit of choosing the worst possible moment to throw a wobble. A plugin update gone wrong. A checkout that mysteriously stops working. A “quick change” that turns into a festive disaster.

Here’s how to stop WordPress (and WooCommerce) from ruining your Christmas.

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🎅 No “Quick Updates” Before Christmas

“I’ll just update this one plugin, it’ll only take a minute…”
Famous last words

Unless it’s a critical security fix, don’t update WordPress, themes, or plugins right before Christmas. Updates can conflict, break layouts, or knock WooCommerce checkout offline – and suddenly you’re debugging instead of watching TV repeats and eating chocolate.

Do this instead:

Run updates in early December.
Test key pages (homepage, contact forms, checkout).
Freeze updates until January.

WordPress can wait. Your Christmas can’t.

🎁 Backups: Because Christmas Miracles Are Rare

If your site breaks and you don’t have a backup, Christmas is officially cancelled.

Before the festive break:

Make sure backups run automatically.
Confirm they’re stored off-site.
Check you know how to restore one (future you will panic).

Backups are boring – until they save your entire holiday.

🛒 WooCommerce: The Real Christmas Stress Test

For WooCommerce sites, Christmas is when everything gets busy and fragile.

Before you log off:

Test checkout, payments, and emails.
Check stock levels and out-of-stock messaging.
Add clear last order dates for Christmas delivery.
Update shipping times and holiday closures.

This stops customers emailing to ask where their order is… on Christmas Day.

🎄 Set Expectations (Before Customers Set Fire to Your Inbox)

If you’re taking time off, your website should say so.

Simple things help massively:

A festive banner or notice with holiday hours.
Updated contact page.
Auto-replies on support emails.
Order confirmation notes explaining delays.

People are generally reasonable – if you tell them what’s going on.

🔒 Lock the Doors Before You Leave

Hackers don’t respect public holidays.

Before you disappear into turkey-induced bliss:

Make sure security plugins are active.
Enable login protection or 2FA.
Remove old admin accounts.
Delete unused plugins and themes.

Think of it as locking up the office before the Christmas break.

☕ Bonus: Do Future-You a Favour

If things are quiet:

Clear spam comments.
Schedule January blog posts.
Check forms still send emails.

January-you will be very grateful. Slightly tired, but grateful.

🎉 Final Thought: WordPress Is Great – Timing Is Everything

WordPress isn’t the enemy. Bad timing is.

A little preparation now means:

No emergency logins.
No panicked client messages.
No “the site’s down” texts during dinner.

So take an hour, prep your site, and don’t let WordPress ruin your Christmas.

🎄 Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and may all your plugins behave themselves. 🎄

Don’t Let WordPress Ruin Your Christmas

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