Compatibility:

WebSite X5 Evo and Pro

Coming soon pages are used when a website is under construction, so it isn't ready for being exported online yet: with the coming soon page, you can anticipate that a website will soon be available, which increases expectations and curiosity, so that, once live, it will already have an active audience ready to use it.


#tip - To better understand what coming soon pages are and how they are built, please read the article: Website under construction: how and why you should create a “coming soon” page. You will find many examples and ideas to start from.


Actually, coming soon pages can be useful in many different situations: for example, when your website is already live and you want to inform about an upcoming new section.


You can easily manage all these situations with WebSite X5. Let's see how by using the 6 layouts available in the WebSite Tuning Pack bundle.


How to create a coming soon page to inform about an upcoming website

In this case, the easiest way to proceed is to create a new project including the coming soon page only.


You can in fact create a single page where you will include all the necessary contents using the specific Objects: the logo, a brief description, a registration form, contact information including the social accounts and possibly a countdown.


#tip - For the countdown, don't forget to use the Flip Clock Optional Object.


Creating a coming soon page starting from a template

If you want to complete your page easier and quicker, you can use one of the layouts available WebSite Tuning Pack bundle instead of starting from scratch:

  • After having purchased the bundle, start WebSite X5 and open the WebSite Tuning Pack project.
  • Go to Step 3 - Sitemap Creation and select the layout you want to use among the available pages. You can use the local Preview to see how they look like.
  • Copy the page with the specific command.
  • Close the WebSite Tuning Pack project and open a new one. You will be asked to choose the template you want to start from: it doesn't matter the one you choose, so you can select a blank one.
  • Go to Step 3 - Sitemap Creation, select the 3 default pages and remove them, then click on the Paste command to paste the page you previously copied from the WebSite Tuning Pack project.
  • Select the pasted page and click on Properties.
  •  In the Graphic section, check if the option Create the Page without the Template is active: in this way, the contents of the pages will still be available, but neither the graphic style nor the navigation menu will be applied.
  • Go back to the Sitemap, select the page you pasted again and right-click on it so to open the context menu: click on Set as Home Page (see: How to set a Page as new project Home Page).
  • A dialog box asks if you want all the links to be redirected to the new Home Page: in our example there shouldn't be any links, so you can go for both Yes or No. For your own projects, please carefully make your choice. 
  • Now you can move create your contents by customizing the available Objects and adding new ones.
  • Don't forget the templates are optimized for mobile: take this into account when you apply your modifications, as these could affect the way the website is displayed on mobile.


Project upload and management on server

Once your coming soon page is ready, you can publish your project in the server main folder and start promoting your future website.


Meanwhile, you can keep developing your main project and possibly export it in a server temporary subfolder (such as /dev). In this way, if your visitors type the main URL (such as www.mywebsite.com), they will land on the coming soon page, and at the same time you will be able to check out an online preview of the main project by accessing the subfolder (such as www.mywebsite.com/dev).


Once your website will be ready, you will only have to move the coming soon page in a service subfolder (or simply remove it), and then export the final project in the server main folder.


You can very simply operate on the server folders and subfolders  by using the built-in FTP program on WebSite X5 Step 5.

         

How to create a coming soon page if your website is already online

Let's assume you have an online shop: you have always been selling men and women's clothes, but now you want to add a section for children's clothing as well. Start letting your customers know about your project even before publishing your new products.


That's what you need to do:

  • Open your online shop project.
  • Go to Step 3 - Sitemap Creation and add a new page, which will be your coming soon page. You can create it from scratch or by using one of the layouts available in WebSite Tuning Pack. In this case, you can follow the procedure we mentioned before by putting particular attention on the following aspects:
    • consider if you want to activate the option Create the Page without the Template on Properties > Graphic:  as your coming soon page will be part of an online website, you may want to keep the template and the navigation menu.
    • don't set the page as new Home Page for the website.
  • To keep the coming soon page out of the menu, select it and click on the Hidden button.
  • While in the Map, add a new "Children's fashion" level and add the necessary sub-pages. 
  • Select the level you just created and click on Properties.
  • In the following window, activate the Hide the Drop Down Menu for this Level option.
  • Click on the button next to the Link to be executed on item click option: in the Link window, select the WebSite Page action and select the coming soon page.
  • Finally, select all the sub-pages you added for the "Children's fashion" level and set them as Under Construction with the button (see: How to manage an incomplete page).


Now you can check the result using the local preview. Select the  "Children's fashion" level on the navigation menu: you will be redirected to the coming soon page. You can keep it online as long as you're done setting up the new products. Once everything will be ready, you will simply have to remove the link to the coming soon page and upload the updated website.