Site controls
Under Settings → Privacy & security → Site controls, toggle maintenance mode, site-wide watermarks on public photo detail pages, right-click discouragement, default noindex for new content, and optional search-engine notify when public pages change—confirm maintenance is off before client launch links.
Site controls configure how visitors experience your public site. Open Settings → Privacy & security → Site controls, make changes, then Save Changes at the top of Settings.
The Privacy status strip at the top shows whether Maintenance is on, how Search indexing (default) is set, and whether Search notify is on.
Maintenance mode
When Maintenance mode is on, visitors to your public site see a maintenance page instead of normal pages. You can still use the dashboard and preview links.
| Control | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Maintenance mode toggle | Turns public maintenance page on or off |
| Public maintenance heading | Optional custom heading (up to 2000 characters). If empty, visitors see Under Maintenance |
Platform-wide maintenance (rare) can override your site when ArtInStack operations enable it—your toggle may not bring the public site back until that clears. If your site stays down after you turn maintenance off, check status with support.
Before sending a launch link to clients, confirm maintenance is Off and load your homepage in a private browser window.
Watermark on public image views
Protects public photo detail pages (single-image URLs on your site)—not every thumbnail or gallery grid.
| Control | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Watermark on public image views | Site default: when on, eligible public photo detail views use your watermark |
| Watermark image | Pick a semi-transparent PNG from Media (logo-style mark). Required for the edge watermark to appear |
Per-portfolio override: Portfolio → Portfolio Settings → Visibility & SEO → Watermark on public photo detail can be Inherit site default, Always on, or Always off. See Photo detail pages.
Watermarks apply where the platform serves decorated masters for photo detail/lightbox—not hero sliders, product marketing grids, or arbitrary page blocks.
Discourage right-click on the public site
When enabled, public image regions add friction on the browser context menu where the viewer UI supports it. This is a deterrent, not DRM—determined users can still save images. Pair with watermarking and download policy in Portfolio settings for client delivery.
Hide new content from search engines by default
When on, new pages, posts, and portfolios start with “hide from search engines” unless you explicitly allow indexing in that item’s settings. Existing content is unchanged until you edit each item.
Use this if you prefer opt-in SEO rather than opt-out. Per-page overrides remain in Page settings and Portfolio Settings.
Notify search engines when public pages change
This is not the same as Hide new content from search engines by default or per-item Hide from search engines.
When on, ArtInStack tells participating search engines (IndexNow) that a public page, post, or public portfolio gallery URL changed after you publish or update it. Hidden, unpublished, and maintenance URLs are not sent. Photo detail URLs and product pages are not included.
The toggle is off by default. Turning it off later stops new pings—it does not remove pages already in search results. Sitemap and per-item hide-from-search still control what can be indexed.
You do not create or paste a search-engine key; ArtInStack manages that.
See Page SEO settings for meta tags, sitemap, and hide-from-search, and Blog SEO and Discovery for posts.
Implementation steps
- Open Settings → Privacy & security → Site controls.
- Leave Maintenance mode off unless you are actively upgrading the site.
- If you sell or market via public photo URLs, enable Watermark on public image views and choose a Watermark image from Media.
- Review each Portfolio that needs a different rule (Always on / Always off).
- Enable Discourage right-click only if it matches your brand policy.
- Set Hide new content from search engines by default to match how you publish (strict vs open SEO).
- Set Notify search engines when public pages change only if you want participating engines pinged when public pages, posts, or public portfolio galleries change (off by default).
- Click Save Changes on Settings.
- Open a public photo detail URL (or preview) and confirm watermark/maintenance behavior.
Verifying your setup
- Maintenance mode is off for go-live; public homepage loads for signed-out visitors.
- With watermark enabled, a test photo detail page shows your mark (portfolio not set to Always off).
- Watermark image is selected and saved—not an empty placeholder.
- New page/portfolio defaults match your SEO intent (spot-check one new draft).
- Search notify matches your intent on the Privacy status strip (off unless you opted in).
- Privacy status strip shows expected Maintenance, Search indexing, and Search notify lines after save.