CitySpark Events and Embeds vs Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce

CitySpark Inc. is the leading event listing and promotion platform for publishers. This plugin integrates the CitySpark platform into WordPress, allowing you to easily display your CitySpark calendar along with business listings and upcoming best of content. This plugin requires a CitySpark account. Go to CitySpark.com for more info. External services This plugin embeds scripts on the page that provide access to CitySpark, Inc’s services, including displaying community events in your area and allowing users to log into the CitySpark system to bookmark events. Usage of the plugin by a publisher requires a CitySpark subscription and the embedded scripts can be configured in the CitySpark Admin site. This service is provided by “CitySpark, Inc”: terms of use. Configuring the settings Before adding a block to the page, make sure to update the CitySpark Admin Page Settings. The settings configured here are required for the correct operation of plugin, and without them you may run into undesired 404 errors. In the CitySpark Event Calendar Settings page on the WordPress admin site, add a new “Placement URL” for each Portal and List Page block you intend to add to your site. Include the Placement URL and the Script ID just as you see on the CitySpark Admin site. Adding the block You can add a CitySpark Block to any page or post with the Gutenberg block editor. Directions for the different kind of blocks are outlined below. Portal and List Page Blocks After adding a CitySpark Portal or List Page Block to any page or post with the WordPress Gutenberg editor, insert the Script ID that matches the script that you want from the CitySpark admin page, and you should see the block show up in the preview (currently only available for CitySpark Portal blocks). Widget Blocks After adding one or more CitySpark Widget Blocks to a page or post with the WordPress Gutenberg editor, insert the Widget ID that matches the widget you want from the CitySpark admin page. Custom Hostname If ad-blockers on your visitors’ browsers are preventing the CitySpark portal script from loading, you can serve it through your own domain instead. To set this up: Log in to admin.cityspark.com and configure a Custom Domain (e.g. events.yoursite.com). Follow the DNS instructions provided there to point that hostname at CitySpark’s servers. In the CitySpark Event Calendar Settings page in your WordPress admin, find the Custom Hostname section and enter just the hostname — no https:// prefix (e.g. events.yoursite.com). Click Save Custom Hostname. The plugin will now load the portal script from your domain instead of portal.cityspark.com. Leave the field blank at any time to revert to the default CitySpark domain.

Formerly known as Woo Store Vacation — trusted by WooCommerce stores since 2017. Going on vacation, closing for a holiday, or pausing for a fulfilment break? Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce lets you temporarily stop taking new orders while keeping your store visible to customers. Instead of taking your website offline, the plugin keeps your shop browsable and your products indexed while giving you control over whether visitors can place new orders. Schedule a vacation period, disable purchases, display a clear notice, and automatically reopen your store when the vacation ends. This is useful when you want to: Take time off without receiving new orders. Pause checkout while still letting customers browse products. Show a clear vacation or holiday notice on your store. Let customers know when your shop will reopen. Keep selected products available during vacation mode. Avoid confusion, missed expectations, or unnecessary support messages. Pause WooCommerce orders while keeping your store visible When vacation mode is active, your shop remains online and accessible to visitors. Customers can still browse your products, but purchases can be paused by disabling the cart, checkout, and add-to-cart buttons. This preserves your storefront and product visibility — and your SEO ranking — while preventing new orders during periods when you are unavailable. Schedule your vacation dates Set a start date and end date for your vacation period based on your site’s local timezone. Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce automatically applies the vacation settings during the scheduled period and restores normal store behavior when the vacation ends. You can also deactivate vacation mode manually at any time if you return earlier than planned. Display a custom vacation notice Create a clear vacation message to explain why the store is temporarily closed and when customers should return. The vacation notice can include: Custom message text. Start and end date smart tags. Custom text and background colors. A call-to-action button. A custom button URL, such as a contact page. The notice appears on WooCommerce shop and product pages. You can also place it on other pages using the Store Vacation Notice block, Elementor widget, or [woo_store_vacation] shortcode. Control product availability during vacation mode Sometimes you may want to pause most of your store while keeping selected products available. Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce includes condition settings that let you keep specific items purchasable while vacation mode is active. You can exclude selected: Products. Product categories. Product tags. Product types. Shipping classes. This gives you more flexibility than fully closing the entire store — perfect for keeping digital downloads, gift cards, or pre-orders available while pausing physical fulfilment. Built for real store situations Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce is designed for the closure situations WooCommerce merchants actually run into: personal vacations, holidays, illness, family emergencies, fulfilment delays, stock reviews, maintenance windows, or short business breaks. The plugin is translation-ready and includes configuration support for multilingual stores using WPML and Polylang. Lite features Schedule a temporary vacation period. Pause purchases automatically during vacation mode. Keep your shop and products visible while paused. Display a vacation notice on WooCommerce shop and product pages. Add the notice anywhere with a block, shortcode, or Elementor widget. Add a call-to-action button to the notice. Use {{start_date}} and {{end_date}} smart tags in your message. Customize notice text and background colors. Keep selected products, categories, tags, product types, or shipping classes available. Allow shop managers to manage vacation settings. HPOS compatible. Translation-ready with WPML and Polylang support. Need more control? Upgrade to Store Vacation Pro Store Vacation Pro adds advanced scheduling, saved-cart tools, storefront controls, and vacation reporting for stores that need to do more than pause purchases. Upgrade to Store Vacation Pro to unlock the full workflow. With Store Vacation Pro, you can: Plan closures for real business rhythms Schedule unlimited vacation periods — plan holidays and seasonal breaks months in advance. Set recurring weekday closures — close every Sunday, every Monday morning, or any custom pattern. Configure opening hours — publish your business hours and auto-close the shop outside them. View a calendar of every upcoming, active, and past closure at a glance. Turn closures into conversions, not lost customers Save Cart for Later — customers can save their cart before you close, then restore it in one click when you reopen. Shareable saved cart link — customers copy, bookmark, or share their cart across devices. Email the saved cart — send the restore link straight to the customer’s inbox from the storefront. Allow cart building while checkout is closed — shoppers keep adding items during vacation and check out the moment you reopen. Countdown timer — show a live counter to your reopening date directly in the notice. Announcement bar — display a site-wide vacation banner across every page. Advance notice before closure — warn customers days ahead so they can order early. Measure what happens while you’re away Vacation reports dashboard — see cart interactions, checkouts, revenue, and unique customers during each closure. Recent activity table — every add-to-cart, cart update, saved cart, and checkout that happened while paused, with product and customer resolution. Filters and CSV export — narrow by date range and vacation period, export the raw event log. Configurable data retention — auto-prune old event logs after your chosen number of days, weeks, months, or years. Track vacation orders — flag and filter orders placed while vacation mode was active, right from the WooCommerce Orders screen. Control exactly what customers see Replace shop pages with custom content — serve your own vacation landing page instead of the default product grid. Password-protect shop access — gate the store behind a shared password. Private access links — send unique URLs that unlock the store for approved customers. Bypass restrictions for unlocked visitors — approved shoppers check out normally while the rest of the store is paused. Hide prices, add-to-cart, and mini cart — strip commerce UI entirely during vacation, converting the store into a browsable catalog. Advanced vacation notices — reusable templates with smart tags, rich text, CTAs, and custom styling. Vacation Content block — build custom pages that only appear while the store is in vacation mode. Fine-tune product availability Exclude by product, category, tag, product type, shipping class, WooCommerce brand, or user role. Copy conditions between schedules so you don’t rebuild the same exceptions for every closure. Ship it with confidence Admin reminder emails — get an email before each vacation starts. Dashboard widget — see upcoming closures at a glance on your WP admin dashboard. Force close the store instantly — pause purchases immediately without setting up a schedule. Import and export settings — move Store Vacation configuration between sites. REST API — access vacation schedule data programmatically. If your store needs recurring closures, multiple schedules, opening hours, saved carts, vacation reporting, or more control over what customers see while the shop is closed, Store Vacation Pro is the best upgrade path.