Network mode remains enabled after clearing its checkbox

[pirate-bot]

Summary

On WordPress multisite, clearing Enable network mode and saving can leave network mode enabled. The setting is expected to persist as disabled so individual sites use their own maintenance-mode status. Instead, the previous network setting remains effective and can continue overriding site-level status, making maintenance mode appear impossible to disable from an affected subsite.

Customer context

• Product / area: LightStart network settings and maintenance-mode status
• Version: 2.6.23
• Environment: The reporting site’s WordPress, PHP, hosting, and multisite details were not provided; repository confirmation applies to the multisite network-settings path
• Integration / third party: Not provided
• Reported error / symptom: Maintenance mode could not be disabled
• Impact: A persisted network override can prevent a subsite’s local disabled status from taking effect

Reproduction notes

Repository-derived reproduction for the confirmed path:

1. On WordPress multisite with LightStart 2.6.23, open the plugin’s network settings.
2. Enable Enable network mode, select an active network status, and save.
3. Clear Enable network mode and save again.
4. Observe that the prior network-mode value remains effective and can continue overriding a subsite whose local status is disabled.

The submission itself only states that maintenance mode could not be disabled. It does not provide multisite status, the screen used, cache details, or runtime results for these steps.

Diagnosis

Conclusion

The multisite network-settings path contains a confirmed persistence defect consistent with the reported inability to disable maintenance mode. The network-mode checkbox supplies only the enabled value, while the save handler normalizes network_mode only when that field is present. When the control is cleared, the handler rebuilds and saves the network option from the previously loaded value, leaving network mode active. The customer did not identify multisite, so this path’s relationship to the specific submission remains an inference.

Where this likely occurs

• Network settings UI: views/network-settings.php — network settings form, lines 19–43, renders options[general][network_mode] only as a checked-value checkbox and provides no submitted disabled value.
• Settings persistence: includes/classes/wp-maintenance-mode-admin.php — WP_Maintenance_Mode_Admin::save_plugin_settings() lines 403–478 normalizes network_mode only when present; lines 603–619 rebuild and writes wpmm_settings_network from the resulting settings state.
• Effective frontend state: includes/classes/wp-maintenance-mode.php — WP_Maintenance_Mode::__construct() lines 48–64 loads the network option and replaces the site status when network mode remains enabled; lines 89–92 register the maintenance gate for active status.
• Release history: commit b88c4e842ff49fe85adf057e10120e95931fae57 introduced the network-mode checkbox and persistence path for v2.6.4. The same behavior is present in tag v2.6.23; this is not classified as a regression because no earlier working version of this checkbox behavior was identified.
• GitHub issue Enable/disable maintenance mode for sub-sites from one place #295 is the closed feature request that introduced centralized multisite control, not an open issue tracking this persistence defect. Searches through the repository’s issues found no matching open report.

Engineering notes

The confirmed scope is WordPress multisite when network mode was previously enabled and a network administrator attempts to clear that mode. While the stale network override remains enabled, its network status takes precedence over each site’s local status. Selecting the separate Deactivated for all sites network status represents a different submitted path and can stop the public maintenance gate, but it does not establish that clearing network mode persisted.

Test coverage status

tests/e2e/specs/maintenance-mode.spec.js — the maintenance mode lifecycle suite lines 12–90 covers ordinary single-site enable and disable behavior, including public frontend access after disabling. No relevant coverage was found during inspection for the network settings form, persistence of wpmm_settings_network, or clearing an enabled network_mode value.

What to verify or explore next

• A multisite runtime reproduction on tag v2.6.23: enable network mode, save, clear Enable network mode, save again, and inspect both the rendered checkbox state and effective subsite status.
• The value of wpmm_settings_network after the cleared-checkbox submission.
• Subsite behavior when its local status is disabled but the prior network status is active.
• Compatibility checks across supported WordPress multisite versions and both network-activated and per-site plugin activation.

Unknowns / follow-up

• The feedback does not establish whether the reporting site used multisite or whether the user acted from network settings versus a site’s General tab.
• No controlled runtime reproduction was performed during this read-only inspection.
• The customer’s cache configuration and exact observed page after disabling are unavailable.

Confidence

Confidence: 88/100

Version 2.6.23 contains a definite multisite persistence defect that can keep the network override active after its checkbox is cleared; no matching open issue was found. The separate “not compatible with themeisle” submission lacks an identifiable product, symptom, or reproducible behavior and is not confirmed as a defect.

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Source: automated uninstall feedback — wp-maintenance-mode, 2026-09-11
Generated by bug-report-triage (ID: bug-report-triage_6aa4dc87d9b315.73553805)

[selul]

Closing as not reproduced: single-site and multisite tests confirm that clearing network mode disables it (the save logic is unchanged from v2.6.23); an undefined-key warning exists, but the previous enabled value is not retained.