Why a short heads-up beats a surprise
Most customers do not mind planned work. They mind finding out about it when the site is down and they are trying to get something done. A short notice a few days ahead gives people time to plan around you, and it saves you the awkward reply to an angry email.
You do not need to frame this as a crisis. Maintenance is normal. Say what is happening, keep it brief and get on with the work.
What a good maintenance notice contains
Four things, in this order:
- What is changing. 'Upgrading the database server to a new version' is clearer than 'maintenance work'.
- When it starts and ends, with the time zone.
- How long you expect it to take, and what the worst case looks like if you have one.
- Who is affected. Is the whole app down, or only the reporting page? Is the API affected? Can people still log in?
If a reader can answer 'does this touch me?' from the notice alone, it has done its job.
Pick a window and state the time zone
Pick a window when your traffic is lowest. For a UK customer base that is often late evening or early morning, but check your own analytics rather than guessing. If you have customers in several countries, say so and choose a time that suits most of them.
Always write the time zone. '02:00 to 03:00 UK time' is clear. '02:00 to 03:00' is not, especially for a client in another country or a team member reading it on a phone.
Give a window longer than you expect the work to take. If you think it will take 30 minutes, state an hour. Finishing early is a good outcome. Overrunning a tight window is what causes the complaints.
Post it on your status page at least a few days ahead where you can
Put the notice on your status page first, then link to it from email or in-app messages. A status page is the one place people look when something feels wrong, so a planned entry there answers the 'is it just me?' question before it gets asked.
Where you can, post it a few days ahead. Some work cannot be scheduled that far out, such as an urgent security patch. In that case, post it as early as you reasonably can and say why it is short notice.
Send a short reminder on the day, then mark it started and complete
A reminder on the day, a few hours before the window, catches the people who skimmed the first notice. Keep it to two or three lines: what, when and a link.
When the work starts, update the status page entry to show it is in progress. When it finishes, mark it complete and say what changed in one sentence, such as 'The database upgrade is complete and all services are back to normal.' That closes the loop and tells people nothing else is waiting for them.
A plain template readers can copy today, whatever tool they use
Copy this into an email, a chat message or your status page, and fill in the brackets.
Subject: Planned maintenance on [service], [date] at [start time] UK time
We will be carrying out planned maintenance on [service] on [date] from [start time] to [end time] UK time.
What: [one sentence describing the work]
Who is affected: [whole app / specific feature / API / nothing user-facing]
Expected impact: [for example, the app will be unavailable, or logins may be slow]
We will post updates at [status page link]. If the timing changes, we will tell you there first.
Thanks for your patience, [Name], [Company]
Keep the wording plain. Readers scan these notices, so the first line and the time matter most.
What to do if the work overruns: post an update, do not go quiet
Overruns happen. The mistake is saying nothing. Silence makes people assume the worst, and then they email you to ask.
Before the window closes, post an update on the status page. Say that the work is taking longer, give a new estimate and state when the next update will come. Then keep to that schedule, even if there is nothing new to report. A line such as 'Still working on it, next update at 03:30 UK time' is enough.
Once the work is done, mark it complete and say the window has closed. For planned work you do not need a long write-up, but one honest sentence about why it overran builds more trust than a quiet finish.
How AperioFlow supports scheduled maintenance on its status page
The status page supports scheduled maintenance entries with a start and end time in UK time, plus the started and completed states described above.
Free read-only viewers are included on every plan, so clients and stakeholders can follow the schedule without taking up a paid seat. Hosted in France.