Since we are in beta and it looks like we'll be doing many upgrades (which is great) I think there should be a "site under maintenance " feature where you can shutdown the site and show a friendly message. This page would have a login box so administrator can still acccess the pages.
The 2 apps I use and install with some regularity both have this feature.
Here is a current site of mine with that feature enabled.
http://www.canadapc.com
If I log in to the site it functions as usual for me.
It allows me to work and experiment on the site without embarrassment because I tend to break things
Randy