How can PHP sessions be utilized to control access to a website during maintenance?

During maintenance, you can utilize PHP sessions to control access to a website by checking if a specific session variable is set. If the variable is not set, you can redirect users to a maintenance page. This way, only users with the correct session variable can access the website during maintenance.

<?php
session_start();

if(!isset($_SESSION['maintenance_access'])) {
    header("Location: maintenance_page.php");
    exit();
}
?>