Simple Uptime Monitor Configuration

This page details every option of the monitoring settings for Simple Uptime Monitors. We do not recommend reading it start to finish - instead, use it as a reference when needed.

For details about alert settings - which are common to all monitor types - check this page.

For information about Simple Uptime Monitors in general, check this page.

Basics

These options are the only ones that must be specified, to configure essential settings.

Monitor name

Default value: (blank)

Use this textbox to give your monitor a name. It is required, and any value up to 50 characters long is valid.

You should choose a name that makes sense to you, as it is shown throughout the console and on any alerts that are sent. The value has no other impact.

Note that this option is only present when creating a new monitor. To edit the name of an existing one, use the Rename panel on the General tab of the settings page.

Website URL

Default value: (blank)

Here, you should enter the address of the website you wish to monitor.

Paste in a copied URL, or use the dropdown to select whether to use the HTTP or HTTPS protocol (we recommend always using HTTPS, if your site supports it) then enter the rest of the address in the textbox.

Only valid URLs are allowed, but they can include any combination of components. If the hostname is an IP address then it must not be in a private range. If it is a domain name then it must be publicly resolvable. localhost is not a valid hostname.

Check frequency

Default value: 5 minutes

This option determines when or how often the monitor performs checks.

To have your monitor fire on a regular schedule, enter a valid interval using the textbox and dropdown. Any combination is allowed, so long as the equivalent number of seconds is:

• a whole number (e.g. 0.5 minutes is allowed, 0.99 minutes is not)
• no more than 2592000 (30 days, in seconds)
• no less than the minimum allowed by your plan

The monitor will run for the first time as soon as you create it; then at every specified time interval thereafter.

Using an interval of less than 60 seconds will cause the monitor to consume additional monitor credits. See this page for more details.

Incidents

This configuration panel is used to determine various incident behaviours in response to a change in the monitor's internal status.

As alerts are sent when an incident is opened, it also affects when you will be notified about any potential issues.

Automatically open an incident

Default: True, for Down and Partial

This setting determines if an incident is created automatically when the monitor reaches a certain status.

Alerts (if any, as configured separately) are sent when an incident is opened.

By default, it is set to open if the monitor has an internal status of Down or Partial. This means that alerts will be sent if your service is down, but not if it is simply experiencing performance issues.

While for most users this is likely the right balance between false positives and false negatives, you are free to adjust it to better suit you needs, by selecting the relevant checkboxes. You may also wish to review the relevant trigger thresholds.

If you choose the Disable incident management for this monitor option, an incident will never be automatically opened. As this will effectively prevent any alerts being sent, it is not recommended in most cases. However, it could be useful for monitors that just gather metrics, or when other incident management services are already in place.

Show on public status pages

Default: True

This option determines if automatically-opened incidents are added to public status pages by default.

It is always possible to show incidents (of any type) on public status pages by choosing this option from the incident details page, but by default we can also do this automatically. This allows your users to see the latest details immediately, and may reassure them that the issue is being dealt with.

However, if you wish to have stronger control over your status pages, you may deselect this checkbox. Any future automatically-opened incidents will not appear on status pages until manually added. Existing incidents will still show, until manually removed.

As with all status page messages, an incident will only ever appear on status pages that feature the associated monitor as part of their content.

This setting does not affect internal status pages, which always show all incidents relevant to their contents, to keep staff up-to-date with the latest developments.

This option only applies to incidents opened automatically and thus has no effect if Automatically open an incident is disabled.

Incidents opened manually from the dashboard allow the choice of where they should be shown, during the creation process. Incidents reported by team members are never shown on public status pages until confirmed or acknowledged manually.

Automatically resolve incidents

Default: True

This setting controls how automatically-opened incidents are resolved.

With this option enabled, as is the default, they are automatically resolved as soon as the monitor reaches an internal status of Online.

Only automatically-opened incidents are ever automatically-resolved. It has no effect on those opened manually from the console, or reported by team members.

However, if you would rather ensure that all incidents raised by this monitor are only ever resolvable manually, you can uncheck this option.