HTTP and HTTPS monitoring

An HTTP monitor checks that a web page responds properly: it queries the address at regular intervals and checks the status code, the response the server sends to signal whether everything went fine or something failed. It's the most direct check there is, and it's also the one that catches most of the real problems a site runs into over a year.

You can point the monitor at a single page, the one that actually matters (the homepage, the checkout, a booking form), or follow several at once. With multiple pages you get two modes: rotation, one page per cycle so the site isn't hammered, or sequence, all of them every round, if the volume allows it. The minimum interval between two checks is one minute.

Why check the page content too

The status code alone isn't always enough. Some errors still return a successful response, even when the page is blank or shows an internal message the site doesn't handle properly. For these cases you can have the monitor look for a word that must appear, like an order confirmation or a product price, or one that must never appear, like the text of an error some systems return without changing the status code. These are the most deceptive cases: a site that looks up, but isn't, for whoever's actually using it.

A concrete case

The payment form on a small online shop stops working because of a botched plugin update, on a Friday afternoon. Without a dedicated check, it's only discovered on Monday, among missed weekend orders. With a monitor on the checkout page, checking for the word that only appears once a payment succeeds, the alert arrives within minutes.

Self-service or assisted setup

If you're running a single site, a monitor on the homepage with the default settings is usually enough. If you're not sure which page to check or which word to look for in the content, you can ask the Etizei team to set up monitoring together with you: you give us the site's address, we decide the rest together. Once it's active, you can also choose how you want to be notified if something breaks, with email and Telegram alerts.