Check page content

Steps

1. Enter the page address

   Keep the monitor type on HTTP(s). Under URL to watch, enter the full address of the page that shows the text, for example https://example.com/shop. The check reads only this page.

   

2. Choose what counts as down

   Under Counts as down when, choose one condition:

   • The page is missing a text: alerts when the text is gone. Use it for something every healthy page shows, such as a button label.
   • The page contains a text: alerts when the text appears. Use it for an error message that arrives inside a normal page.
   • The status code is other than…: alerts when the page answers with any other status code than the one you name.

   The default, It stops responding or returns an error, treats every answer outside the 2xx range as down. A monitor has one condition. For two conditions on one page, create two monitors.

   

3. Enter the text or the status code

   For a text, type it into Text to look for, for example Add to cart. up4 looks for exactly these characters in the page source. Ignore case is on, so ADD TO CART matches too. Turn it off when capitalization matters.

   For a status code, enter a number from 100 to 599 under Expected status code. up4 compares it with the final answer, after redirects. To expect the redirect itself, such as 301, turn off Follow redirects in step 4.

   

4. Set up the request if the page needs it

   Scroll to the card Everything else and open Request. Change only what the page needs:

   • Method: GET, HEAD, POST, PATCH, PUT or OPTIONS. Text checks always use GET, because a HEAD answer has no page to read.
   • Request body: appears for POST, PUT and PATCH, up to 8 KB. up4 sends it as form data unless you add a Content-Type header. These methods need an interval of at least 1 minute.
   • Headers: up to 20 name and value pairs, sent with every check, 8 KB in total. Use them for an access token. Values are stored encrypted.
   • Basic authentication: user name and password for pages behind HTTP basic authentication. The password is stored encrypted and never shown again.
   • Follow redirects is on by default. Keep cookies when redirecting is off by default; turn it on for sites that set a cookie before they show the page.
   • Timeout: how long up4 waits for the whole answer. The default is 30 seconds, the longest is 1 minute.
   • Proxy: a host and a port, if the check must go through your proxy.

   

5. Run a test

   Select Check now. On a wide screen the button sits in the panel on the right, on a narrow one under the address. up4 runs one real check with the settings you have not saved yet and says what it found, for example “Add to cart” is on the page. When the text is missing, the result says so and adds that this would count as down.

   

6. Create the monitor

   Select Create & start. Starts checking right after you create it.

   

If something is off

What up4 does not do here

• A text check needs a 2xx answer. A page that answers 404 or 500 counts as down, whatever it says. To expect such a code, use The status code is other than….
• up4 reads only the first 1 MiB of a page. A text further down is not found, and the alert says that the text is not in the first 1 MiB.
• The match is a plain search for your characters. up4 supports no regular expressions and no wildcards, and it reads the source, not the rendered page.
• up4 does not sign in through a login form. It can send headers and basic authentication.
• A single failed check does not alert you. A status change needs 3 matching results. When you get alerted explains the rest.
• How often up4 checks, from where, and how a check runs are explained in checks and regions.