Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions about JF Monitor

General Questions

What is JF Monitor?

JF Monitor is a website monitoring service that tracks uptime, performance, and content changes for your websites. We check your websites at regular intervals and alert you immediately via email or Telegram when issues are detected.

How does website monitoring work?

Our system performs automated HTTP requests to your websites at intervals you specify (from every minute to every 5 minutes, depending on your plan). We monitor HTTP status codes, response times, and HTML content changes. If we detect downtime, slow response times, or significant content changes, you'll receive instant alerts.

What types of issues can JF Monitor detect?

We monitor and alert you for:

  • Downtime: Non-200 HTTP status codes (404, 500, 503, etc.)
  • Timeouts: Requests taking longer than 30 seconds
  • Content changes: Significant HTML modifications exceeding your threshold
  • Response time: Slow server responses affecting user experience

Do I need to install anything on my website?

No installation required! JF Monitor works by making external HTTP requests to your public-facing websites. Simply add your website URL and configure your preferences - we handle everything else.

Pricing & Plans

What's included in the Free plan?

The Free plan includes monitoring for 1 website with checks every 5 minutes, unlimited email and Telegram alerts, uptime tracking, content change detection, and HTML snapshots. It's perfect for personal projects or trying out the service.

What are the differences between paid plans?

Starter ($5/month): 10 websites, 1-minute checks, SLA reports, priority support

Pro ($10/month): 25 websites, 1-minute checks, custom alert thresholds

Business ($25/month): 50 websites, 1-minute checks, API access (coming soon)

All paid plans include faster check frequencies (every minute vs. every 5 minutes on Free), more websites, and PDF-exportable SLA reports.

Can I upgrade or downgrade my plan?

Yes! You can change your plan anytime from the Billing page. Upgrades take effect immediately with prorated billing. When downgrading, you'll need to remove websites if you exceed the new plan's limit before the change can take effect.

How does billing work?

All plans are billed monthly via Lemon Squeezy. You can manage your subscription, update payment methods, or cancel anytime from your Billing page. When you cancel, you'll retain access until the end of your billing period.

Is there a free trial for paid plans?

The Free plan serves as a permanent trial - you can use it indefinitely to test the service with 1 website. When you're ready for more websites or faster checks, upgrade to a paid plan anytime.

Monitoring & Alerts

How do I set up email alerts?

Go to Settings and configure your alert preferences. You can add multiple email addresses to receive notifications. We send alerts for downtime, content changes, and automatic recovery. All emails are sent from our verified sender address to ensure deliverability.

How do I set up Telegram alerts?

Telegram alerts require creating a bot and getting your chat ID:

  1. Message @BotFather on Telegram and create a new bot
  2. Copy the bot token provided by BotFather
  3. Message @userinfobot to get your chat ID
  4. Add both values in JF Monitor Settings
  5. Use the "Test Telegram Alert" button to verify it works

See the Help page for detailed instructions with screenshots.

What is the content change threshold?

The change threshold (default 10%) determines when content changes trigger alerts. We calculate the percentage difference between HTML snapshots. A higher threshold (e.g., 50%) means only major changes trigger alerts, while a lower threshold (e.g., 5%) will alert on minor changes. This prevents false alerts from dynamic content like timestamps or rotating ads.

Will I get alerts for every check?

No. We implement smart alerting to avoid notification fatigue. You'll receive one alert when an issue is detected, then another when it's automatically resolved. We don't send repeated alerts for ongoing issues.

How reliable are the checks?

We use a retry system with 3 attempts and 10-second delays before marking a website as down. This prevents false alerts from temporary network issues. Checks are triggered by an external cron service (cron-job.org) for maximum reliability.

Can I monitor private/authenticated websites?

Currently, JF Monitor only supports monitoring publicly accessible websites via standard HTTP/HTTPS requests. Support for authenticated endpoints is planned for future releases.

Features & Functionality

What are HTML snapshots?

When we detect content changes, we store a snapshot of your website's normalized HTML. You can view and compare snapshots to see exactly what changed. We keep the last 10 snapshots per website for historical comparison.

What are SLA reports?

SLA (Service Level Agreement) reports track your website's uptime percentage over time. Available on paid plans, these reports can be exported to PDF and are perfect for client reporting or internal documentation. They include uptime percentage, downtime duration, and incident history.

Can I export my monitoring data?

Currently, you can export SLA reports as PDFs (paid plans). Full data export functionality is planned for future releases. All your checks, incidents, and snapshots are stored indefinitely and accessible through the dashboard.

Is there an API available?

API access is coming soon for Business plan subscribers. This will allow programmatic access to monitoring data, incident history, and configuration management. Stay tuned for updates!

Account & Security

How do I change my email address?

Go to your Profile page and click "Change email address". You'll need to enter your current password for security, then verify the new email address via a confirmation link. Your old email will receive a notification once the change is complete.

How do I reset my password?

Click "Forgot password?" on the login page and enter your email address. We'll send you a password reset link that expires in 1 hour. You can also change your password from the Profile page if you're already logged in.

Is my data secure?

Yes. We implement industry-standard security practices:

  • Passwords are hashed using bcrypt
  • Sessions use HTTP-only cookies with JWT tokens
  • All data is transmitted over HTTPS
  • Sensitive fields (Telegram tokens) are encrypted in the database
  • Email verification required for new accounts

Can I delete my account?

Yes. Contact support at support@jfmonitor.com to request account deletion. We'll remove all your personal data, websites, checks, and monitoring history within 30 days. Active subscriptions should be canceled before requesting deletion.

Technical Questions

What happens if my website is down temporarily?

Our retry system (3 attempts with 10-second delays) prevents false alerts from brief network hiccups. If your website recovers within ~30 seconds, you won't receive a downtime alert. Once an incident is detected, you'll receive an automatic recovery notification when your website is back online.

Can I monitor websites behind a CDN like Cloudflare?

Yes! We monitor your public-facing URL, which includes any CDN layer. This actually gives you more comprehensive monitoring since we're checking the same endpoint your users access.

Do you support IPv6?

Our monitoring system supports both IPv4 and IPv6. We'll connect using whichever protocol your DNS returns.

What's the timeout for checks?

Each check has a 30-second timeout. If your website doesn't respond within this time, we classify it as a timeout incident. We also track and display response times for performance monitoring.

Where are checks performed from?

Checks are performed from our serverless infrastructure hosted on Vercel's global edge network. This provides fast, reliable monitoring from geographically distributed locations.

How do I whitelist JF Monitor in my firewall or WAF?

We provide three whitelisting methods to accommodate different security configurations:

1. Custom Token Header (Most Secure)

Each website gets a unique monitor secret token sent in the X-JF-Monitor-Token header. Find your token in the website details page under "Firewall Whitelisting".

Best for: Advanced security setups, per-website isolation

2. User-Agent (Easiest)

Whitelist the User-Agent: JF-Monitor/1.0 (Website Monitor Bot)

Best for: Simple firewall rules, quick setup

3. IP Ranges (Moderate)

Vercel publishes their IP ranges at vercel.com/guides/how-to-allowlist-deployment-ip-address

Best for: Corporate firewalls requiring IP whitelisting. Note: IPs may change without notice.

For detailed configuration examples, see the Help page.

Support & Contact

How do I get help?

Check the Help page in your dashboard for detailed setup guides. For additional support, email us at support@jfmonitor.com. Paid plan subscribers receive priority support with faster response times.

Do you offer custom enterprise plans?

For monitoring more than 50 websites or requiring custom features like dedicated IP addresses, custom check intervals, or white-label reporting, contact us at support@jfmonitor.com to discuss enterprise options.

How can I request a new feature?

We love hearing from our users! Send feature requests to support@jfmonitor.com. While we can't implement every request, we carefully consider all feedback when planning our roadmap.