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Publishing Updates

Manage service health communication through a comprehensive operations interface that provides full control over what information reaches stakeholders and when.

Operations-First Approach

Status page updates work through a comprehensive operations interface that serves as your “situation room” for managing customer communications during incidents and service changes.

The Operations Dashboard

Your status page operations dashboard provides complete control over what information reaches stakeholders:

Internal by Default

  • All incidents and updates start as internal-only for team coordination
  • Full incident context available to response teams
  • Rich collaboration tools for investigation and resolution
  • Complete control over what information becomes public

Selective Publishing

  • Explicit choice required to make any information public
  • Customized messaging appropriate for external audiences
  • Professional communication templates and editing tools
  • Clear distinction between internal coordination and public updates

This approach ensures teams never accidentally publish sensitive information while providing all the tools needed for effective stakeholder communication.

Status Page Operations Interface

The operations interface provides comprehensive visibility and control:

Status Overview Bar

  • Overall system health indicator with color coding
  • Public vs internal item counts for transparency
  • Subscriber count showing communication reach
  • Quick actions for viewing public page and managing links

Linked Items Management

  • Visual grid showing all linked incidents and updates
  • Clear Internal/Public visibility indicators for each item
  • One-click visibility toggles with confirmation dialogs
  • Severity indicators with colored borders for quick assessment

Update Composer

  • Rich text editor for professional incident communications
  • Severity selection (Info, Investigating, Identified, Monitoring, Resolved)
  • Affected services selection from catalog entities
  • Publishing controls with subscriber notification options

Publishing Workflow

Internal Coordination First

The publishing process prioritizes team coordination before external communication:

1. Incident Detection & Linking

Monitor Alert → Incident Creation → Status Page Linking → Internal Collaboration
  • Incidents automatically detected or manually reported
  • Linked to status pages for context and communication planning
  • All information starts private for team coordination
  • Rich incident details available to response teams

2. Internal Collaboration Phase

  • Full technical context available to incident response teams
  • Internal timeline tracking investigation and resolution steps
  • Team communication tools integrated with incident context
  • No information visible to external stakeholders during this phase

3. Communication Decision Point

  • Explicit team decision about public communication necessity
  • Assessment of stakeholder impact and communication needs
  • Planning of appropriate messaging for external audiences
  • Approval workflow ensuring proper oversight

4. Public Communication

  • Customized updates crafted specifically for external audience
  • Professional incident communication standards maintained
  • Clear timeline and resolution information provided
  • Subscriber notifications triggered only when explicitly chosen

Visibility Controls

Every piece of information has clear visibility status:

Internal vs Public Indicators

  • Internal - Red indicators, team-only access, full technical detail
  • Public - Green indicators, stakeholder-visible, appropriate messaging
  • Draft - Yellow indicators, prepared but not yet published
  • Scheduled - Blue indicators, planned for future publication

Publishing Confirmations

  • Double-confirmation required for making information public
  • Preview of how updates will appear to external stakeholders
  • Option to publish without triggering subscriber notifications
  • Ability to set publication timing for coordinated communications

Update Types & States

Your status page can display various operational states, each with distinct visual indicators:

Operational States

Operational - All systems functioning normally

  • Green indicators show healthy services
  • No active incidents or degradations
  • Performance within expected parameters

Degraded - Partial service impact

  • Yellow/orange indicators highlight affected areas
  • Services running but with reduced performance
  • May include specific impact details

Down - Service unavailable

  • Red indicators for critical issues
  • Services not responding or completely offline
  • Priority resolution in progress

Maintenance - Planned work in progress

  • Blue/purple indicators for scheduled maintenance
  • Expected downtime or degradation
  • Includes completion estimates

Visual Hierarchy

Status indicators use consistent colors and positioning:

  • Most critical statuses appear prominently at the top
  • Color coding provides instant recognition
  • Icons and text reinforce status meaning
  • Mobile-optimized display ensures clarity on all devices

Historical Display

Your status page maintains a historical record, helping visitors understand patterns and build confidence in your service.

Incident History

Past incidents remain visible with:

  • Resolution timestamps and duration
  • Root cause summaries (when shared)
  • Actions taken to prevent recurrence
  • Links to detailed postmortems

This transparency demonstrates accountability and continuous improvement.

Uptime Tracking

While detailed analytics are coming soon, status pages already track:

  • Current operational state duration
  • Recent incident frequency
  • Maintenance window history
  • Overall service reliability trends

Live Update Technology

The magic of real-time updates happens through persistent connections that keep your status page alive and current.

How It Works

When visitors load your status page:

  1. Initial status loads from the edge network (<50ms globally)
  2. Live connection establishes for instant updates
  3. Status changes push immediately to all connected browsers
  4. No polling or refreshing required

Connection Resilience

The system handles connection issues gracefully:

  • Automatic reconnection after network interruptions
  • Queued updates apply when connection restores
  • Fallback to periodic checks if live connection unavailable
  • Visual indicators show connection status

Real-Time Display

Once you publish updates through the operations interface, they reach stakeholders through optimized real-time delivery:

Instant Visibility

Published updates appear immediately to visitors:

  • Status changes reflect instantly without page refresh
  • New incident communications appear as published
  • Update timeline shows progression in real-time
  • Affected services display current operational states

Global Performance

Your published updates reach stakeholders efficiently:

  • Pages load in <50ms from 200+ global locations
  • Updates appear within <500ms of publication
  • Automatic fallback ensures reliable delivery
  • Consistent experience across all devices and regions

Visitor Experience

From your visitors’ perspective, the status page provides a trustworthy source of truth about service health.

First Visit

New visitors experience:

  1. Fast page load from nearest edge location
  2. Clear status overview at the top
  3. Detailed service states below
  4. Any active incidents or maintenance
  5. Subscribe options for updates

During Incidents

When issues occur, visitors see:

  • Immediate status change without refreshing
  • Incident details and impact scope
  • Regular updates as investigation proceeds
  • Clear communication about resolution progress
  • Estimated time to resolution when available

Trust Building

Consistent, accurate updates build stakeholder confidence:

  • Real-time accuracy eliminates guesswork
  • Transparent communication reduces anxiety
  • Historical data shows reliability patterns
  • Professional presentation maintains brand trust

Best Practices

Communication Clarity

Write incident updates for your audience:

  • Use clear, non-technical language for public pages
  • Explain impact in user terms, not system terms
  • Provide actionable information and workarounds
  • Update regularly even if just to confirm ongoing work

Update Frequency

Balance information with noise:

  • Major changes warrant immediate updates
  • Investigation progress every 15-30 minutes
  • Avoid minute-by-minute commentary
  • Summarize when resolved

Incident Publishing

Decide what to share publicly:

  • Security incidents may need careful messaging
  • Internal tool issues might not need visibility
  • Customer-impacting issues should be transparent
  • Performance degradations deserve explanation

Performance & Reliability

Your status page infrastructure ensures updates reach visitors reliably:

  • Global Edge Network - Updates propagate to 200+ edge locations
  • Connection Scaling - Horizontal scaling handles millions of live connections
  • Independent Infrastructure - Status pages remain available even if Upstat itself experiences issues
  • Automatic Failover - Multiple fallback mechanisms ensure delivery

The system maintains <500ms update latency globally, ensuring visitors always have current information regardless of their location.

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