Changes
Changes records meaningful differences between completed observations of a Site. It helps you see what became missing, blocked, changed or expired, and what returned to normal, without treating every check as a new problem.
Flowpane compares observations over time. The first observation of each file establishes its starting point and creates no Change. A condition that stays the same does not create repeated Changes. A later meaningful transition creates a record you can review alongside the Site's check results.
Find Recent changes
Open the Site's Overview → Recent changes. Each row shows the observation time in UTC, what changed, the affected file or Whole site, severity and state. Open View for the detail. Show more loads additional recent records.
No completed checks yet means there is no starting observation. No changes recorded yet can mean the first check established the starting point or later results stayed the same; it does not mean every finding passed. Read the Site overview and Runs and activity for the recorded outcomes.
What creates a Change?
The table describes transitions, rather than a notification for every check. Email requires a paid Site plan and the relevant preference turned on in Notification preferences.
| Change | Observation that creates it | Severity | Optional email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site blocked or unreachable | A full check finds every applicable file blocked or unable to be checked, after an earlier check reached the Site | High | Check failures |
| Required file missing or blocked | A required file found in an earlier completed check is now missing or blocked | High | Important file changes |
| File could not be checked | A file's check cannot complete after an earlier completed observation | Medium | In-app only |
| Repeated check failure | The same file cannot be checked twice in a row after an earlier completed observation | High | Check failures |
| Text-file content changed | Observed content differs for robots.txt, ads.txt, security.txt, llms.txt, ai.txt or humans.txt | Medium for robots.txt/security.txt; Low for the others | Important file changes for robots.txt/security.txt only |
| security.txt approaching expiry | Its Expires date moves into the next 30 days | Medium | File expiry warnings |
| security.txt expired | Its Expires date has passed since an earlier observation | High | File expiry warnings |
| Significant score drop | The Site score falls between checks by at least a qualifying member's threshold | Medium | Score changes, subject to your own threshold |
| Restored or recovered | A recorded unreachable, missing, blocked, repeated-failure or expiry condition returns to normal | Information | In-app only |
A full Site failure is shown as one Site-wide Change rather than a separate failure for every file. Checking one file alone does not establish that the whole Site is unreachable.
An absent recommended file does not create a missing-file Change. Content comparisons cover the six text files listed above; Cookies & Consent evidence and sitemap content are outside those comparisons. A required sitemap becoming missing, blocked or unable to be checked can still create the corresponding Change.
Open the detail and compare evidence
The detail explains the Change and shows its observation time, severity and state. For a supported text-file content change, Before and After show the retained observed content, each with its own observation time. Use Copy to copy the text, or Open in Workbench to inspect the file and prepare a draft where your role and plan allow it.
Members need permission to view the Site's files to see their contents. Change history follows your plan's check-history retention period; the compared content is available only while those observations are retained. If an earlier version is no longer kept, or content cannot be displayed, the detail says so. Text larger than 256 KB is not shown inline; use the Workbench to review available file evidence.
The states help distinguish an observation from an action:
- Needs attention — a condition that needs review, such as a required file becoming unavailable.
- Observed — a difference to review, such as changed content or an isolated file-check failure.
- Restored — a previously recorded condition has returned to normal.
- Resolved — the earlier Change has since been restored.
A restoration links to the earlier Change when it is still retained. Recovery notifications are grouped with the Change they close. A restoration describes the later observation; it does not identify who fixed the problem.
Who receives notifications?
Current members of the Site's Workspace who can view the Site can receive in-app Changes, including Viewers. The Governance in-app preference controls these notices. Your score-fall threshold also controls which score Changes notify you.
Report recipients receive report email separately. Being a report recipient does not subscribe someone to Changes or grant access to the Site. See Report recipients.
Each Change appears once in a person's notification feed. Reading or archiving a notice changes the feed, rather than the Site, the recorded Change or its findings.
Choose optional email
Change emails are off until you opt in, category by category, in Settings → Notifications:
- Check failures — a whole Site becoming blocked or unreachable, or a file failing two checks in a row.
- Important file changes — a required file becoming missing or blocked, or robots.txt/security.txt content changing. Content changes to the other supported text files appear in-app only.
- Score changes — the score falling by at least your Score fall threshold. Choose 1–100 points; the default is 10. Your threshold applies to both in-app score notifications and email.
- File expiry warnings — security.txt approaching expiry within 30 days or becoming expired.
Change email is available for Sites on paid plans. Each Change is emailed at most once to each eligible person. The email identifies the Site, describes the Change, gives its observation time in UTC and links to the detail. An isolated file-check failure and restored events are not emailed.
Email eligibility is decided when the Change is recorded. Turning a preference off later may not stop an email already on its way. Report delivery, account email, Changes email and periodic health digests are separate channels; digests remain unavailable. See Notifications.
Checks and plans
Scheduled checks produce observations; meaningful transitions between observations produce Changes. An unchanged scheduled result creates no repeated Change or notification. Checks run on the eligible Site's plan interval, with the timing and reachability limits described in Check scheduling.
Free has manual checks only. A manual check on Free can still record durable Change history and produce in-app notifications. Free Sites do not receive proactive Changes email. Paid-plan email remains opt-in rather than being enabled by scheduling a check.
A score drop can appear in Recent changes because it meets another eligible Workspace member's threshold, even when it is smaller than yours. You receive a score notification or opted-in email only at or above your own threshold.
Respond to a Change
Changes is advisory: it reports observed differences so you can decide what needs attention. Without a CMS connection, Flowpane observes public state. A supported Site Integration can provide additional permitted evidence; a connection in Observe remains non-mutating.
Connecting Flowpane does not give permission to modify the Site. Managed changes requires separate, explicit authority for supported actions. Changes does not automatically trigger those actions or fix detected differences. Use Review or Workbench to investigate and prepare work, then follow your authorised publication process.
Common questions
Has my site changed?
Open Recent changes, then read the observation time and detail. Changes describes differences Flowpane observed when checks ran, rather than continuous monitoring of every edit. An unchanged result, a recommended file being absent or a change outside the supported comparisons may leave no Change record.
What does “robots changed” mean?
For robots.txt, a content Change means the observed text differs from an earlier version. Compare the retained Before and After content and confirm whether the edit was intentional. The Change alone does not establish who edited it or whether search engines have acted on it.
What should I do about a score drop?
Compare the check results and their evidence before deciding what to fix. A score fall identifies a difference in Flowpane's product score, rather than proving one particular website edit caused it. Review your threshold if you want to change when you are notified.