The Complete Guide to Status Pages (2026)

A status page is your public communication channel for system health. When things go wrong, users need to know. When things are working, users should be able to verify. Status pages provide this visibility, reduce support load, and build trust.

This guide covers everything: why status pages matter, what to include, how to communicate during incidents, and how to set one up.

Table of Contents

1. What Is a Status Page
2. Why Status Pages Matter
3. Components of a Status Page
4. Designing Your Status Page
5. Incident Communication
6. Scheduled Maintenance
7. Automated vs Manual Updates
8. Internal Status Pages
9. Tools and Options
10. Common Mistakes
11. Related Resources

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What Is a Status Page

A status page is a dedicated webpage that shows the current and historical status of your services:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Company Status                                  │
│                                                  │
│  All Systems Operational ✓                       │
│                                                  │
│  Components:                                     │
│  ├── Website             ✓ Operational          │
│  ├── API                 ✓ Operational          │
│  ├── Mobile App          ✓ Operational          │
│  └── Payments            ⚠ Degraded Performance │
│                                                  │
│  Recent Incidents:                               │
│  ├── Jan 5: API Latency (32 min) - Resolved    │
│  └── Dec 28: Maintenance (2 hrs) - Completed   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Learn more: What Is a Status Page

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Why Status Pages Matter

For Users

• Visibility — Know if issues are you or them
• Updates — Get information without contacting support
• Trust — Transparency builds confidence
• Planning — Know about scheduled maintenance

For Your Team

• Reduced support load — Users check status instead of emailing
• Single source of truth — One place to update
• Incident record — Historical documentation
• Accountability — Public commitment to reliability

The Numbers

• 96% of users who experience issues never complain—they just leave
• A status page gives the silent 96% a way to understand issues
• Companies with status pages report 30-50% fewer support tickets during incidents

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Components of a Status Page

Essential Elements

Component Categories

Group components by what users care about:

✓ Good: User-facing grouping
├── Website
├── Mobile App
├── API
└── Payments

✗ Bad: Technical grouping
├── nginx-lb-01
├── api-server-east
├── postgres-primary
└── redis-cache-01

Status Levels

Standard status indicators:

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Designing Your Status Page

Keep It Simple

Users visit during stress. Make it easy:

• Clear status at the top
• Obvious component list
• Recent incidents visible
• Mobile-friendly

Branding

Match your product's look:

• Your logo
• Brand colors
• Consistent fonts
• Professional domain (status.yourcompany.com)

Information Hierarchy

1. Current Status (most important)
   └── Is everything working right now?

2. Component Details
   └── Which specific services are affected?

3. Active Incidents
   └── What's happening and what's being done?

4. Recent History
   └── Past incidents for context

5. Subscribe Option
   └── Stay informed

Learn more: Status Page Best Practices

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Incident Communication

When to Post

What to Include

Initial Post:

Title: API Performance Degradation

Status: Investigating

We are aware of increased latency affecting API
requests. Our team is investigating.

Posted: 10:15 AM UTC

Update Post:

Status: Identified

We've identified the cause as database connection
pool exhaustion. Deploying fix.

Updated: 10:30 AM UTC

Resolution Post:

Status: Resolved

API performance has returned to normal. The issue
was caused by a connection leak in our background
worker, which has been patched.

Total duration: 45 minutes
Resolved: 11:00 AM UTC

Communication Tone

Do:

• Be honest and direct
• Acknowledge the impact
• Provide timeline when possible
• Use plain language

Don't:

• Blame users or third parties
• Over-promise resolution times
• Use excessive technical jargon
• Stay silent during ongoing issues

Update Frequency

During active incidents:

• Initial post: Within 5 minutes of awareness
• Updates: Every 15-30 minutes during investigation
• More frequently if status changes
• Post-resolution: Summary of what happened

Learn more: How Engineers Use Status Pages

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Scheduled Maintenance

Planning Maintenance

Scheduled Maintenance: Database Migration
Date: Saturday, Jan 15, 2:00-4:00 AM UTC
Impact: API may be intermittently unavailable
Components: API, Website

We will be performing a scheduled database migration
to improve performance. Brief interruptions are expected.

When to Schedule

Communication Timeline

• 5+ days before: Post scheduled maintenance
• 24 hours before: Send reminder notification
• At start: Update status to "Under Maintenance"
• At completion: Return to operational + summary

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Automated vs Manual Updates

Automated Updates

Connected to monitoring—status changes automatically:

Monitor fails → Status page shows "Degraded"
Monitor recovers → Status page shows "Operational"

Pros:

• Fast response
• No manual intervention
• Accurate timing

Cons:

• May lack context
• Can flip-flop during intermittent issues
• Generic messaging

Manual Updates

Humans update the status page:

Pros:

• Contextual messaging
• Human judgment on severity
• Controlled communication

Cons:

• Delayed response
• Requires someone available
• Can be forgotten

Recommended: Hybrid Approach

Automatic:
├── Status changes to "Investigating"
└── Component shows degraded

Manual:
├── Add context/explanation
├── Post updates
└── Write resolution summary

Wakestack uses this hybrid approach—monitors update component status automatically, while incident posts are written by your team.

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Internal Status Pages

Public vs Internal

Internal Page Components

Internal Status:
├── Production
│   ├── api-gateway-prod ✓
│   ├── user-service ✓
│   ├── payment-service ⚠
│   ├── postgres-primary ✓
│   ├── postgres-replica-01 ✓
│   ├── redis-cache ✓
│   └── elasticsearch ✓
├── Staging
│   └── All services ✓
└── Infrastructure
    ├── kubernetes-ingress ✓
    └── message-queue ✓

When to Use Both

• Large organizations with internal dependencies
• Teams need different detail levels
• Compliance requires internal documentation

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Tools and Options

Integrated Solutions

Status page + monitoring together:

Standalone Status Pages

Status page only (need separate monitoring):

Wakestack Recommendation

Wakestack includes status pages with monitoring:

• Monitors drive status — Automatic updates
• Manual incidents — Add context
• Branded pages — Your domain, your look
• Subscriber notifications — Email updates

Create your status page — Included with monitoring.

Learn more: Status Page Software Guide

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Common Mistakes

1. Too Many Components

✗ Bad: 50 internal services listed
✓ Good: 5-8 user-facing categories

Fix: Group by what users experience, not how you deploy.

2. Status Never Changes

A status page that always says "Operational" loses trust.

Fix: Actually update during incidents, even small ones.

3. No Historical Data

Users can't see patterns or verify issues they experienced.

Fix: Keep 90-day incident history visible.

4. Over-Technical Updates

"nginx 502 due to upstream timeout on pod-api-7b9f6d"

Fix: "API is experiencing errors. We're investigating."

5. Under-Communication

"We're working on it" with no updates for hours.

Fix: Update every 15-30 minutes during incidents.

6. No Post-Incident Summary

Issue resolved, no explanation of what happened.

Fix: Post a summary explaining the issue and fix.

7. Hidden Status Page

Users can't find it when they need it.

Fix: Link from your app, footer, help docs, and error pages.

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Status Page Checklist

Before launching:

• Components match user experience (not internal architecture)
• Custom domain configured (status.yourcompany.com)
• Branding applied (logo, colors)
• Subscribe functionality works
• Mobile-friendly
• Linked from main site and app
• Team knows how to post incidents
• Process documented for incidents

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Related Resources

Foundational Concepts

• What Is a Status Page
• Status Page Best Practices
• How Engineers Use Status Pages

Implementation

• Status Page Software Guide

Related Monitoring

• Uptime Monitoring Guide
• Server Monitoring Guide
• What Causes False Downtime Alerts

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Get Started

Ready to create your status page? Wakestack offers:

• Integrated status pages — Connected to your monitors
• Automatic updates — Status reflects monitor health
• Manual incidents — Add context and updates
• Subscriber notifications — Keep users informed
• Custom branding — Your domain and style

Create your status page — Included free with monitoring.