Reports
Build PDF reports of a domain from the sections of each module, open them in the app, and download them to send to your team or clients.
The Reports page holds the saved reports of one domain. A report collects the sections that you choose, for example Google Search Console and RUM Monitoring, for one date range. You can open it in the app or download it as a PDF.
Before you start
- To open the page, select a domain, then click Reports in the Domain group of the sidebar.
- Only workspace owners and admins can create, edit, duplicate or delete reports. Members can open reports and download the PDF.
- A section has data only when its module is set up. See Overview.
- A report belongs to one domain. To use the same report on another domain, build it again there.
Reports list
Each saved report shows as a card. The page shows 12 cards at a time. If there are more, use the page buttons under the cards.
Parts of a report card
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Report name | Click it, or anywhere on the card, to open the report. |
| ? | The description of the report, if it has one. |
| Section icons | The modules in the report, and the number of sections. Hover them to see the section names. |
| Date range | The default date range, for example Last 28 days. "· vs previous" shows when the report compares with the period before. |
| Updated | The date of the last change to the report. |
| Menu (three dots) | Download PDF, Edit, Duplicate and Delete. Members see only Download PDF. |
Empty list
If the domain has no report, the page shows No reports yet. Owners and admins see "Build a PDF report to share how your site is doing." and the Create your first report button. Members see "No reports have been built for this site."
Create a report
- Click Create report at the top of the page. The Create report panel opens.
- In Report name, enter a name, for example "Monthly performance report". This field is required.
- Optional: in Description, enter a description.
- In Default date range, select the period of the report.
- Optional: turn on Include comparison with previous period.
- Under Report sections, turn on the sections that you want.
- Click Create report.
The message "Report created" shows, and the new report shows first in the list.
Date range options
Default date range has these options: Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last 28 days, Last 3 months, Last 6 months and Last 12 months. The report always uses the most recent period of that length when you open it.
If Include comparison with previous period is on, each figure also shows its change against the period before, which has the same length.
Report sections
The Report sections card lists one section for each module. The chip at the top shows how many sections are on, for example "3 of 12 enabled".
- Turn on the switch of a section to put it in the report.
- To change the order, drag a section by its handle, or use the up and down buttons. The PDF uses the same order.
- Click the ? of a section to read what it shows.
- If a section has widgets, click the button at the end of its row to show them.
There is one section for each of the 12 modules, from Site Health Monitoring to Synthetic Monitoring, in the order of the sidebar.
Widgets and their options
A widget is one block of a section, for example Incidents in Uptime Monitoring. Each widget has a switch and a ? with its description. Some widgets have options:
| Section | Widget options |
|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Web, Discover and News each have Include in report. For Web, the parts are Summary, Trends, Queries, Pages, Countries and Devices. Discover and News have fewer parts. |
| CrUX Monitoring | Pages to include: the CrUX pages to show. VitalSentinel selects the origin by default. |
| Synthetic Monitoring | Page speed tests has Pages to test and Metrics to show: TTFB, LCP, CLS, Requests and Data transferred. |
| Page Monitoring | Watched pages has Watch labels. Page elements has Trackers. Change log can show only some kinds of change. |
| Site Health Monitoring | Sitewide incidents can show only some severities. AI crawler access can show only some kinds of AI crawler. |
Server Log Monitoring, RUM Monitoring, Robots.txt Monitoring and Indexing Monitoring have no widgets to set. You turn the whole section on or off.
Examples of widgets
- Uptime Monitoring: Availability summary, Incidents, Security & domain.
- Web Analytics: Traffic overview, Traffic sources, Pages, Countries, Custom events.
- Site Health Monitoring: Site Health Monitoring summary, Crawler access timeline, What AI crawlers can read.
- Sitemap Monitoring: URL changes, Removed but still getting traffic.
Open a report
Click a report card to open the report. The page shows the name of the report and, under it, the domain and the dates. If the report compares, it also shows "compared with" and the dates of the period before.
If the report has more than one section, chips at the top link to each section. The sections follow the order that you set.
Section states in an open report
- A section with data shows its widgets.
- A set-up module with no data shows one short line, for example "No RUM data was recorded in this period".
- A module that is not set up shows what it would add and a button, for example Install the RUM script or Connect Google Search Console.
- CrUX Monitoring can show "Google has not published Chrome UX Report data for this website yet". This is not an error. Google publishes data only for sites with enough Chrome visits.
- Site Health Monitoring can show "Site Health Monitoring has not finished its first check yet".
If a section could not load, it shows "Data for this section could not be collected." Open the report again after some minutes.
Download a PDF
You can download the PDF from the report card menu or from the open report.
- Click Download PDF.
- Wait while VitalSentinel builds the PDF. The message "Building the PDF. This can take a moment." shows.
- When the message "PDF downloaded" shows, find the file in your downloads.
The PDF uses the data at the time of the download. If no section has data, Download PDF is not available. Its tip says "No section has data yet, so the PDF would be empty."
Edit, duplicate or delete a report
- To edit a report, select Edit in the card menu. Change the fields in the Edit report panel, then click Save changes.
- To duplicate a report, select Duplicate, then click Duplicate in Duplicate report?. The copy stays on the same domain.
- To delete a report, select Delete, then click Delete in Delete report?.
You cannot undo a delete. If you only want a different version, duplicate the report first.
Troubleshooting
Why can I not create a report?
Only workspace owners and admins can create reports. Members can open reports and download the PDF.
Why is the Google Search Console section empty?
The domain has no linked Google Search Console property, or Google has no data for the period. Connect Google Search Console in the domain settings. See Search Console.
Why can I not download the PDF?
No section of the report has data for the period. Turn on a section whose module has data, or select a longer date range.
Can I schedule a report or send it by email?
No. The Reports page does not send reports. Download the PDF, then send it yourself.
Can I add my logo to a report?
No. The report editor has no option for a logo.
Related
- Overview - see which modules have data
- Alerts - get a notice when something goes wrong, between two reports
- Settings - set the brand terms, site sections and currency that some sections use
- Notifications - get a weekly domain report by email
- Plans and limits - what each plan includes
Alert delivery
Where VitalSentinel sends an alert, the in-app bell, email, Slack and webhooks, what each message contains, and what happens when a channel breaks.
Settings
The domain Settings tabs, General, Tracking, Google Search Console, Site setup, Annotations and Danger zone, and what each field does.
