Alerts

LIVCK provides a comprehensive alert system that allows you to communicate service status, planned maintenance, and incidents to your users. The alert system supports three distinct types of notifications, each designed for specific communication needs.

Alert Types

Announcements

Announcements are used for general news and updates that don't affect service availability. They appear on your status page to keep users informed about new features, policy changes, or other important information.

Use Cases:

New feature releases
Service updates
Policy changes
General notifications

Configuration:

Title: A clear, concise headline for your announcement
Content: Detailed information using the rich text editor (supports bold, italic, strike, code, mark, headings, and more)
Notify Subscribers: Optional checkbox to send notifications to all newsletter subscribers

Announcements do not have status indicators, as they represent informational updates rather than service disruptions.

Maintenance

Maintenance alerts inform users about planned maintenance windows where services may be temporarily unavailable or degraded. These can be scheduled in advance and help manage user expectations.

Use Cases:

Scheduled system upgrades
Infrastructure maintenance
Database migrations
Security patches

Configuration:

Title: Brief description of the maintenance
Content: Detailed information using the rich text editor (supports bold, italic, strike, code, mark, headings, and more)
Status: Current state of the maintenance (see status options below)
Scheduled At: When the maintenance window begins
Notify Subscribers: Optional checkbox to send notifications to all newsletter subscribers

Note: There is only a start time, no end time. The maintenance is considered complete when the status is changed to "Resolved" or "Closed".

Incidents

Incidents are used to communicate unplanned service disruptions or issues affecting your infrastructure. They provide transparency during outages and keep users informed about resolution progress.

Use Cases:

Unplanned outages
Performance degradation
Security incidents
Service disruptions

Configuration:

Title: Brief description of the incident
Content: Detailed information using the rich text editor (supports bold, italic, strike, code, mark, headings, and more)
Status: Current state of the incident (see status options below)
Link Outage: Optional ability to link/attach a registered outage from LIVCK's monitoring system
Notify Subscribers: Optional checkbox to send notifications to all newsletter subscribers

Special Feature - Outage Linking: You can link incidents to actual outages detected by LIVCK's monitoring system, providing automatic correlation between detected downtime and your incident communications.

Alert Statuses

Both Maintenance and Incident alerts support granular status tracking. These statuses help communicate the current state of an issue to your users.

Investigating

Color: Blue
Description: The issue is being actively investigated to identify the root cause.
When to use: Initial response phase when you're diagnosing the problem

Identified

Color: Yellow
Description: The root cause has been identified, and solutions are being explored.
When to use: After diagnosis when you know what's wrong but haven't implemented a fix

Observing

Color: Purple
Description: The issue is being monitored to ensure stability or gather more insights.
When to use: After a fix when you're watching to ensure the problem doesn't recur

Resolved

Color: Green
Description: The issue has been resolved, and normal operations have resumed.
When to use: When the incident/maintenance is complete and services are fully operational

Acknowledged

Color: Indigo
Description: The issue has been acknowledged, and further action is being planned.
When to use: When you're aware of the issue and planning next steps

In Progress

Color: Orange
Description: Efforts to resolve the issue are currently underway.
When to use: During active remediation work

Under Review

Color: Teal
Description: The situation is being reviewed to determine the next steps.
When to use: When evaluating the best approach to resolution

Closed

Color: Gray
Description: The case has been closed as resolved or no longer relevant.
When to use: Final status for incidents that are completely resolved

Scheduled

Color: Cyan
Description: The task or maintenance has been scheduled for a specific time.
When to use: For planned maintenance before it begins

Rich Text Editor

All alert types support a powerful rich text editor for creating detailed, formatted content. The editor includes:

Text Formatting:

Bold - Emphasize important information
Italic - Add subtle emphasis
~~Strike~~ - Show corrections or removed content
Code - Display technical information or commands
==Mark== - Highlight critical information

Structure:

Multiple heading levels (H1-H6)
Paragraphs and line breaks
Lists (ordered and unordered)

This allows you to create clear, well-structured communications that are easy to read and understand.

Creating Alerts

To create a new alert:

Navigate to the Alerts section in your LIVCK dashboard
Click "Create Alert"
Select the alert type (Announcement, Maintenance, or Incident)
Fill in the required fields:
- Title
- Content using the rich text editor
- Status (for Maintenance and Incidents)
- Scheduled At (for Maintenance)
- Link Outage (for Incidents, optional)
Optionally check "Notify Subscribers" to send notifications
Save the alert

The alert will immediately appear on your status page in real-time.

Managing Alerts

Alert Updates

All alerts support unlimited updates. Updates are responses that appear in the alert timeline and are displayed directly under the main alert on the frontend.

Creating an Update:

Navigate to the specific alert
Click "Add Update" or "Post Update"
Write your update message using the rich text editor
For Maintenance and Incidents: Select a new status (optional)
- Selecting a status will update the main alert's status
Save the update

Update Features:

Unlimited number of updates per alert
Each update has its own timestamp
Updates appear in chronological order below the alert
Status changes through updates automatically update the parent alert
Real-time visibility on the frontend

Alert Timeline

The alert timeline provides a complete history of the alert lifecycle:

Timeline includes:

Initial alert creation
All status changes
Every update posted by your team
Timestamps for each entry
Full message content from updates

Real-time Display:

Updates appear instantly on the public status page
Subscribers receive notifications (if enabled)
No page refresh needed - updates appear in real-time

Deleting Alerts

Alerts can be deleted if they're no longer needed. However, for transparency and historical record-keeping, we recommend marking incidents as "Closed" or "Resolved" rather than deleting them.

Best Practices

Communication

Keep titles clear and concise
Use the rich text editor to create well-formatted, easy-to-read content
Leverage formatting (bold for critical info, code blocks for technical details)
Update status regularly during incidents
Post timeline updates as new information becomes available
Even if there's no progress, post "still investigating" updates to show you're actively working

Timing

Schedule maintenance during low-traffic periods
Provide advance notice for planned maintenance using the "Scheduled At" field
Update incident status promptly as situations change
Post regular updates (every 15-30 minutes during active incidents)

Transparency

Be honest about impact and expected resolution time
Keep the timeline updated with real information
Use the appropriate status to set clear expectations
Don't delete historical incidents - mark them as "Closed" instead
Link actual outages to incidents for complete transparency

Subscriber Notifications

Use "Notify Subscribers" judiciously for important updates
Not every update needs a notification
Major status changes (Investigating → Resolved) should notify subscribers
Minor updates can be posted without notifications to avoid alert fatigue