Add a website by hostname or URL

Create a website entry and begin homepage monitoring.

Last checked 1 September 2026

Use Add website to create a website in your portfolio and start monitoring the address you enter. You can enter only a hostname, such as example.com, or start from a specific page, such as example.com/blog.

Before you add it

TechDash always uses HTTPS. The form displays https:// before the Website field, so you do not need to type a scheme. If you paste an address beginning with http:// or https://, TechDash removes that part for you.

Decide which address should be the website's starting point:

  • Enter example.com to monitor https://example.com.
  • Enter www.example.com if the www hostname is the site's normal address.
  • Enter example.com/blog to create the website for example.com and make /blog its first monitored page.

A hostname can exist only once in the portfolio. Add important pages under the existing website instead of creating another website with the same hostname.

Add the website

  1. Open Websites.
  2. Select Add website.
  3. In Website, enter the hostname and optional path. Do not include a username or password in the address.
  4. Choose a Check frequency: Every 15 minutes, Hourly, Daily, or Weekly. Daily is the default.
  5. If the site requires HTTP Basic Authentication, a different crawler identity, or a Shopify crawler signature, open Advanced Settings:
    • Enter Username and Password for HTTP Basic Authentication.
    • Choose Chrome, TechDash, or Custom under User agent.
    • If you choose Custom, enter the complete custom user-agent value.
    • For a Shopify storefront, turn Web Bot Auth on, paste Signature-Input and Signature from Shopify Admin, and select Test setup. See Use Web Bot Auth with Shopify.
  6. Select Add website.

TechDash confirms that the hostname was added and that it is fetching the homepage. It then opens Sources so you can find more pages before you go to the website overview. The website card appears immediately, but its screenshot, icon, and automatic display name can remain pending while background work runs.

What happens next

Adding a website starts several independent tasks:

  • The address you entered becomes the first row in Monitored Pages and an initial page check is requested.
  • Sources collects suggested URLs from Search Console, Bulk URL Import, and links found on checked pages. Nothing else is monitored until you add it. See Use Sources after adding a website.
  • TechDash fetches the homepage to choose a display name from structured data, metadata, the page title, or the hostname.
  • It captures viewport and full-page screenshots and looks for a usable icon.
  • SSL, domain registration, DNS, and site-resource work is scheduled.
  • Future monitored pages inherit the website's selected frequency. You can change individual page schedules later.

These tasks use separate queues. It is normal for the card to appear before all lookup and brand information is available. A homepage screenshot or icon failure does not by itself mean the first monitored-page check failed.

If the site redirects during setup

On an initial monitored-page check, TechDash can adopt an eligible redirect on the same registrable site. For example, it can change example.com to www.example.com, or / to /uk/, before a normal non-redirect baseline has been established.

Homepage enrichment also loads the page in a browser and can update the website to the valid hostname where that browser lands. If that hostname is already in your portfolio, TechDash removes the duplicate entry and shows a warning. See Understand same-site redirects during setup for the full distinction.

If you need to change the website later

Open the website card's context menu and select Edit Website. The Edit website dialog lets you change the address, Website name, Check frequency, credentials, user agent, and Shopify Web Bot Auth values. Changing Check frequency updates every monitored page on that website.

Changing the hostname changes the origin used for that website and triggers fresh brand and lookup work. Review Monitored Pages after a hostname change to confirm that the existing paths are correct on the new host.

If Add website does not work

An inline message means the website was not created. Check for spaces, an invalid or non-registrable hostname, embedded credentials, a duplicate hostname, or incomplete advanced settings. If the website card exists but shows a homepage error, creation succeeded and only the later enrichment work failed.

If a valid, unique HTTPS website opens in a normal browser but TechDash still rejects it or cannot prepare its card after the checks above, open Help & Support. Include the TechDash version, operating system, exact entered address, complete error, whether a card was created, browser's final address, selected user agent, and attempt time with time zone. Never include the Basic Authentication password.

Related articles