Docs · set-up · a new site
Add a site to Skald: five steps, then a Test
To add a site to Skald, an owner or admin opens Add a site, step by step. Skald looks at the site from outside, suggests how its visits should reach Skald, and ends with a Test that says whether lines arrive.
Add a site to Skald means five short steps in Settings > Organisation > Add or remove sites: the site's address, proof it is yours, how its visits reach Skald, the install, and a Test. Nothing is collected for a site until it is proven yours.
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- Server: nginx (Ubuntu)✓
- Platform: nothing in front✓
- Built with: Next.js✓
- Host names: example.com · www.example.com✓
- Suggested: one command on that serverRecommended
Sample answer of the site check in step 1. Every line is a suggestion you can turn off.
[01] the five steps
The five steps to add a site to Skald
Open Settings > Organisation > Add or remove sites and press Add a site, step by step. The wizard is in the page's address while it is open, so a reload brings you back to the same step.
pick a step
Step 1. Your site
Type the address as people type it. A whole link works too: https://www.example.com/pricing becomes the site www.example.com. The page shows the name it will use. Choose the time zone the site's days are counted in. Skald then checks the site from outside.
Step 2. Prove it's yours
Add the DNS TXT record or the meta tag the step shows, then press Check now. A new DNS record can take a few minutes to show. You can go on and install meanwhile. Nothing is collected for the site until the proof is done. When your Skald asks for no proof, the step says so.
Step 3. How visits reach Skald
Your own server, with or without Docker. Cloudflare. Vercel. Or only the script tag. The way Skald suggests is chosen already, marked Recommended for your site, with the reason under it. Pick another if you know better.
Step 4. Install
For your own server, one command with the token made for you. For the other ways, their own steps. Download as one file and Email it to your server admin are here too, and Share with your developer makes a link that needs no sign-in.
Step 5. Test and finish
The Test starts by itself and checks every 5 seconds for up to 2 minutes. When lines arrive it says Done: example.com is receiving visits, with Open its dashboard. If not, it shows the fix and the common problems. Finish later closes the dialog and keeps your place.
[02] the site check
How Skald suggests the way in for a new site
When you type the address, Skald asks the site's home page, with and without www, the way a browser does. From the answer it reads the server, the platform in front and what the site is built with, then suggests one way in.
| What Skald sees | The way it suggests |
|---|---|
| nginx, Apache, LiteSpeed or Caddy, nothing in front | Your own server: one command on that server |
| Cloudflare with its proxy on | Cloudflare: the Skald Worker sees every request, cached pages too |
| Vercel | Vercel: its log drain |
| CloudFront or Fastly in front of nginx or Apache | One command on the server behind it. Pages the CDN answers from its cache are not in that log. CloudFront · Fastly |
| Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, GitHub Pages | Only the script tag: Skald cannot read their server log |
| Microsoft IIS | Only the script tag: the one command is for Linux servers |
| Nothing it can tell | Nothing: you choose |
Every line is a suggestion
Use these is on at first: the site is added with the host names and page assets found, and step 3 chooses the suggested way. Turn it off to use none of them. Check again looks once more. When the site cannot be reached, the card says so, and you choose by hand.
A Next.js site gets one more line
On its own nginx server, add rsc_prefetch=$http_next_router_prefetch at the end of the log_format, then reload nginx. Without it, a page opened by a click inside the site is not counted. sudo skald-ship-check says whether the log has it.
The check sends a HEAD request, reads at most 256 KB, waits at most 6 seconds and follows at most 3 redirects. It sends no cookie, and fetches only public addresses on ports 80 and 443.
[03] check it
Check a new site end to end
The Test says lines arrive. This says a real visit shows up the way you expect. Do it once for every new site.
A private window
Open the site and click two links inside it. Within about 2 minutes, Overview shows the visit and Traffic > Visitors lists it with every page you clicked.
A phone on mobile data
The same, in a new private tab. A tab that is already open shows the page from memory and sends nothing.
The Set up list
On Overview, and at the top of Settings > Connections: every line ticked, or marked optional on purpose.
A test lead
If the site sends leads, one sent with
"test": trueis listed under Left out and not counted.
[04] the Test
What the Test says, and what to do
The last step's Test gives one plain answer. When a batch was refused, it says why, with the fix beside it. Skald notes only the newest refusal for each site, and never keeps an IP address, a token or a log line for it.
- Waiting for the first lines. Nothing has reached Skald yet.wait
- Connected: 412 lines received today, the last at 10:42 (2 min ago).works
- The site is not verified yet, so nothing is collected for it.step 2
- Lines arrive, but none could be read.log format
- Refused at 10:41: The token is not for this site.new token
[05] later
Stop at any step, continue later
Skald saves how far you got, on the server: the step, the way chosen, what the site check found, and the id of the sending token made. Closing the dialog or the browser loses nothing.
A site not finished shows Setup: step 3 of 5, continue. A finished site that has received nothing in 24 hours shows No visits yet: test the connection. Each step, way chosen and finish is written to the audit log.
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What it does not do
- Only owners and admins can add a site.
- Nothing is collected until the site is proven yours. Until then the shipper keeps the lines, so nothing is lost.
- The site check reads only the home page. A site not live yet, or one that turns automated visitors away, gets no suggestion: you choose.
- With only the script tag, AI crawlers, search crawlers and bots are not seen at all.
keep reading
More on add a site to Skald
questions
Add a site to Skald FAQ
Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.
Who can add a site to Skald?
Owners and admins. They open Settings > Organisation > Add or remove sites and press Add a site, step by step. The site picker has + Add a site too.
Why does Skald ask me to prove the site is mine?
So no one can collect another person's site. Add the DNS TXT record or the meta tag the step shows, then press Check now. A new DNS record can take a few minutes to show. You can go on and install meanwhile, but nothing is collected until the proof is done.
What does Skald check when I type the address?
It asks only the site's home page, with and without www, the way a browser does. From the answer's headers it tells the server, the platform in front, what the site is built with and which host names are the same site. Each line has a tick or says could not tell. Then it suggests one way in, with a plain reason.
Can I stop half way and continue later?
Yes. Skald saves the step, the way chosen, what the site check found and which sending token was made (its id, never the token). The site then shows Setup: step 3 of 5, continue, in Add or remove sites and on the site picker.
How do I know the new site works?
The Test says Done: example.com is receiving visits. Then open the site in a private window, click two links, and within about 2 minutes the visit shows with every page you clicked. The site's Set up list ticks each line once Skald's own checks see it working.
Can someone else do the install?
Yes. In step 4, press Share with your developer for a link that works 1, 7 or 30 days and needs no sign-in, or send the whole set-up pack. The token is not in the link: it is shown once, on the developer's page.
$ tail -f access.log | skald
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