Open the failing check (from Checks or View checks on the monitor card). The plain-language outcome is at the top; the technical detail beneath it usually contains one of the messages below.
"We could not find … on the page"
The element the monitor looks for is not on the page any more. Usually the site's layout changed.
Fix: edit the monitor, click Pick visually next to the field, and choose the element again on the fresh preview.
"… matched more than one thing on the page"
What the monitor was told to watch is ambiguous: it matches several elements. Common on news and listing sites that reuse the same class names everywhere.
If the monitor was set up with the visual picker it also saved the element's position, and it falls back to that automatically. To fix it for good: edit the monitor, open the picker, and use Track this spot mode, which follows the position rather than the markup.
"Baseline captured"
Not a failure. A change monitor's first check only records the baseline; comparisons start on the second. Click Check now once more if you want to see a comparison straight away.
"Could not be captured reliably" / overlay / placeholder
A cookie banner, GDPR consent wall, paywall, or interstitial ad covered the content. Simrix Monitor tries to dismiss these automatically and learns each site's pattern over time. Check the monitor manually a few times; if it keeps failing, pick a region that sits below the overlay area, or contact support with the URL.
A workflow monitor fails but the site looks fine
Read the Final success check in check detail; it says exactly what was expected. Common causes:
- the expected text was reworded or moved
- the page redirected somewhere unexpected (check the final URL on the check)
- the element loads late and the check ran before it appeared
- the site blocks automated browsers or shows a different page to them
Open the site in a private browser window and compare with the check's screenshot.
A change monitor flags changes constantly
Something inside the captured area changes on every visit: rotating ads, a "trending" panel, a timestamp, a random product. Switch from Full page to Selected region and pick an area that excludes it. If the noise is images only, the Fast preset (text-only) ignores them.
Checks take a long time
Simrix Monitor waits for the page to finish loading and settle before capturing. Media-heavy sites can take twenty seconds or more. This is normal and doesn't affect the result. If a check exceeds the limit it fails with a timeout; that's the site being slow, not the monitor.
A section is empty when you pick a spot
Some sections arrive after the page does. Another site fills them in, as with property listings, reviews or a map, or they load only once scrolled to. The picker waits for them: it lets the page finish what it asked for, scrolls through it, and takes its picture once nothing more is arriving. A check gives a spot you picked inside one of these sections the same time to arrive.
If the section is still empty, the service that supplies it may be turning automated browsers away. The fix is the allow rule under "Bot protection" below, set up by whoever runs that service.
A monitor was slowed down
A workspace checking far more often than its plan's monitors and interval could account for is stepped to the next slower interval for the rest of the month. Monitoring keeps running. If this happens and you did not expect it, get in touch. Reducing frequency on monitors that don't need it (a policy page rarely needs checking every 15 minutes) makes the allowance go much further.
"Verify your email before performing this action"
Until an account that signed up with a password verifies its email, it can have one site and one monitor. That monitor checks on schedule and every check is kept with its screenshots, but no alerts go out. More sites and monitors, alerts, Slack, webhooks, API keys, billing and team settings all wait for a verified email, so you may also see "An account can have one site and one monitor until its email is verified."
Use the banner on the dashboard to resend the verification link, then check your inbox and your spam folder. The link lasts 24 hours. Alerts start with the first scheduled check after you verify.
A monitor isn't running on schedule
Check the card: a paused monitor (grey, Resume button) is not checked. Otherwise, confirm the workspace is within its plan's monitor and site limits, and that billing is in good standing under Account → Billing; a past-due workspace keeps being checked for a grace period, then pauses.
"Bot protection" in a check's details
Some sites sit behind a service that challenges visitors it suspects are automated: Cloudflare, Akamai and similar. Shoppers never see the challenge, but a check can be turned away with HTTP 403 or shown a "verify you are human" page instead of the product. The check reports that as bot protection and marks the step as not checked, because it is not a problem on your site.
Every visit Simrix Monitor makes announces itself in its browser name (the user agent), so your protection service can let it through with one rule:
- Monitors and setup previews visit as an ordinary Chrome browser with
SimrixMonitor/1.0appended, and a link to this page. - The free Checkout Health Check visits as
SimrixMonitor/1.0; CheckoutHealthCheck. - The homepage scan that suggests monitors visits as
SimrixMonitor/1.0 SiteProfileScan.
All three contain the text SimrixMonitor/1.0, so allow a browser name containing that and every visit is covered. Checks come from addresses that change, so a rule by address is not reliable; use the name.
Where the rule goes depends on the service. In Cloudflare, a WAF custom rule that matches a user agent containing SimrixMonitor/1.0, with the action set to skip, lets checks past managed challenges; if your zone uses Bot Fight Mode, check Cloudflare's documentation on whether your plan lets a rule skip it. In other services, look for the setting that allows a user agent or exempts it from challenges. If you cannot find one, contact support and we will work out a rule for your site with you.
A product needs a size or colour before add to cart
Guided setup chooses for you. When you set up Shoppers can buy, a product that wants a size, colour or quantity before Add to cart works gets the first available choice in each option, the way a shopper would, and the monitor makes the same choices on every check. The steps on the confirm screen say what was chosen. This also happens when you pick the Add to cart button yourself.
A monitor set up in Advanced setup chooses only what its steps say, so a product with options needs a step for each choice. If you would rather not, start the monitor on a product that has none. The free Checkout Health Check chooses the same way as guided setup, and says so when a page will not take the choice.
The checkout would not open
When you set up Shoppers can buy, guided setup goes on from the cart to the checkout by pressing your store's own Proceed to checkout. If it cannot find that button, or the button does not open a checkout it recognises, it says so and offers two ways on: Pick visually, where we add the product to the cart and you click the button yourself, or Stop at the cart, which checks that shoppers can add to the cart without going further. Nothing is ever typed into your checkout, and no order is ever placed.
A store that asks for contact and delivery details before it shows any payment form is checked for its checkout opening, since there is no payment form to see until a shopper's details are in.
The cart was empty
Every check starts as a new visitor, and a new visitor's cart is empty. A monitor that opens the cart page on its own finds it empty, and on many stores the checkout button is not there, so the check fails on a store that is working. The result says when this happened. To check the cart, use a guided click journey: start on a product page, press Add to cart, and set Then open this page to the cart, such as /cart. See Workflow monitors.
Still stuck?
Ask MonitorBot (the chat button at the bottom right); it can see your monitors and recent checks and often spots the cause. If it can't, it can open a support ticket for you with the conversation attached, or file one yourself under Account → Support.