Monthly checklist
This page is the owner's monthly check, done in the first days of each month with answers from the host or partner. It keeps the site current and safe, and the costs known. The businesses section has a fuller operations template for teams that run the server themselves (Monthly operations checklist); this list is the owner's share of it.
The checklist
MONTHLY CHECKLIST - month: ________ Owner: ________
RELEASES AND UPDATES (ask the partner)
[ ] Is there a new Exponential 6.0.x release? Planned for: ________
[ ] Extension updates due? Planned for: ________
[ ] After last month's update: was the upgrade check clean?
BACKUPS (ask the host)
[ ] Backups ran every day this month
[ ] Date of the last restore test: ________ (one each quarter)
SECURITY SIGNALS (ask the administrator)
[ ] Audit alerts of the month: any? Answered by: ________
[ ] Unusual failed sign-ins?
[ ] HTTPS certificate renews automatically or is valid for more than 30 days
ACCOUNTS
[ ] Leavers of the month disabled
[ ] New administrator roles intended
[ ] Unused accounts reviewed (Users > Check user accounts)
DATA
[ ] Form submissions processed; old ones removed as your retention schedule says
[ ] Privacy requests of the month closed
CONTENT
[ ] Broken links and content checks reviewed
[ ] Unused images and files tidied (content checks)
COSTS
[ ] Invoices of host, partner and services match the cost register
STORE (if you sell)
[ ] Store monthly checklist doneWhere each item is done
| Item | Where, or whom to ask | Read |
|---|---|---|
| New releases | Partner; security fixes are published with the next 6.0.x release | SECURITY.md, Upgrading |
| Upgrade check | Setup > Upgrade check; both checks only read | Upgrade check |
| Backups and restore tests | Host | Backups that restore |
| Audit alerts | The audit dashboard, policy audit/read | The audit trail |
| HTTPS | Host | TLS and HTTPS |
| Accounts | Users > Check user accounts | Check user accounts |
| Form submissions | Setup > Collected information | Collected information |
| Privacy requests | Your request log | GDPR requests |
| Content checks | /contentcheck/... | The content checks |
| Costs | Your cost register | Cost of ownership for owners |
| Store | Store | Store monthly checklist |
Good answers from the host and partner
| Question | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Is there a new release? | "Yes, 6.0.x; we read the changelog, tested it on a copy, and propose to apply it on [date]." Or: "No new release this month." |
| Did backups run? | "Yes, every day; the last restore test was on [date] and took [time]." |
| Any alerts? | "Each alert of the month, with what caused it and what we did." |
| Is the upgrade check clean? | "Yes, no modified or missing files." |
An answer of "I think so" to any of these is a reason to ask again next week.
Note
A published release is never changed: a fix reaches you as the next release (SECURITY.md). Staying current is
therefore the only way to receive fixes; plan several small updates a year rather than one large one
(Budgeting for upgrades and maintenance).
Related pages
- Weekly checklist
- Quarterly checklist
- Monthly operations checklist
- Store monthly checklist
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.