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I don't really know what people expect with status pages. Having it change automatically based on metrics can result in inaccurate status. Having it behind a manual gate can be inaccurate since that takes time with approvals and such.

So, what exactly is the expectation and how can you implement a perfect status system?

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> Having it change automatically based on metrics can result in inaccurate status.

A status pages job is to inform users about potential issues. A user will seek out the status page specifically if they currently see issues on their end, but usually won't if they don't. Therefore underreporting is a huge issue, because you essentially tell your users that the issue must be on their end even if it is not, but overreporting issues when there are none hurts no one and the chances are high that no user even sees it.

Completely agree. I think the unofficial Steam Status[0] by xPaw[1] is a great example. I never go to the site unless I'm having issues. Between the service stats and the page views section it is really easy to confirm my suspicion that something is on fire at Valve. If it wasn't for this post I wouldn't have known that they had a minor connection issue a few hours ago.

[0]: https://steamstat.us/

[1]: https://xpaw.me/

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