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How to Access Monitor

The Monitor feature gives you a live view of your site's server resource consumption, directly from the InstaWP dashboard. You can see how many PHP workers are active, how much RAM your site is using, and what percentage of the CPU is under load, all updating automatically in real time.

This is particularly useful when you are running load tests, diagnosing performance bottlenecks, or evaluating how a new plugin or theme affects server health.

Note: The monitor feature is available on all paid plans.

How to Access Monitor

Follow the steps below to access the Monitor feature of InstaWP.

Step 1: On the left-hand sidebar, click Sites and open the site you want to monitor.

Step 2: In the site's left-hand navigation menu, click Monitor.

The Monitor panel opens immediately and begins streaming live data. You will see the Live indicator (a green dot) in the top-right corner, confirming that data is actively updating.

Watch the Monitor Feature Walkthrough video to see real-time monitoring in action before diving into the steps below.

Monitor Controls

In the top-right corner of the Monitor panel, you will find three controls that let you customize how data is displayed:

Refresh Time Interval — A dropdown (default: 5s) that controls how frequently the monitoring data refreshes. The available intervals are:

3s — Fastest refresh, ideal for real-time load testing.

5s — Default interval, a good balance between responsiveness and performance.

10s — Slower refresh, useful for longer observation sessions.

30s — Slowest refresh, minimal resource overhead during extended monitoring.

Pause — Click the Pause button to temporarily stop the live data stream. This is useful when you want to freeze the current state and examine the metrics without the values changing. Click it again to resume live monitoring.

Live Indicator — A green dot labeled Live confirms that the monitor is actively streaming real-time data. When paused, this indicator will change accordingly.

Tip: During load tests, use the 3s refresh interval combined with the Last 5 minutes chart view to get the most granular look at how your server is responding under pressure.

Understanding the Monitor Dashboard

At the top of the Monitor panel, three cards give you an at-a-glance snapshot of your site's current server state:

Workers — Shows the number of active PHP worker processes handling requests. This is informational only with no warning indicator.
RAM Usage — Shows current memory consumption vs. total allocated (e.g., 317.3 MB / 512.0 MB). The progress bar turns amber, and a Warning badge appears when usage is high.
CPU Usage — Shows current processor utilization as a percentage (e.g., 1.0%). The bar fills as usage increases.

Important: When your RAM usage is high, the progress bar turns amber, and a Warning badge appears on the RAM Usage card. This is your signal to investigate what is consuming memory, for example, a memory-hungry plugin or a large number of concurrent requests.

The Resource Usage Chart

Below the metric cards is a time-series chart that plots CPU Usage (purple line) and RAM Usage (green area) over a rolling time window.

You can change the time range of the chart using the dropdown in the top-right corner of the chart section. The available options are:

Last 5 minutes — Tightest view, best for active debugging.

Last 15 minutes — Balanced view for most use cases.

Last 60 minutes — Broader view to identify trends over time.

Tip: Hover your cursor over any point on the chart to see a tooltip showing the exact CPU% and RAM MB values at that specific timestamp.

MySQL Processes

Scrolling down below the chart reveals the MySQL Processes section. This displays the current number of active database connections against the total allowed for your plan (for example, 0 / 200 connections), shown as a green badge next to the section title.

Click the MySQL Processes row to expand or collapse this section.

When collapsed — You see a summary row showing the connection count (e.g., 0 / 200 connections) with a dropdown arrow to expand.

When expanded — If there are active database queries, they will be listed here with details about each running process. If no queries are currently executing, you will see a "No active queries" message with an empty-state icon.

This section is particularly useful for:

Identifying long-running or stuck database queries that may be slowing your site down.
Monitoring whether your site is approaching its maximum connection limit during traffic spikes.
Debugging plugin or theme code that may be making excessive or inefficient database calls.

Important: If you notice the connection count consistently approaching the maximum (e.g., 180 / 200), it may indicate that your site needs database query optimization, better caching, or a plan upgrade to handle the load.

💡 Did you know — You can fine-tune your site's PHP settings directly from the PHP Config panel, located right below Monitor in the sidebar. Learn more about PHP Config.

Need help? If you have any questions about the Monitor feature or need assistance diagnosing a performance issue, reach out to our support team via the ticket widget or email us at support@instawp.com.

Updated on: 29/05/2026

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