# Works with any site. Goes deeper when you connect it. Flowpane checks every site from the outside, over public HTTPS, with nothing to install. Connect your CMS or Google Search Console and it also sees what the public web cannot show: when content changes, which tool writes each file, and what Google has observed. ## External by default Every check starts from the public web. No install and no integration to set up. Flowpane reads what any visitor receives, so it works with any platform or framework. - **A crawler that names itself.** Flowpane fetches public URLs over HTTPS as Flowpane/1.0 (+https://crawler.flowpane.com), and signs each request with Web Bot Auth so your firewall can verify it. - **Checks on a schedule.** Checks repeat on your plan's schedule, from weekly to hourly, with nothing running on your server. - **Ownership, proved once.** Verify the site with a file, a DNS TXT record or a meta tag. One value covers the whole workspace. - **Any platform or framework.** A CMS, a store, a framework or a hand-built site. If the public can read it, Flowpane can check it. How Flowpane fetches: https://flowpane.com/learn/how-flowpane-fetches.md ## CMS connectors Connect your CMS to keep Flowpane informed. A connector tells Flowpane when content changes and which tool writes each governance file. It is optional, and it writes nothing until an admin opts in. During the beta, connectors are switched on for testers platform by platform. Tell us your platform when you apply and we will prioritise it. Apply at https://flowpane.com/beta Supported connectors: - [Flowpane for WordPress](https://flowpane.com/integrations/wordpress.md), a plugin: Posts, pages and WooCommerce products, alongside Yoast SEO or Rank Math. - [Flowpane for Joomla](https://flowpane.com/integrations/joomla.md), a extension: Articles, menu items and SP Page Builder pages, with managed robots.txt. - [Flowpane for developer-managed sites](https://flowpane.com/integrations/developer.md), a developer integration: Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, Remix, Node.js, Laravel, Rails, Django, plain HTML and Lovable builds. - [Flowpane for Drupal](https://flowpane.com/integrations/drupal.md), a module: Alongside Metatag, Simple XML Sitemap and the RobotsTxt module. - [Flowpane for HubSpot](https://flowpane.com/integrations/hubspot.md), a app: Alongside HubSpot's own sitemap, robots.txt settings and SEO recommendations. - [Flowpane for Shopify](https://flowpane.com/integrations/shopify.md), a app: Alongside Shopify's own sitemap, robots.txt.liquid and your SEO apps. - [Flowpane for Wix](https://flowpane.com/integrations/wix.md), a app: Alongside Wix's own sitemap and SEO settings. - [Flowpane for Adobe Experience Manager](https://flowpane.com/integrations/aem.md), a package: Alongside Apache Sling Sitemap, ACS AEM Commons and the Dispatcher. - [Flowpane for Squarespace](https://flowpane.com/integrations/squarespace.md), a extension: Alongside Squarespace's own sitemap, robots.txt and SEO panel. Coming next: BigCommerce, Magento and Adobe Commerce, Webflow, Contentful, Sanity, Sitecore, Kentico, Dynamicweb, Craft CMS, Storyblok, Strapi, Duda, PrestaShop and Optimizely. Until a connector is ready, these platforms get every external check, like any other site. Not listed? Every other platform gets the same external checks, and Flowpane detects the platform where it can, to tailor its guidance. ## What a connector does Reads first. Writes only when an admin says so. Every connector does the same things, on every platform. What differs is how it installs, and the tools it works alongside. What it tells Flowpane: - A signed, sequenced record of each item's ID, type, publication status and last-modified time. Never titles, text or authors. - A page report, daily and soon after changes: each public page's publication state, URL and explicit robots values, and site-wide settings. - Changes to robots settings, soon after they are made. - Which tool writes each governance file, where Flowpane can tell. What it can change, where the platform allows, only with a person's approval: - noindex or nofollow on the pages you choose. Nobody else's noindex is removed, and no content is edited. - Flowpane's own sitemap, beside your existing ones, after you review a preview. Other sitemaps are never changed. - robots.txt, by applying a revision saved in Flowpane's editor. After every change, Flowpane checks the public result, and pauses if it cannot prove the change applied. Nothing is submitted to Google. Each connection starts in Flowpane and is confirmed inside the CMS. Requests are signed with a key generated on your site, which never leaves it. ## Google Search Console Optional, read-only evidence of what Google has observed. Connect a Search Console property, and Flowpane shows what Google reports beside its own observation, with timestamps. - **Read-only access.** Flowpane asks Google for the webmasters.readonly scope, and nothing more. - **What it reads.** Your list of properties, the sitemaps you submitted with Google's counts, and a bounded sample of URL Inspection results. - **What it never does.** It never submits a sitemap or a URL, and it reads no search analytics data, such as clicks, impressions or queries. ## Publishing Flowpane proposes. You choose how it goes live. A proposed fix never goes live on its own, and the next public check is the only thing that moves the score. - **Publish it yourself** (Any site). Take the proposed file and publish it through your own host or CMS, the way you publish anything else. - **Deploy a sitemap over SFTP or FTPS** (Pro and above). Flowpane can deploy a generated sitemap to your server over SFTP or FTPS, when you start it. - **Apply it through a connector** (Connected CMS). Where the platform allows, a connector applies fixes an admin has approved, such as noindex on chosen pages or a Flowpane sitemap beside your own. ## What we never do Clear limits, whichever way you connect. - **Sign in to your site.** Checks read public HTTPS, and a connector is set up by your own admin. Flowpane never uses a site login. - **Submit anything to Google.** Search Console access is read-only. Flowpane never submits a sitemap or a URL. - **Change sitemaps that are not ours.** Flowpane's own sitemap is served beside yours. Your existing sitemaps are left as they are. - **Write before an admin opts in.** A connector writes nothing until an admin opts in, and then only the fixes that admin approved. ## Questions ### Is Flowpane only for WordPress? No. Flowpane checks any site from the outside, over public HTTPS, whatever it runs on, and there is nothing to install. It also connects to WordPress, WooCommerce, Joomla, Drupal, HubSpot, Shopify, Wix, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Squarespace and developer-managed sites such as Next.js, Node and Lovable builds, and to Google Search Console, read-only. ### Do I need to install anything? No. Checks run from the outside, and you prove ownership once with a file, a DNS TXT record or a meta tag. A CMS connector is optional. It adds what only the CMS knows, and it writes nothing until an admin opts in. ### Which CMS platforms can connect? Flowpane has connectors for WordPress and WooCommerce, Joomla, Drupal, HubSpot, Shopify, Wix, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Squarespace and developer-managed sites built with Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, Gatsby, Remix, Node.js, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Django or plain HTML, including sites made with Lovable. Coming next: BigCommerce, Magento and Adobe Commerce, Webflow, Contentful, Sanity, Sitecore, Kentico, Dynamicweb, Craft CMS, Storyblok, Strapi, Duda, PrestaShop and Optimizely. Any other platform gets every external check. During the beta, connectors are switched on for testers platform by platform. Tell us your platform when you apply and we will prioritise it. ### What does a CMS connector change on my site? Nothing until an admin opts in, and then only what a person approves, where the platform allows: noindex or nofollow on pages you choose, Flowpane's own sitemap beside your existing sitemaps, which it never changes, and robots.txt from a revision saved in Flowpane. It never edits your content, Flowpane checks the public result after every change, and nothing is submitted to Google. ### What does the Search Console connection read? With read-only access, the webmasters.readonly scope, Flowpane reads your list of properties, the sitemaps you submitted with Google's counts, and a bounded sample of URL Inspection results. It reads no search analytics data, such as clicks or queries, and it never submits anything to Google. ### Does Flowpane work with Shopify, Webflow or a custom site? Yes. All three are checked from the outside today, like any other site. Shopify and custom sites can also connect, and a Webflow connector is coming next. ## Go deeper - [How Flowpane fetches](https://flowpane.com/learn/how-flowpane-fetches.md) - [Sitemaps](https://flowpane.com/learn/sitemaps.md) - [robots.txt](https://flowpane.com/learn/robots-txt.md)