Your website’s logs record every request, every error, and every PHP issue as they happen. When something goes wrong, whether it’s a spike in 404 errors, a PHP fatal error crashing a page, or a slow query bogging down your site, the logs tell you exactly what happened and when.
Hostney provides three types of log viewers in your control panel, each with both historical viewing and live streaming. You can also use Ellie, the built-in AI assistant, to explain log entries you don’t understand.
Where to find your logs#
Sign in at my.hostney.com and navigate to Logs & statistics in the sidebar. You’ll see three log sections:
- Access logs — every HTTP request to your website
- Error logs — server and application errors (Nginx/Apache)
- PHP logs — PHP errors, access, and slow query logs
Each log viewer has a website selector dropdown at the top. Select the website you want to view logs for before loading entries.
Access logs#
Access logs record every HTTP request to your website: the timestamp, visitor’s IP address, requested URL, HTTP status code, user agent, and response size.
Log viewer tab
The default view shows historical log entries in a table. Use the row count selector to choose how many entries to load: 100, 250, 500 (default), 1,000, or 2,500 requests.
At the top of the page, statistics cards summarize the loaded data:
- Total requests — number of entries loaded
- Peak hour — the busiest hour in the dataset
- Success rate — percentage of 2xx responses
- Error rate — percentage of 4xx and 5xx responses
Below the statistics, a status code breakdown shows the distribution across categories:
| Category | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 2xx | Green | Successful responses |
| 3xx | Blue | Redirects |
| 4xx | Yellow | Client errors (not found, forbidden, etc.) |
| 5xx | Red | Server errors |
A Top IP addresses card shows which IPs are making the most requests. Click any public IP address to view GeoIP information (country, city, ISP).
The log entries table lists individual requests with sortable columns for time, IP address, and status code. Click any row to expand the full log line. From the dropdown menu on each entry, you can:
- View the full log — see the complete raw log entry
- Ask Ellie — get an AI-powered explanation of what the log entry means
- IP info — look up the IP address details
Use the search bar to filter entries by timestamp, IP address, or status code. The search automatically detects 3-digit status codes and filters accordingly.
Live stream tab
Switch to the Live stream tab to watch requests as they happen in real time, similar to running
tail -f
on a log file.
- Select the website from the dropdown
- The stream starts automatically
- A green pulsing Live indicator confirms the connection is active
- New log entries appear at the bottom as they arrive
You can filter the live stream by status code category (All, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx) and use the start/stop controls to pause and resume streaming.
The live stream retains the most recent 1,000 lines in the viewer to prevent browser memory issues during long sessions. You can download the visible log content as a
.txt
file at any time.
Error logs#
Error logs capture server-side errors: Nginx errors, Apache errors, PHP fatal errors caught by the web server, and ModSecurity WAF blocks. These are the logs you check when a page returns a 500 error or something stops working.
Log viewer tab
Similar to access logs, the error log viewer shows historical entries with configurable row counts (100–2,500).
Statistics cards at the top show:
- Total errors — number of entries loaded
- Peak hour — when the most errors occurred
- Server errors — count of 5xx errors
- Client errors — count of 4xx errors
The error type breakdown categorizes entries:
| Type | Label | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server errors | SRV | Red | 5xx responses, internal failures |
| Client errors | CLT | Yellow | 4xx responses, not found, forbidden |
| Warnings | WRN | Orange | Non-fatal issues |
| Notices | NTC | Blue | Informational messages |
The error log table displays entries with sortable columns. Click any row to expand the full error details. Each entry’s dropdown menu includes:
- View full log
- Ask Ellie — AI-powered error explanation
- IP info — GeoIP lookup for the requesting IP
ModSecurity integration: If an error log entry contains a ModSecurity rule ID (from your WAF), the rule ID is clickable. Clicking it opens a modal where you can quickly add an exclusion for that rule if it’s a false positive. This saves you from navigating to the firewall settings separately.
Live stream tab
Works identically to the access log live stream. Watch errors appear in real time with the green Live indicator. Useful during deployments or when actively debugging an issue.
PHP logs#
PHP logs are split into three separate tabs, each streaming in real time:
PHP error log
Shows PHP errors, warnings, and notices generated by your WordPress site or PHP application. This is where you’ll find fatal errors, deprecated function warnings, undefined variable notices, and uncaught exceptions.
- Select your website from the dropdown
- The stream starts automatically
- Errors appear in real time with the green Live indicator
Click the Ellie AI explanation option to get a plain-language breakdown of what a PHP error means and how to fix it. This is especially useful for cryptic errors like “Allowed memory size exhausted” or “Call to undefined function.”
PHP access log
Shows PHP-FPM request logs: every PHP script execution with timing information. Useful for understanding which scripts are being called and how long they take.
PHP slow log
Captures PHP scripts that exceed the slow-log threshold. Each entry includes a full stack trace showing exactly which function call was slow. This is the first place to look when your site feels sluggish but isn’t throwing errors.
Slow log entries typically point to:
- Heavy database queries inside plugins
- External API calls that are timing out
- Inefficient loops processing large datasets
- Image processing or file operations
Using Ellie AI to explain log entries#
All three log types (access, error, and PHP) integrate with Ellie, Hostney’s AI assistant. When you see a log entry you don’t understand:
- Click the entry or select Ask Ellie from the dropdown menu
- Ellie analyzes the log line and provides a plain-language explanation
- The explanation streams in real time, formatted with clear headings and suggestions
This is particularly helpful for:
- Understanding what a specific HTTP status code means in context
- Diagnosing PHP errors when you’re not sure what triggered them
- Identifying whether an error log entry is something you need to fix or can safely ignore
Downloading logs#
From any log viewer (static or streaming), you can download the currently visible log content as a
.txt
file. Click the download button in the log viewer toolbar. The file is named with the log type and website identifier.
For bulk log access or automated log processing, connect to your server via SSH and access the log files directly.
Tips for reading logs#
Start with error logs when something breaks. If a page returns a 500 error, the error log will tell you what went wrong. If it’s a PHP error, the PHP error log will have more detail including the file and line number.
Use live streaming during deployments. After pushing an update, open the error log live stream. If your changes introduced a problem, you’ll see errors appear immediately rather than discovering them from user reports.
Check PHP slow logs for performance issues. If your site loads slowly but doesn’t show errors, the slow log captures scripts that take too long. The stack trace shows exactly where the bottleneck is.
Filter access logs by status code. A sudden spike in 404 errors might indicate broken links after a URL change. A spike in 403 errors could mean your firewall is blocking legitimate traffic. Filter by status code to isolate the pattern.
Click IP addresses for context. When you see an unfamiliar IP making many requests or triggering errors, click it to see the GeoIP details. This helps you determine if it’s a legitimate user, a monitoring service, or bot traffic.
If you need help interpreting your logs, contact our support team.