Skip to content
https://css-tricks.com

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
80
GRADE
B
FIX
1
REVIEW
3
PASS
5
INFO
0
Probed from Sao Paulo, Brazil
403 Forbidden
Checks
9
5 PASS 3 REVIEW 1 FIX
F
IPv6 Readiness
Action
IPv6 records exist but unreachable
FIX
IPv6 records exist but unreachable
Warning::
IPv6 DNS records exist but server is not reachable
Having AAAA records but an unreachable server is worse than no AAAA — clients may experience delays before falling back to IPv4.
Got: 2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb, 2a06:98c1:3107::6812:2715
Info::
IPv6 connection error
Got: dial tcp6 [2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb]:443: connect: no route to host
IPv6 Misconfigured
AAAA Records 2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb, 2a06:98c1:3107::6812:2715 Connection UNREACHABLE

Having AAAA records but an unreachable server is worse than no AAAA — clients may experience delays before falling back to IPv4.

Why this matters

Advertising IPv6 (AAAA records) without a reachable server means IPv6-preferring clients silently fail every connection.

Learn more

Modern browsers prefer IPv6 if AAAA exists (Happy Eyeballs algorithm). If the IPv6 server isn't reachable, browsers fall back to IPv4 — but with seconds of added latency per request. Either fix IPv6 reachability or remove the AAAA records.

Source: RFC 8305 (Happy Eyeballs)

B
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
REVIEW
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Critical::
HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS
Got: HTTP 403 Expected: 301 redirect to HTTPS

www / non-www

403https://www.css-tricks.com/
200https://css-tricks.com/

HTTP → HTTPS

403http://css-tricks.com/

HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS

B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
89 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

89
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
  • Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
  • Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
B
CDN & Delivery
Cloudflare
REVIEW
Cloudflare
Info::
Site is served via Cloudflare CDN (edge: GRU)
Got: cf-ray: 9e7190e41f712570-GRU
CDN Detected: Cloudflare
Provider Cloudflare Evidence cf-ray: 9e7190e41f712570-GRU
A+
DNS Records
2 A records, 129 ms lookup
PASS
2 A records, 129 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 2 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 104.18.39.21, 172.64.148.235
Info::
Has 2 IPv6 (AAAA) record(s)
Got: 2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb, 2a06:98c1:3107::6812:2715
Info::
2 nameserver(s) configured
Got: nicole.ns.cloudflare.com, austin.ns.cloudflare.com
Info::
7 mail exchanger(s) configured
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
No SPF record found in TXT records
SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
Info::
DNS resolution time: 129 ms
Got: 129 ms
A104.18.39.21, 172.64.148.235
AAAA2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb, 2a06:98c1:3107::6812:2715
CNAME
NSnicole.ns.cloudflare.com, austin.ns.cloudflare.com
MX
10 aspmx.l.google.com
20 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
30 aspmx3.googlemail.com
30 aspmx2.googlemail.com
30 aspmx4.googlemail.com
30 aspmx5.googlemail.com
TXT
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 129 ms

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.

Why this matters

Without SPF, receiving servers can't validate sending IPs — your domain is easier to spoof in phishing.

Learn more

SPF complements DMARC. Both should be published. SPF records list authorized sending IPs (e.g., `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` for Google Workspace). After publishing, verify in Google Postmaster Tools or mxtoolbox.

Source: RFC 7208 (SPF)

A+
Redirect Chain
0 redirect(s), 21 ms total
PASS
0 redirect(s), 21 ms total

https://css-tricks.com

21 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://css-tricks.com40321 msHTTP/1.1cloudflare
A
Crawlability
robots.txt present, no sitemap
PASS
robots.txt present, no sitemap
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 1197 bytes
Info::
No sitemap.xml found
A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap

A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.

Why this matters

No sitemap.xml — Google relies on crawl-graph discovery alone, slowing indexing of deep or fresh URLs.

Learn more

A sitemap accelerates Google's discovery of new and updated content. Most CMSes auto-generate one; static-site frameworks need a build-step plugin. Reference it from robots.txt and submit in Search Console to confirm Google can fetch it.

Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central

robots.txt 200 OK
Size 1197 B Sitemaps referenced 3 User-agents anthropic-ai, PerplexityBot, Bytespider, SemrushBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, AhrefsBot, DotBot, *, GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, CCBot Blocking No — crawling allowed
# CSS-Tricks robots.txt
# Last updated: January 2026

# Allow all search engines and AI crawlers to access content
User-agent: *
Allow: /

# Allow specific AI crawlers explicitly
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

User-agent: CCBot
Allow: /

User-agent: anthropic-ai
Allow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Bytespider
Allow: /

# Block common problem crawlers (spam, scrapers)
User-agent: SemrushBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: DotBot
Disallow: /

# Disallow admin and private areas
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-login.php
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /search?
Disallow: /*?s=
Disallow: /cart/
Disallow: /checkout/

# Allow WordPress uploads (images, media)
Allow: /wp-content/uploads/

# Prevent indexing of duplicate content
Disallow: /*?replytocom=
Disallow: /tag/*/page/
Disallow: /category/*/page/

# Crawl delay for aggressive bots
User-agent: *
Crawl-delay: 1

# Sitemap location
Sitemap: https://css-tricks.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://css-tricks.com/post-sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://css-tricks.com/page-sitemap.xml
sitemap.xml No sitemap found

No sitemap found

Adding a sitemap helps search engines discover your pages.

A+
Domain Intelligence
css-tricks.com — via MarkMonitor Inc., 19 years old
PASS
css-tricks.com — via MarkMonitor Inc., 19 years old
Info::
Domain registered until Jul 4, 2032 (6 years, 4 months remaining)
Info::
DNSSEC is not enabled
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Info::
Registrar: MarkMonitor Inc.
Domain expiry

2210 days

July 4, 2032

SSL certificate

89 days

Issued by Google Trust Services

Domain age

19 years

Registered July 4, 2007

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Unknown

2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb

Registrar

MarkMonitor Inc.

Lock status unknown 2 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
Registrar MarkMonitor Inc.
Created July 4, 2007 (19 years ago)
Expires July 4, 2032 (6 years, 4 months)
Last Updated April 7, 2025
Name Servers austin.ns.cloudflare.com, nicole.ns.cloudflare.com
DNSSEC Not enabled
Hosting
IP Address 2a06:98c1:3108::ac40:94eb
Data source: rdap (0.8s)

DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.

Why this matters

Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.

Learn more

DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.

Source: ICANN / RFC 4033

A+
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 24 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
5 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
2 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
9 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
24 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
24 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 5 ms TCP Connect 2 ms TLS Handshake 9 ms Server Processing 7 ms Content Transfer 0 ms
All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

Send Feedback