Replacement for ancient site page logger (AXS) ?

[dwhite]

I use something called AXS Visitor Tracking System to record what pages on my site people visit. Unfortunately, it was last updated over 10 years ago, so it's beginning to show its age. For the past few years, it won't give me the Google keywords that people use anymore. And lately, I don't see any results from Google at all even though I know I'm getting them. I also think blackhats are abusing my site's logger by using it as a springboard judging from entries in the log similar to this:

This visitor first was redirected to <spamsite>

from <mysite>/cgi-bin/axs/ax.pl?<spamsite>

Suffice to say I want a modern replacement. I like compactness and simplicity and ability to download the giant log file on a whim. I don't like a tiny font and tons of whitespace like so many modern sites/apps seem to be aiming towards. I MIGHT be willing to go with an external site logger system, but I'd prefer to store the software locally (perl and maybe PHP?) on my host's server in case the third party site doing the logging shuts down some day, and I have to update every page on my site again as a result. Zero maintenance is a big perk for me.

Here's example pics from the old AXS site logger system:

[i.imgur.com...]

[i.imgur.com...]

From that main page, it allowed simply bar charts too for various metrics.

What would be the best fit for my purposes?

[not2easy]

Have you looked into Matomo (used to be called Piwik)? If the ASX script can be manipulated, it is time to replace it imho. Many script modules have been deprecated over the past 10 years. Matomo is free and resides on your server.

[robzilla]

My goodness, what a blast from the past! Thanks, I have some good memories using AXS :-)

It's not really en vogue anymore to process your access logs to determine website statistics, there's too much noise in there.

For basic metrics, I've had a good experience with Plausible.io. Tried Piwik but didn't like it much, haven't tried it as Matomo.

You won't see search queries and such because everyone's on HTTPS now. You'll need to use Search Console for that.

[dwhite]

In reply to both of you:

Have you looked into Matomo (used to be called Piwik)? If the ASX script can be manipulated, it is time to replace it imho. Many script modules have been deprecated over the past 10 years. Matomo is free and resides on your server.

That looks interesting. Unfortunately, in their demo, I can't see a section giving the links to the raw URLs, only the collapsed versions (under "Pages" and "Entry Pages". So to get into a deep nested folder, you'd need to click several times (each one being a folder name) to see the final URLs. Perhaps I'm missing something? There is the "Page titles" section, and that's cool, but I'd like the raw URLs too.

Is it easy to set up? With AXS, I just inserted a piece of code into each web page, and did some minimal configuration of the main program files, and it worked a treat.

My UK site, just as it has been for years, has zero cookies, so do I have to worry about showing those horrible GDPR-related "Do you agree to cookie/data collection?" banners that are so prevalent on most websites these days if I use Matomo?

My goodness, what a blast from the past! Thanks, I have some good memories using AXS :-)

Pleasure. Years ago, I actually created a super fast AXS log analyzer program that provided a lot more info and could digest multiple log files because my server always had a file size limit. Good days!

For basic metrics, I've had a good experience with Plausible.io.

Wow, their script is "45 times smaller than Google Analytics.". Google's must be quite bloated. Not too many stats to look at though. It does put me off that there's no free plan. It's just something else to worry about I guess.

You won't see search queries and such because everyone's on HTTPS now. You'll need to use Search Console for that.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so that's why there's been no Google keywords for the past few years! I wonder what happened to that. Such a shame - feels like we lost a more innocent time. What do you think of using Google's Search Console? Is it as bloated and limited as Plausible claim?

[dwhite]

Just to add, since I can't edit my post anymore (can Brett (who I recall being the admin of this site) please allow editing if no one has posted since?)........

Aha, looks like Matomo supports privacy enough to allow for me not to have to display an annoying GDPR dialog banner for my site visitors. Good to hear. I quote from: [matomo.org...]

With Matomo cookieless tracking, you can get rid of pesky cookie banners, confidently rely on all the data collected and protect user privacy. Who would’ve thought a cookieless future could look so sweet?

[robzilla]

What do you think of using Google's Search Console? Is it as bloated and limited as Plausible claim?

Search Console is not the same as Analytics, the latter is their AXS alternative, if you will, while the former gives you insight into your website's performance in Google Search (data they pull directly from their search engine so you don't need to change anything on your site to use it, except maybe to verify domain ownership).

[engine]

I used to use pwik, now Matomo, and found it very useful to have an independent alternative to Google Analytics, both running for a better assessment. Probably overkill for most.

Also, take a look at Microsoft Clarity. It's not analytics, but it's a superb tool to get an overview of your site visitor actions. [webmasterworld.com...]
Run it alongside an analytics program of your choice.

[vivalasvegas]

Matomo here as well because they give you the On Premise choice for data storage. They have some interesting paid addons too, like heatmaps and session recordings.

...But how I loved the AXS tracking software. So clean and easy to read.

[dwhite]

Search Console is not the same as Analytics, the latter is their AXS alternative, if you will, while the former gives you insight into your website's performance in Google Search (data they pull directly from their search engine so you don't need to change anything on your site to use it, except maybe to verify domain ownership).

Thanks I thought the Search Console looked a bit limited.

Anyway, I've had a look at around a couple of dozen AXS clones now, restricting my assessments to only those with live demos. Looks like I might go with one called "Umami" due to its ease of use and how you can easily add/remove filter tags to check for your top pages against a particular referral link (or top referral links against a particular site page). All on a single page with the graph helps and it reports the raw URLs that visit your site, not just their home page. Demo here: [app.umami.is...]

Problem is, I'm not sure if I can install it on my website. I use shared hosting via ICDsoft and have access to Control Panel v2.1, but according to the "Getting Started" page, "Umami is a self-hosted web analytics solution". Does "self-hosted" mean I actually have to own the server, or does shared hosting include that definition?

If not, then looks like I'll have to go with Matomo or maybe one called Goatcounter.

[robzilla]

Does "self-hosted" mean I actually have to own the server, or does shared hosting include that definition?

It can include shared hosting, it just means noone else is hosting and maintaining the software for you. Where you host it is up to you, but you do need to be able to run it, i.e. meet the requirements. In the case of Umami, you need a Node server and shared hosting does not offer that generally. If it was a PHP app with a MySQL database, shared hosting would've been fine. To host a Node server, you'd need either specialized Node hosting or your own server.