Monitoring PDF downloads

[Bumpy]

I would like some not very expensive suggestions for how people monitor and control the downloading of PDF files from their sites? Thanks for any help.

[joaquin112]

You could simply view your logs... or make a custom PHP script with a counter and some IP logger (with date as well) which triggers when someone visits the page where the download is at. It's very easy, really.

[Bumpy]

Thanks for your reply. I know I downloaded something about a year ago that was suppose to keep track of someone's ClickBank e book downloads but I just can't remember the name of it so I can't find it on my system. Does anyone know the name of the utility I am talking about?

Any other suggestions for keeping track of who is downloading PDF files from a site?

[wsm2006]

I've been using Google Analytics to monitor PDF downloads. If you were lucky enough to get in when it was open it's an amazing opportunity to learn more about your users and what actions they take on your site. From their help center:

Google Analytics provides an easy way to track clicks on links that lead to file downloads. Because these links do not lead to a page on your site containing the tracking code, you'll need to tag the link itself with the urchinTracker JavaScript if you would like to track these downloads. This piece of JavaScript assigns a pageview to any click on a link - the pageview is attributed to the filename you specify.

For example, to log every click on a particular link to www.example.com/files/map.pdf as a pageview for /downloads/map you would add the following attribute to the link's <a> tag:

<a href="http://www.example.com/files/map.pdf" onClick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/downloads/map'); ">