Forum Moderators: DixonJones
Has anyone tried directlogger
it looks great and get you some great info
/Ove
Until a few weeks ago, I'd been making do with Verio's and other ISP's freebie versions of WebTrends (they differ) and cobbling analyses together on Excel (which does not offer enough capacity for a month's files).
I'd done this for a couple of years - old, time-consuming habits die hard - and it's amazing how much good information you can extract from huge text files while in a state of deep depression. All who have tried it have been there :).
In its favor, you can glean more from a huge wodge of text than you could hiding a copy of eXTReMe [extreme-dm.com]'s Tracker (another freebie) on your page. Also, eXTReMe's main use (courtesy of 4eyes) is finding out how other sites are doing (the subject of another thread [webmasterworld.com]).
On a couple of small sites, I'd not got beyond long, eye-straining sessions using WordPad's Find function to get a glimpse of what's what. This was just not good enough.
Seeking to retain my sanity, I downloaded the trial version of Summary 2.0 a couple of weeks ago and the information (perhaps it's the juxtaposition of fresh presentations - it offers around thirty good reports) has given me a couple of strong arguments for change in certain areas.
It's amazing what a good overview or different perspective tells one about a site's traffic.
I'd decided not to go the automated route having bought into WPG when I started out optimizing, but analysis is another matter altogether and tarring tracking programs with the same brush as I did WPG (after not getting my head around Analog) was one of the dumbest things I did. Now, whereas I'd spend a couple of weeks making sense of where a site was going in the past, Summary gives me the same info in a couple of hours. I've spent as much time this month poring over the reports but I've extracted a lot more from them.
There are many other similar tools and you'll find the tracker best suited to your needs quite easily.
My point is that, as has already been pointed out in yet another thread [webmasterworld.com], I'd been spending a huge amount of time at home and at work monitoring my log files. It just wasn't necessary and I've garnered myself a huge chunk of reading time by cutting down on wasted effort.
There's usually an easier, faster way to get most things done more effectively. I just hadn't looked until I stumbled across that old thread. So, thanks to WebRookie and luckynh, you've made me a whole lot more productive :).
Needless to say, I'll be posting far longer posts far more frequently to these boards. About important things such as turkeys and groundhogs.
Heh, heh... :).
/Ove
