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Log File Analyizers... which do you prefer?

interested in finding alternative log file analyizers...

         

meannate

8:06 pm on Feb 11, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Howdy-

I'm interested in finding what types of log file analyizers you all use.

Reason is, I've been using an older version of WebTrends Enterprise, and I have my doubts as to whether or not it's actually interpreting my log files correctly. I've actually been scouring my log files manually, and have found that a lot of information is being missed and or being recognized as something different.

Any ideas?

-meannate

casualsub

9:44 am on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Try here [webmasterworld.com] or here [webmasterworld.com] for previous discussions on this.

For what it's worth I like Analog [analog.cx], which I much prefer over Webtrends. It's definately a 'back to basics' program, but seems to be all the better for it.

ritualcoffee

4:07 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



if you want hosted -SurfAid.

meannate

5:50 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



i downloaded analog...

what a refreshing program: complete control over filtering, and how "raw" your data is displayed. I now have a way to create a concise report on one page, with only the specific information i'm interested in. And the damn thing takes like 1 second to run!

god bless analog.

-meannate

casualsub

6:05 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



All that after one day of use? Wait until you've been using it a while; Analog gets better as time goes on and you get the config file nearer and nearer to your ideal. I don't think you ever reach an end, I'm certainly nowhere near yet, glad you like it though.

keyplyr

6:31 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Yes, I am now analog enlightened as well - installed it yesterday and spent hours tweaking the results.

Curious about how most get their log files though. Is downloading them each day what everyone does? Will analog save the prior days info, so that I can delete them (at the virtual server) after each download? I can just see the access_log file getting very large by the end of the week.

OT: This has also been a much needed exposure to DOS. I came along about the time of Win98 and never needed to do much more than push a button.

casualsub

8:49 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I've been downloading the logs every day...but things have to change as it's all getting a bit out of hand. This was my next challenge with Analog. What I want to do is produce summary files of the stats (which I think Analog will do) and then renew these every day with the current day's log. This should help me with storage (and run time!). I haven't got round to figuring this out though.

One thing I would say though is that you probably don't want to dump the original log files straight away. If there is a strange vistor, bot, IP address or whatever, you want to chase up, being able to go back to the original log file is a must.

keyplyr

9:14 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Thanks casualsub

One thing I would really like to do is hide my own domain in the site referrers. Since my site is over a hundred pages, all cross linked, almost all the referrers are my own pages. That's important information for some considerations, but I want to see more of the remote referrers. Is there a way to hide my own URL?

meannate

10:19 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



keyplyr:

this is actually quite easy, and involves editing the analog.cfg file. Try adding the following:

REFERRER ON
REFARGSFLOOR 2r
REFREPEXCLUDE [*yourdomain.com...]

this will exclude any local referrers.

There is also a way to filter out your own IP address from the hits. Try this:

HOSTEXCLUDE 66.12.232.*

the star is a wildcard, which will check against all values. which is neccessary if you have many people on your design team checking stuff out.

Also i found a great FAQ on their site, which answers most questions I had initially.

[analog.cx...]

keyplyr

11:03 pm on Feb 12, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



Outstanding, thanks again

chiyo

1:13 am on Feb 13, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Another tip for Analog is to use the add-on DNS resolving program from Analogx (Search in Google!), especially if you are doing it on your personal compuer and it is not being resolved utomatically on the server.

It does simultaneous look ups making resolving much faster than the Analog standard. Full clear and simple instructions are given.

We dont use it any more becuase we moved to a server that provides analog already set up on their server, but for 3 or 4 years we did it by donwloading raw logs and running on my laptop very successfully.

Im noticing more hosts are providing analog reports for their statistical reports. Its a great trend.

JayCee

12:01 am on Feb 19, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I like Funnel Web:
You can check it out at:
Funnel Web [quest.com]

JamesR

12:17 am on Feb 19, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I have been happy with FastStats from Mach 5....so happy that I even registered my own version and stopped using DrCool's reg code.