Forum Moderators: DixonJones
I use a free uk host and (to my knowledge) they do not give access to the log files.
For a long time now I have been using a site meter on the homepage which worked fine, but now I want to know where referrals/visitors come from on other entry pages without adding the meter to those pages.
Is it possible to have one site meter that tracks all the pages without a meter being present on all the pages.
If not are there any other solutions.
Many thanks
Paul
I don't think there is, been wrong before though. I would stongly recommend moving to somewhere that offers full logs, it really is crucial to have access to them.
A JavaScript file is included on every page. It calls a Perl Script like this:
var x = new image;
x.src = [Perl script URL];
If you don't want to use Javascript, you can make a 1x1 graphic and assign the image src value to the Perl URL in HTML like this:
<IMG SRC='[Perl script URL]?Query string'
WIDTH='1'
HEIGHT='1'>
- It will appear on screen as a dot which is easily hidden.
The Perl script returns a NO RESPONSE to the page, but appends it's query string into a log file. You can stuff all manner of useful items in the query string, like the name of the calling page, the referrer, browser, etc - if you're using JavaScript.
The Perl script also checks the date each time it runs, and emails me the log file once a day at midnight.
I have a VB program which reads the log emails from Outlook into an Access database each morning, where I can analyse then endlessly.
My ISP provides Webaliser, which only let's me see summaries.
With my system I can see what each visitor does, click by click, and I can add more logging as required.
The amazing thing is - knowing know WHAT they do - realising how difficult it is to understand WHY they do it.
Example:
My products are organised into pages.
Each page is 3 products wide and 3 rows tall.
83% of all products sold are those appearing in the top row of the page they're on.
Why?!? Don't people know about the scroll bar?
Another statistic. For most product groups we have, there are several pages. Yet for each customer who finds his/her way to the first page, only 42% of them will then go to the NEXT page, and only half of those will get to page 3.
The bottom line is that the vast bulk of my products are never seen by anyone!
I've made the links conspicuous - even gaudy and animated, but I just can't shift this behaviour.
Anyway - perhaps you can use some of this on your free site.
The bottom line is that logging is really essential. Trying to make a site work without it is little more than guesswork.
Chris
I am looking to create a tracking program likes yours (or something similiar) Could you direct me to some additional information on how to create a program like this?
Would you be willing to sell your program?
I need to be able to track referring pages and what key words were used from those referring pages (mostly). It might also be nice to track the users exit responses (whther they completed a form or clicked thru to a given page)
If you have cgi-bin access, and Perl with Sendmail, then the Perl side of things will work for you, and this will send you daily emails containing the logs.
If you have MS Access on your desktop, then the reader will also work for you, and you'll end up with those logs inside an Access database, where you can manipulate them in many ways.
I can also give you some MS Access queries which I use.
Finally, I can also give you Javascript fragments and show you how I use them in the site.
Please email me and we can discuss this - ChrisXenon@yahoo.com.
Regards,
Chris
