A real rookie question/approach

[klaw07]

I know that spiders can be tracked by IP address, but is there any easier way? And is there any free way? Thanks a bunch.

[littleman]

>is there any easier way
No not really if you are wanting to check them for cloaking. But if you just want to watch them, you could fallow the user agent.

>And is there any free way?
Yes plenty.
If you are interested I'll post a simple script that you could call via SSI and it will print up a record for you. But you may want to check out the Traxis if you want
something more Robust.

<edit>
I put the wrong script name in there, oops.

[klaw07]

I am just looking to see when certain engines visit my site???

[ritualcoffee]

although not free - I always keep an eye on my webtrends report - they list visiting spiders.