James' URL Logger (EasyTracker) Purpose : URL clickthrough logging script Version : 1.3 (8/03/2002) Author : James Blatchford (http://www.jard.co.uk/scripts/) COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- Copyright (c) 2001-2002 James Blatchford, All Rights Reserved. This script may be used and modified free of charge by anyone so long as this copyright notice and the comments above remain intact in this and all accompanying files. By using this script and its associated files, you agree to indemnify James Blatchford and all other interested parties from any liability that might arise from its use. Selling the code for this program without prior written consent is expressly forbidden. Obtain permission before redistributing this script over the Internet or in any other medium. In all cases copyright and header must remain intact in all files. James Blatchford also requests that should you make any improvements to this script, please be kind enough to let me know so that I may improve this script for the rest of the people who use it. DESCRIPTION ----------- This script lets you track the number of times that visitors to your site follow certain links on your web site (either internal within your own site, or external links to other sites). This can be used to track which external links on your site are the most popular, or to count how many times certain files are downloaded from your page. SETTING UP THE SCRIPT --------------------- This script consists of four files: - readme.txt (this file) - easytracker.pl (the URL logging script) - easytrackdisp.pl (the Admin/display page) - track.txt (the log file, initially empty) Open both of the .pl scripts (easytracker.pl & easytrackdisp.pl) in any plain text editor (such as Windows Notepad) and modify the first line of each to point to the path to Perl on your server (e.g. #!/usr/bin/perl) if you don't know what the proper path is, then check with your host or server admin. Then upload easytracker.pl, easytrackdisp.pl and track.txt to your cgi-bin (if your server only supports the .cgi extension, you can change the names, see the advanced setup section of this file). Remember to upload them all in ASCII (text) format. If you are using a Unix or Linux server then the two scripts (easytracker.pl and easytrackdisp.pl) should be CHMODed to 755 and the track.txt file to 644. (CHMOD means to change the file security permissions. In most FTP software you should be able to right-click on the files and either Set Properties, Set Attributes or Set Flags. In the resulting dialogue box you should be able to change the file permissions, 755=RWXR_XR_X, 644=RW_R__R__) HOW TO USE ---------- Install the scripts as described above. Then to track the links, change the tracked link's URL to reference the script. This is done by prefixing the link with the address of the tracker script then "?url=", as in the following examples: Change: James' web site to: James' web site or Change: visit the forum to: visit the forum Note, if you have placed the scripts in a subdirectory of your cgi-bin, or your CGI directory has a different name then the above address should be changed accordingly. To view the stats or perform admin functions, go to the following address "http://www.yourserver.com/cgi-bin/easytrackdisp.pl" using your web browser (change the server address to match your own server). You should now see your accumulated clicks to date. Note that the "Clear Logfile" button will completely clear your log and delete any current stats. Remember that if you don't clear out your log regularly it could grow to be a very large file over time. ADVANCED SETUP -------------- Change how the graphs look -------------------------- There are two different display styles for the graph displayed with the stats. You can either have them with a nice white border, or without. It's entirely up to you, and makes no difference to the actual data. Just open up the "easytrackdisp.pl" file in a text editor and change: my $graphstyle = 2; to my $graphstyle = 1; Or vice-versa to change it back again. Rename your logfile ------------------- If you want to save your logfile to a different name, or save it in a different directory, then you need to change the "$logfilename" variable in both scripts to point to the new filename or directory. For example to use a log file called "mylinktrack.log" in a subdirectory called "logs" then you should change: my $textfilename="track.txt"; to my $textfilename="logs/mylinktrack.log"; Please ensure that you change the variable in both scripts and that it is identical in each, and remember to CHMOD the file to 644. Rename the script files ----------------------- If for any reason you need to rename the two script files (normally called "easytracker.pl" and "easytrackdisp.pl") eg if your host only allows ".cgi" files an not ".pl" files, then you can rename the two files to any name you need (as long as it ends with either ".cgi" or ".pl"). Once you have changed the filenames please open up the "easytrackdisp.pl" file in a text editor and find the following two lines: my $trackername="easytracker.pl"; my $adminpagename="easytrackdisp.pl"; Change the filenames to whatever you have renamed the scripts, and all script functions should now work without any problems. Make the EasyTrackerDisplay page safe for public viewing -------------------------------------------------------- By changing the "$clearlog_disabled" variable in the "easytrackdisp.pl" file you can disable the "Clear Logfile" button, thus making a page that could be suitable for allowing the general public to view your stats, but removing all risk of Joe Public wiping your logfile for you. Just open up the "easytrackdisp.pl" file in a text editor and change: my $clearlog_disabled=0; to my $clearlog_disabled=1; And the page is now safe for public viewing. Add a "default" page to the Tracker script ------------------------------------------ Normally if you run the tracker script (easytracker.pl) without specifying a URL, all you will get on screen is a default error message. However you can get the script to redirect the visitor to a default web page instead, eg your "easytrackdisp" file, or your site's home page. To set a default page, just open up the "easytracker.pl" file in a text editor and add a web page address to the following line: my $defaultpage=""; to (for example): my $defaultpage="/cgi-bin/easytrackdisp.pl"; or: my $defaultpage="http://www.server.com/page.htm"; This can be useful because when the webmasters of sites you link to check their log files to see where their visitors are coming from, all they will see in the log file is the address of your script. When they try this address you can now send them straight to your home page (or any other page on your site), rather than just seeing a script error. CONTACTS -------- This script and many others are available both from the author's web site at http://www.jard.co.uk/scripts/ and from the downloads section of DotDragNet at http://www.dotdragnet.co.uk/downloads.asp Remember to check back for future, improved versions. If you have any problems with this script, any suggestions for future improvements, or any other comments please either leave a message in the DotDragNet Webbuilder forum (http://www.dotdragnet.co.uk/forum/), or the jardScripts forum (http://www.jard.co.uk/cgi-bin/scripts/). CHANGE LOG ---------- 10/3/02 Full package v1.3 released to the web 8/3/02 easytrackdisp.pl 1.3a Added option to choose either new graph style or boring old graph style. 4/3/02 easytrackdisp.pl 1.3 Added summary/full log view options and changed graph view in summary display to look a bit more exciting. 28/1/02 easytracker.pl 1.2 Added "default page" pref easytrackdisp.pl 1.2d Added filename prefs to allow filename changing, also version number variable 12/1/02 Full package v1.2 released to the web 12/1/02 easytrackdisp.pl 1.2c Added pref to disable the "Clear Logfile" button, to create a public or "demo" version of the tracker that's safe for public viewing. 24/10/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.2b Interface changes and added HTML v2 Site Navigation features for browsers (like Mozilla, iCab and Lynx) that support them. 18/10/01 easytracker.pl 1.1 Changed if(!...) to unless(...) and added & to subs, both to aid readability 17/10/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.2a Style sheet amendment 28/9/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.2 Graphing added to Per Link Totals section. Log file size now displayed in Totals section. 18/9/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.1 Added percentages to Totals section. Added server name to top of page, and script URL to bottom. 13/9/01 easytracker.pl 1.0a Fixed obscure typo bug that killed proper date sorting of days where date < 10. Unfortunately the bug will have saved to the log incorrectly for the first ten days of this month for anyone using this. 11/9/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.0b Due to feedback removed logging of clicks on links in the log on the admin page (easytrackdisp.pl) Added "Top of page links" also due to user feedback. 22/8/01 easytrackdisp.pl 1.0a Minor HTML syntax errors amended, Admin page now validates as HTML 4.01 Transitional and CSS. 21/8/01 Full package v1.0 released to the web FUTURE ------ Planned changes for future versions include: - Use full file locking in the tracker script - More sort options in the display script - Options to set either a size or age limit on the log file