There are many different traffic analysis tools, ranging from simple counters to complete traffic analyzers. Although there are some free ones, most of them come with a price tag. Why not do it yourself? With PHP, you can easily create a log file within minutes. In this article I will show you how!
Getting the information
The most important part is getting the information from your visitor. Thankfully, this is extremely easy to do in PHP (or any other scripting language for that matter). PHP has a special global variable called $_SERVER which contains several environment variables, including information about your visitor. To get all the information you want, simply use the following code:
// Getting the information
$ipaddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$page = "http://{$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']}{$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']}";
$page .= iif(!empty($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']), "?{$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']}", "");
$referrer = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
$datetime = mktime();
$useragent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
$remotehost = @getHostByAddr($ipaddress);
As you can see the majority of information comes from the $_SERVER variable. The mktime() (http://nl2.php.net/mktime) and getHostByAddr() (http://nl2.php.net/mktime) functions are used to get additional information about the visitor.
Note: I used a function in the above example called iif(). You can get this function at http://nl2.php.net/mktime.
Logging the information
Now that you have all the information you need, it must be written to a log file so you can later look at it, and create useful graphs and charts. To do this you need a few simple PHP function, like fopen (http://nl2.php.net/mktime) and fwrite (http://nl2.php.net/mktime).
The below code will first create a complete line out of all the information. Then it will open the log file in "Append" mode, and if it doesn't exist yet, create it.
If no errors have occurred, it will write the new logline to the log file, at the bottom, and finally close the log file again.
// Create log line
$logline = $ipaddress . '|' . $referrer . '|' . $datetime . '|' . $useragent . '|' . $remotehost . '|' . $page . " ";
// Write to log file:
$logfile = '/some/path/to/your/logfile.txt';
// Open the log file in "Append" mode
if (!$handle = fopen($logfile, 'a+')) {
die("Failed to open log file");
}
// Write $logline to our logfile.
if (fwrite($handle, $logline) === FALSE) {
die("Failed to write to log file");
}
fclose($handle);
Now you've got a fully function logging module. To start tracking visitors on your website simply include the logging module into your pages with the include() function (http://nl2.php.net/mktime):
include ('log.php');
Okay, now I want to view my log file
After a while you'll probably want to view your log file. You can easily do so by simply using a standard text editor (like Notepad on Windows) to open the log file, but this is far from desired, because it's in a hard-to-read format.
Let's use PHP to generate useful overviews for is. The first thing that needs to be done is get the contents from the log file in a variable, like so:
// Open log file
$logfile = "/some/path/to/your/logfile.txt";
if (file_exists($logfile)) {
$handle = fopen($logfile, "r");
$log = fread($handle, filesize($logfile));
fclose($handle);
} else {
die ("The log file doesn't exist!");
}
Now that the log file is in a variable, it's best if each logline is in a separate variable. We can do this using the explode() function (http://nl2.php.net/mktime), like so:
// Seperate each logline
$log = explode(" ", trim($log));
After that it may be useful to get each part of each logline in a separate variable. This can be done by looping through each logline, and using explode again:
// Seperate each part in each logline
for ($i = 0; $i < count($log); $i++) {
$log[$i] = trim($log[$i]);
$log[$i] = explode('|', $log[$i]);
}
Now the complete log file has been parsed, and we're ready to start generating some interesting stuff.
The first thing that is very easy to do is getting the number of pageviews. Simply use count() (http://nl2.php.net/mktime) on the $log array, and there you have it;
echo count($log) . " people have visited this website.";
You can also generate a complete overview of your log file, using a simple foreach loop and tables. For example:
// Show a table of the logfile
echo '';
echo 'IP Address';
echo 'Referrer';
echo 'Date';
echo 'Useragent';
echo 'Remote Host';
foreach ($log as $logline) {
echo '
echo '
echo '
echo '
echo '
echo '
echo '
}
echo '';
You can also use custom functions to filter out search engines and crawlers. Or create graphs using PHP/SWF Charts (http://nl2.php.net/mktime). The possibilities are endless, and you can do all kinds of things!
In Conclusion...
In this article I have shown you have to create a logging module for your own PHP website, using nothing more than PHP and its built-in functions. To view the log file you need to parse it using PHP, and then display it in whatever way you like. It is up to you to create a kick-ass traffic analyzer.
If you still prefer to use a pre-built traffic analyzer, have a look at http://nl2.php.net/mktime.
About The Author
Dennis Pallett is a young tech writer, with much experience in ASP, PHP and other web technologies. He enjoys writing, and has written several articles and tutorials. To find more of his work, look at his websites at http://nl2.php.net/mktime, http://nl2.php.net/mktime and http://nl2.php.net/mktime.
monthly home cleaning Buffalo Grove ..When people think about the Internet, they think about technology.... Read More
Developing a website with content that entices visitors to return... Read More
There are many elements that are key to successful web... Read More
When a user signs up at your website, you may... Read More
Yahoo has long offered email, an online calendar, notes, bookmarks,... Read More
Build it and they will come is not always true;... Read More
Looks like every client wants a Flash site these days... Read More
There are many different traffic analysis tools, ranging from simple... Read More
If you're an up and coming graphic/web designer just out... Read More
I've heard several prominent web marketers mention in their classes... Read More
People like to get immediate responses to requests. Autoresponders are... Read More
There's been widespread speculation about the new legislation being introduced... Read More
Everywhere you look these days, people are telling you that... Read More
A system development process can follow a number of standard... Read More
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for... Read More
In my previous life.....Actually, my previous JOB life, I was... Read More
The first thing you will have to deal building your... Read More
Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users... Read More
I had a client say something to me the other... Read More
Right after the thought, "I need a website," people usually... Read More
Your site is fast and getting traffic, but conversion rates... Read More
Dance is how you pamper your soul and satiate your... Read More
The art of turning website visitors into paying customers depends... Read More
The Disability Discrimination Act states that service providers must not... Read More
Many executives and investors are skeptical that software products can... Read More
scheduled maid service Mundelein ..Writing for the web is totally different to writing for... Read More
A lot of people these days are interested in getting... Read More
Dynamically Update Your Web Pages Via E-MailIf you can Send... Read More
When visitors add your web site to their Favorites or... Read More
If you have some experience in web site design and... Read More
Often time I've browsed sites and seen the same thing... Read More
A website is like an information flow, with you as... Read More
Selecting the Perfect Domain NameThe first issue I have with... Read More
No matter what browser you may want to use, you... Read More
So you have decided that you want to do freelance... Read More
Building a website and getting it online is easy. Driving... Read More
I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from some company offering... Read More
Designing and creating your own website does not have to... Read More
The "robots" meta tag, when used properly, will tell the... Read More
Looks like every client wants a Flash site these days... Read More
The popular search engine Google indexes over 8 billion websites.... Read More
Installment 1Developing State-enabled Applications With PHPWhen a user is browsing... Read More
There are hundreds of millions of Web surfers today. Each... Read More
So your prospect, Mary, is sitting at the computer reading... Read More
To the starting internet entrepreneur, there is nothing more discouraging... Read More
In the region where my company is located, South Bend,... Read More
What to put your the website if you are an... Read More
When you take a look at the most visited sites... Read More
Think up a name and check if yourname.com is available.... Read More
Before you set up any scripts you will need some... Read More
Web Development |