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.
best cleaning company Highland Park ..It is an undeniable fact that not everybody is keen... Read More
Customer service questionnaires can help your clients better understand their... Read More
The Internet car buyer is an elusive animal. Trying to... Read More
Web sites are not just places to sell things; they... Read More
1. SiteSpinner V2 - On Sale www.deprice.com/sitespinner.htmSiteSpinner is a user-friendly... Read More
Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has... Read More
I am just a learner who likes to delve in... Read More
The cost of setting up a web site is dirt... Read More
In this day and age most businesses consider having their... Read More
2 Golden Rules for an Engaging Website35% of visitors fail... Read More
A professional online reputation is essential to the flourishing of... Read More
While studying online for IT investment opportunities, I found that... Read More
Spend time planning your Web site. Before you design a... Read More
As a business you can't afford to ignore the Internet... Read More
Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational... Read More
The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity... Read More
There are several reverse bid freelance sites out there. Beyond... Read More
Making money with your web site is the dream and... Read More
What to put your the website if you are an... Read More
How do you decide on the content, products and or... Read More
While most marketers are beginning to understand the critical importance... Read More
If you're anything like most small business owners, you probably... Read More
When marketing your website, it's important to know which of... Read More
The "robots" meta tag, when used properly, will tell the... Read More
There have been many significant changes to the face of... Read More
high-end home cleaning Winnetka ..So you want to have a website. You have gone... Read More
We all start out the same. Some have budgets, some... Read More
No matter what browser you may want to use, you... Read More
Appealing to others is really important when you have a... Read More
"What's in it for me?" you ask. "Why should I... Read More
So you want to take a look at a real... Read More
Let's begin by setting some limits. If you're like me,... Read More
Psychology is a long word which everyone thinks, "no, that's... Read More
The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity... Read More
One of the most important parts of establishing a new... Read More
Keywords in Search Engine Optimizing and Search Engine Marketing are... Read More
While it may seem like a "quick and easy" task,... Read More
1) A marketing necessityI still hear it said from time... Read More
Succeeding with an eCommerce website is a dream for many... Read More
Project Safekids provides webmasters a valuable tool which could save... Read More
Everyone wants one.Everyone wishes they knew how to make one.SOME... Read More
How can we add Word Rich Content to our Websites... Read More
I had a client say something to me the other... Read More
The big thing these days is your ability to capture... Read More
What to do if you are an artist after you... Read More
Go to any internet marketing forum you want these days... Read More
URL rewriting are major needs for your sites that produce... Read More
Customer service questionnaires can help your clients better understand their... Read More
One of the best tools you have as a webmaster... Read More
This is a growing concern amongst many business owners. Does... Read More
Web Development |