Non-scientific poll: Log Files

October 15, 2003 | View Comments (13) | Category: Web Mastering

Summary: What do you use to analyze your log files and what do you find useful in them?

Thsi non-scientific poll is to find out what everyone uses for log files on their site. I used to use awstats on my old server, but on my new hosts I can't find where the log files are to implement awstats so right now I am stuck with webalizer, which is almost useless.

Log files are important for any webmaster/designer because it helps gauge where your users are coming from and what pages they are hitting. There are so many different uses for them that I would be interested to hear what you guys use them for. Personally, I just like to see what searches people are using to get to my site. Google seems to be its own comedian sometimes.

Thanks to JC for the idea of this poll.

Trackback URL: http://9rules.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/27

Comments

#1

I just use whatever my server has installed. AWStats is my favorite, but for some reason not all of my sites have that installed... It seems to depend on the skin of cPanel that each domain is using. I also have access to Webalizer (which sucks, I agree) and Analog, which is almost raw logs.

Derek (http://www.twotallsocks.com/)

#2

I run my own server and have been too lazy to install any script program. I just download the raw log files and run it through something like WebLog Expert ( http://www.weblogexpert.com/ ). It generates the stats pages on my computer. Once I get a new server, I may get off my ass and install a stats program..

chris (http://www.onlinefame.com/)

#3

I use Dean Allen's 'Refer' - http://www.textism.com/tools/refer/

And I'm very happy with it. If you just want a rolling list of referrers and the pages they're hitting its ideal. You can also have it sent to you as an RSS Feed.

Jon Hicks (http://exp.hicksdesign.co.uk)

#4

Thanks, Scrivs. I suggested it because we just upgraded our software to its latest version and because we've been trying out other packages in order to check the accuracy of the one we're currently using. We're having some bandwidth problems at my primary employer and we need to prove that our websites aren't saturating the dual T1 lines, or if they are, try to reduce bandwidth or recommend an increase. (looks like we're using about 15% during our absolute peak in case anyone cares)

The product that we use is just fanastic. It can be customized in myriad ways and can create (great looking) reports in many different formats. And it runs on Windows, Linux, Solaris, and MacOS9 and OSX. (there's a very fast command line utility version for OSX). It handles load-balanced clusters and virtual domains, and just tons of stuff.

It's called FunnelWeb. We use version 5.0 Enterprise.

The kicker is... they don't sell it anymore. They discontinued it earlier this year. You can get the freeware version, which is excellent for individual websites, at www.quest.com or www.funnelwebcentral.com (easier to find and support is there).

If you want the enterprise version now, though, you have to buy their Spotlight on Webservers product, which runs about a grand... which is a good bit less than we initially paid for funnelweb enterprise, so it's not a bad deal.. it also comes with FunnelWeb Profiler enterprise, which some people might like... it always confused me and we've never really used it.

For most designers and developers, the free version will suit your needs quite well.

Oh, and they both let you schedule tasks... they can download your log files, zip them up, delete the original log files from the server, and upload the zipped ones and the report results (or not on any of those particular things, as you prefer)

This is the only sample I could find offhand that isn't in a password-protected directory. It's from the previous version, with pretty much no tweaking or customizing, and about halfway through the month in question we launched a total redesign of the website so there are lots of 404 errors.

http://www.clelandhomes.com/reports/Jan-2003/

Anyway, if anyone has anything better, please post! especially if it can handle increments smaller than hours. The new version of funnelweb can give you some information down to minutes, but it's missing the bytes info we'd really like to have and since it's out of production it's not likely to get them anytime soon.

JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)

#5

Webalizer here. It came with my hosting account. But thanks to Jon Hicks' post above, I'm about to install "Refer" and see how that works out.

Louis (http://www.clotman.com)

#6

I like ClickTraks, it shows you visually which links are traversed
http://www.clicktracks.com/

Laur (http://www.grapefruitdesign.com)

#7

I always miss a very simple measurement: the size of the user's viewport. That's way more important than the monitor's resolution.

Robbert Broersma

#8

I use awstats, and haven't had issue with it. Have you tried emailing your host to find out where your log files are stored?

kyle (http://www.allergic2love.com)

#9

kyle: I mean to, but at the moment that always seems to be the furthest thing from my mind right now. Looking at the comments though I know for a fact I get at least 8 people to this site :)

Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)

#10

We use WebTrends, for multiple departments and organizations (across multiple servers) it works very well. The trick for us is getting the logs stored centrally.

Terence Ordona

#11

I'm using the freeware version of FunnelWeb. It works very fine for non-commercial websites. I download my logs and run FunnelWeb on my computer. I'm almost sure you can have access to log files, so ask your host about it.

Manlio (http://www.deload.it/)

#12

Laur - Clicktracks looks interesting. It doesnt' really solve our primary goal, but it may be an interesting addition. It's a little salty for as little as it does, though, especially if you need clustering.

Terrence -
Don't you find webtrends difficult to use? The interface seems to be very clunky, at least in the latest version. It's also a lot slower than most of the other stuff we've tried. But it is probably the most common/popular product out there, and it has the distinct advantage of still being developed.

Do you have to have all the logs in one place, though? Funnelweb lets you pull them in from multiple locations.

Paul, you should really try a system like funnelweb or webtrends at least once when you get your logs. It can show some interesting stuff. :-)

JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)

#13

Well it looks like all of you have left me no choice but to try all of these fine products. Excellent salesmen all you make :)

Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)

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