Finding out who does what when and where to your site.

Note: Before you make a decision, you should check out the article that Analog, a popular Web log analyzer, has available that discusses the usefulness (or not) of log analysis and, by extension, hit counters: http://www.analog.cx/docs/webworks.html.

What programs can I use to check my logs?

• Analog ~ This free, open source program, available for Unix ,Windows, & Mac, does a great job parsing your log files and pulling out the information you need. If you decide to use Analog, you ought to get ReportMagic as well, which produces "great looking website statistics reports with graphs, descriptions and easy-to-read tables".
• Webalizer ~ This program describes itself as "a fast, free web server log file analysis program. It produces highly detailed, easily configurable usage reports in HTML format, for viewing with a standard web browser." It's open source, and it's written for Linux and other flavors of Unix.
• WebTrends ~ A lot of people are very unhappy with WebTrends. You might want to read Problems with WebTrends. Note that this is NOT the same product as WebTrendsLive, mentioned below.

• WebTrendsLive ~ This excellent service from WebTrends gives you some simple code that you paste into your Web pages. This code performs log analysis for you. To view your reports, simply log in to WebTrendsLive and go. If you use the free service, you have to display a small logo on your Web page; if you'd rather skip the logo, WebTrendsLive has a reasonable fee structure. We use WebTrendsLive on this site. 
• SuperStats ~ Starting at $9.95 and going way, way up from there, this service is used by several large companies, including Microsoft, eBay, & AOL Time Warner.
• NedStat ~ A free service that provides attractive charts and a nice breakdown of basic informaion about your site. You can pay if you'd like more info. The basic service alone is pretty darn nice, though.

Want to suggest a Web site we've missed, or let us know about a broken link? Email & let us know!

Note: These links lead to Web sites that are not under my control. I bear no responsibility for the content of these sites.