[drupal-devel] [feature] Track guest paths

[Jeremy]

Issue status update for 
http://drupal.org/node/31449
Post a follow up: 
http://drupal.org/project/comments/add/31449

 Project:      Drupal
 Version:      cvs
 Component:    statistics.module
 Category:     feature requests
 Priority:     critical
 Assigned to:  chx
 Reported by:  chx
 Updated by:   Jeremy at kerneltrap.org
 Status:       patch (code needs review)

Why was "track hostname" etc moved when going from 4.5 to 4.6?  I assume
there was a reason - was it not working?  I still use 4.5, and it has
worked well for me, aside from the annoyance of finding the person to
track in the first place.




Jeremy at kerneltrap.org



Previous comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 06:24:55 +0000 : chx

Attachment: http://drupal.org/files/issues/anon_paths.patch (1.04 KB)

For the first time I needed to do something with drupal statistics and I
was shocked to see that session ID is not stored so I can't track my
guests. I guess this affects most sites as the typical site has
magnitudes more guests than logged in users.


update_sql is not here, if you say this is a go, I'll write it.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 12:01:29 +0000 : Dries

Storing the session ID is one thing, using it another.  How would this
affect the existing statistics pages?  Would you update them to
group/sort by session ID rather than by IP?




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:29:10 +0000 : Jeremy at kerneltrap.org

Why not?  Do you see any negative impacts from that, or are you just
pointing out that it's missing from the patch?


If the same IP shows up with multiple session ID's, either the same
person is using multiple browsers, or it's multiple users behind a NAT
device, or...


However, it seems the various "track by IP" type operations no longer
exist.  I only see "track page visits" tabs on the user page.  Why was
the ability to track users by IP removed?  (it evidently happened a
while ago, I'm used to 4.5, and see they're gone as of 4.6...)




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:46:24 +0000 : chx

Let contrib modules use the data. But they can only use what's stored.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 15:41:19 +0000 : kbahey

Anything that would restore or improve the functionality that we
partially had in 4.5 is welcome.


In 4.5, I was able to "track host" and see if it is a crawler or a
human. It was very helpful.


Putting the session in the table is a good idea to track anonymous
users.


The only comment here is that it would apply to humans for sure (since
they are using browsers, and accept cookies). 


But what about crawlers? Do they accept cookies and send them in their
next page access? I would be surprised if they did.


Regardless, there is definite value in adding this, only that it will
not give the whole picture.


+1 from me.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 15:55:57 +0000 : chx

This is a usability issue. Usability but not in the sense of admin
interface but navigational paths. Path analysis is a must if I want to
see whether my users are able to find what they seek or not. At this
moment this is just not possible.


However, a path analysis module would not be simple therefore I doubt
it should be in core.




------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 16:01:05 +0000 : kbahey

I fully agree.


Path analysis is much needed, specially comparing 4.5 to 4.6.


Even if it is not in core, and only a contrib, it will be helpful. Just
like I find statistics trends to be very helpful, though it is not in
core.


Still +1