Awstats do no record my PC

Hi Roger,

Yup - It should be that simple. I have not used the useragent section before, but that is how I would do it. Firfox will send the useragent string, AWstats will ignore that useragent string.

Let me know how this works out for you!

Regards,

Jim.

__________________
Firewall Test Internet Speed Test Sitemap Generator

Jim,

Firefox released a new version so I used SkipUserAgents="Firefox/1.5.0.10" in the tmp/awstasts/awstats.actualcures.com.conf file and changed the permissions to 400 like Bluehost advised. I tested it and every IP I used while accessing my site showed up in my awstats. Also, in asking Bluehost about the problem I was asked, "Are you trying to not track people running Firefox 1.5.0.10?" Does your method block my visits to my site and also everyone using Firefox 1.5.0.10? I hope not.


Thanks,


Roger

Hi Roger,

Their question is valid.

You don't want to name your useragent the same as the default, that would defeat the purpose. In a few examples back, I appended an r to the end to set you apart from all the other browsers.

Here is what we are doing. We want to make your browser ID unique, but not so unique that websites will not understand you're using Firefox.
[let me expound here a minute: if we named your browser "FireDance", then some websites might not know what type of browser you are using and not deliver content correctly]

So, for now (testing), let's call it set the string to
Mozilla/5.0r

Now, in AWstats, simply set the
SkipUserAgents="Mozilla/5.0r"

You will also need to change your browser agent in firefox as in my example a few posts back to the same user agent as well.

Now - what we have done is made your browser unique so that no one else will have the same browser type, but you'll still be able to surf the web.

By doing this, you have told awstats to NOT COUNT any browser that has a user agent of Mozilla/5.0r, which is only you

Regards,

Jim.

__________________
Firewall Test Internet Speed Test Sitemap Generator

Jim,

Does, "You don't want to name your useragent the same as the default..." mean You don't want to give your broswer a useragent (New , string, useragent.override, type something in for a useragent) that's the same as the (default) version of the browser ?

And that's assuming that using the useragent.override function in the browser (about:config, New, String, choose a name) is what one uses to change the useragent of their browser.


So, "You don't want to name your useragent the same as the default, that would defeat the purpose." means - your browser ID is the useragent of your browser, which is the version of your browser, which is the default version of your browser that other browsers use to decide how to display their site on your browser. Browsers make use of whatever information they can get from another browsers's useragent, whereas stats cruncher websites are purposely designed to need more specific information or else stats crunchers will skip counting a site. The trick is to have your user agent contain a lot of info for other webbrowsers to make use of but misinformative for stats crunchers by simply adding miscellaneous information to the end of the useragent (even a single letter). If instead you have the useragent = to the browser version, then the stats crunchers can "see" your useragent which is what you're trying to avoid.

So I guess what you're saying is to use that useragent.override function and enter "Firefox/1.5.0.10r" and in skipuseragent = "x" for x again use "Firefox/1.5.0.10r" in the awstats.yourwebsite.com.conf file. at my webhost.



Roger

Jim,

You were talking about looking for general.useragent.override in about:config.
It doesn't appear to be there until one uses New, String and types general.useragent.override , hits OK and then types in a new useragent and then there's three entries. Any thoughts?

Roger

Jim,

I was in this file at my web host and saw

# Default: ""
#
SiteDomain="actualcures.com"

# Put here all other possible domain names, addresses or virtual host aliases
# someone can use to access your site. Try to keep only the minimum number

Should I change my site name to www.actualcures.com in this file?


Roger

Right, If you manually name your browser's useragent (=Browser ID) the same what it defaults to, there is no point, just leave it alone.

Each browser reads a webpage a little different (one day, they will all handle code the same - we hope). So, many web sites read the useragent string that is passed to it from the browser and deliver content (commands) based on what type of browser you are using.

No, browsers don't talk to one another, it's the browser and web site that talk.

Yes, the trick is to get a useragent setting that let's you be unique yet will let websites still see that you are using Firefox (or IE, Opera, etc) so that they can format their content correctly.

Many sites will perform this function:
Does the useragent contain the string "Firefox"? If so, then....
Does the useragent contain the string "Explorer"? If so, then ....

Based on the answer, it will then deliver content. So,
If we use Firefox/1.5.0.10r, then the site would find 'Firefox" and all is well.

However, if we use "Roger/1.5.0" as the useragent, then Firefox would never be found, right?

That's right, use that and let's see how it works out.

__________________
Firewall Test Internet Speed Test Sitemap Generator

That's right, it does not exist until you create one. Until then, it just goes with it's default version.

__________________
Firewall Test Internet Speed Test Sitemap Generator

Yes - make that change.

Also, look for HostAliases=, do you see that? - this can be an area for misread stats for many people! Can also be a gem if you notice it when buying a site Let me explain.

Awstats will record all traffic to whatever you set in this variable (HostAliases=). So, if HostAliases= is set to actualcures.com but Roger promotes www.actualcures.com, awstats will only show visitors for actualcures.com

Say that www.actualcures.com is receiving 1000 visitors a day and actualcures.com receives 100 visitors a day. Your awstats will only show that your site gets 100 visitors per day if the HostAliases= "actualcures.com"
So.. you decide to sell your site. You don't have many visitors, so you're not going to get that much for it, but the Smart buyer will notice that you are not recording true traffic and end up buying your site for a song!

But, that would not happen to you Roger, because:
1) You have your htaccess redirecting traffic from actualcures.com to www.actualcures.com
2) In your html code, you now use Absolute URL's with www.actualcures.com

See how those earlier items, such as www and no-www, redirects and absolute vs. relative urls come into play

Here is what you should use for HostAliases:
HostAliases="www.actualcures.com actualcures.com"

Regards,

Jim.

__________________
Firewall Test Internet Speed Test Sitemap Generator

Thanks Again