WebBug v1.5

<WebBug

v1.5/>

ABOUT THE BUG: FAQ

What is a WebBug?
A WebBug is a tool for identifying and tracking page hits by individual visitors to web sites and pages.
WebBugs typically take the form of a standard html image tag with a special source attribute (<img src="webbug.pl"> ).
The WebBug is included by a developer in his or her <html> code. The WebBug's special source (src) targets a remote CGI script that allows the WebBug capture and store visitor IP registry information each time the page is loaded.
The database script, in turn, sends the contents of standard .gif, .jpg or .png file to the requesting page. The SK WebBug v1.5 displays in the developer's page as a clear single pixel .gif
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What can I learn about my site visitors?
In addition to when and how often they visited, you can also learn Whois? info for the IP gateway through which the visitor connected to the Internet and your page or site.
Sometimes IP registry data will only tell you that the visitor connected through Earthlink or AOL. Sometimes this will direct you to a particular region or state.
Sometimes the Whois? record will tell you the names of the specific companies or organizations visiting your site.
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Can't I learn the same thing from looking at my logs?
Yes and no. If you are currently using a log analyzer like Funnel you probably won't benefit much from bugging your pages. The WebBug (v1.0) was originally intended to monitor satellite pages hosted in a domain where the developer lacked CGI and/or convenient access to the server logs.
However, its cross-domain featurers, and the addition of automated whois? lookups, make it a worthwhile general purpose utility -- particularly for monitoring one or two pages across several multi-page domains.
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Aren't WebBugs Evil?
Again, yes and no. WebBugs don't monitor their friends. People with WebBugs monitor their friends.
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What happens when I run out of storage?
When your visitor log reaches the storage limit (200k, or about 10,000 records), it will stop recording new hits. You can do one of three things: (1) archive and export existing records; (2) delete seletected records by query; or (3) ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
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