1. Advertising
    y u no do it?

    Advertising (learn more)

    Advertise virtually anything here, with CPM banner ads, CPM email ads and CPC contextual links. You can target relevant areas of the site and show ads based on geographical location of the user if you wish.

    Starts at just $1 per CPM or $0.10 per CPC.

Anyone have a viable alternative to google analytics?

Discussion in 'HTML & Website Design' started by Richard Riddick, May 12, 2013.

  1. #1
    I painted myself into a bit of a corner.

    1. I registered a domain with namecheap.
    2. Namecheap hosts pages a domain name links to inside a frameset, a URL frame.
    3. Google analytics only functions if the referral code is contained inside the main frame. It can't be contained inside a frameset.
    4. Namecheap doesn't allow for editing of main framesets to include scripts.

    I'm looking for an analytics or visitor tracking program that functions from inside a subframe.

    Or a means of making google analytics work with namecheap's URL frames.

    I've googled both and searched without luck.

    Any advice or help would be appreciated.
     
    Solved! View solution.
    Richard Riddick, May 12, 2013 IP
  2. BernardH

    BernardH Greenhorn

    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    11
    #2
    I'm not 100% I understand exactly what you need but I came across this tread. It might be a good place to start looking

    https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/google-analytics-alternatives.2654139/
     
    BernardH, May 13, 2013 IP
  3. Krisism

    Krisism Member

    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    4
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    33
    #3
    Hi Richard,

    Apologies: I didn't catch the part about the frameset earlier, these may not work for you in that case. Piwik might be the best option for something like this because it's run on an open source community.

    -------

    I've been using GA a lot for clients lately (I like the updates) - but if you're looking for some other options, here are my recommendations:

    1) Clicky Analytics. Affordable, very effective and nice people. This is almost always my 2nd choice with clients.

    2) Piwik Analytics. Free, but requires you to self-host it similar to a wordpress setup. Lots of great features.

    3) WebTrends. If you have a large business with a 5million + annual revenue, or SaaS relying heavily on user conversion for profit - this is an incredible package. It starts around 30k/month, but this is what the top brands in the world will use and it provides far more data and capabilities than any other analytics service could.

    Cheers,

    Kris
     
    Krisism, May 13, 2013 IP
  4. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

    Messages:
    9,732
    Likes Received:
    1,998
    Best Answers:
    253
    Trophy Points:
    515
    #4
    1) Not sure what you're doing with namecheap, but it doesn't sound like what their hosting is unless there's some goofy "site builder" they have I've never even bothered looking at. The whole frameset thing is NOT how domains through namecheap work that I'm aware of... (admittedly I'm only using them for domains and not hosting)

    2) Any decent host should have log analysis tools built in providing any useful information of that nature -- the two most popular being "analog" and "webalizer"... which is why I don't advocate using stupid Javascript only analysis packages that are generally speaking a waste of everyone's time. Anything not provided by the server logs is most likely a pointless data point that might make a marketing exec go all gooey in their pants, but is ultimately useless and a waste of time; time generally better spent building content of value.
     
    deathshadow, May 13, 2013 IP
  5. jaewun

    jaewun Member

    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    36
    #5
    We used Piwik for a while on one of my eCommerce websites. Works great, I can recommend. Self hosted to so you have access to all the data that is captured.
     
    jaewun, May 13, 2013 IP
  6. anuradhan

    anuradhan Active Member

    Messages:
    371
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    65
    #6
    you can find and install web analytic php script in your server which can track the users.
    just need to install them in a separate folder along website.

    *you can get such free scripts from hotscripts.
     
    anuradhan, May 14, 2013 IP
  7. Richard Riddick

    Richard Riddick Peon

    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    #7
    Thanks for the responses.

    I was looking for a domain name registrar that didn't support SOPA and won't support CISPA.

    Godaddy is known for supporting the former if not the latter, I opted for namecheap instead.

    My hosting isn't with namecheap, its with another host.

    There are (I think) two main options for domain name referral with namecheap. URL frame and URL referral. When using URL frame to refer the domain name to your host, it loads your pages inside a frameset which causes google analytics to not function as it is contained inside a child frame as opposed to the parent frame where it needs to be.

    Maybe I should be using url referral instead, but if I remember right, that option doesn't cloak your hosted pages inside the domain name and so isn't a great option in and of itself.

    Server logs are great, but not being able to edit the parent frameset (or find a workaround) means no favicon and other limitations. It also means the results can be skewed considering analytics tools might count the same page loaded multiple times (for each frameset namecheap creates).

    Anyways thanks, I'm sure I'll get it sorted eventually.
     
    Richard Riddick, May 14, 2013 IP
  8. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

    Messages:
    9,732
    Likes Received:
    1,998
    Best Answers:
    253
    Trophy Points:
    515
    #8
    I've got a dozen or so domains through namecheap, and that bears no resemblance to anything I've dealt with using them. Just fill in the two to four DNS servers for your host on namecheaps site, done.

    There shouldn't be any frame or referral nonsense. I'm gonna hop on the workstation and check that -- doesn't sound like anything I've ever seen namecheap offer or do.
     
    deathshadow, May 15, 2013 IP
  9. #9
    Ok, found a place where it offers that -- and it likely means you set up your domains wrong.

    On your manage domains page, go into "transfer DNS to webhost" (should be second option under "general" on the left). Fill in the DNS servers for your host there (as many as they give you) and submit, and it will axe all the redirect nonsense.

    Just be warned DNS changes take 24 to 48 hours to propagate in most cases. (sometimes even longer)
     
    deathshadow, May 15, 2013 IP
  10. VaultBoss

    VaultBoss Greenhorn

    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    13
    #10
    Piwik is a great option, but personally I am using OWA though...

    OWA stands for Open Web Analytics; it is an open source software project that works self hosted on your server, so I believe you could make it work in almost any environment.
    However, I have no sites hosted with NameCheap, only bought domains from them - so you have to test on your own first.

    Hope this helps you.

    Cheers!
     
    VaultBoss, Jun 3, 2013 IP
  11. MingoFanty

    MingoFanty Peon

    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    #11
    It sounds like you need something that will process your log files. If you're looking for a free (open source) package look at webalyzer or awstats or piwik or owa.

    If you're looking for something more stable and supported, look for a commercial option like nettracker or angelfish.
     
    MingoFanty, Jun 13, 2013 IP