Web Page Javascript Counter Tracking, IP Tracking, IP Address Lookup and Much More -- How Does it Work?
See also:Most web page visitor counters which run on your own server are done via SSIs (Server Side Includes). Since the WunderCounter runs from a server other than your own server (a GOOD thing) your counters will be triggered via HTML and/or JavaScript code. (You do have the option of choosing not to use a JavaScript counter. This is useful for sites such as blogger (blog) sites that do not allow Javascript counters to be posted in their code). The code, in the case of the invisible counter, is actually a 1x1 pixel transparent dot. The images which you see on your monitor are all made up of pixels. A small monitor might have what we call a 'resolution' of 640 x 480. That means that your screen is made up of 640 colums of dots, which are divided into 480 rows. Or, to put it plainly, you can see 307,200 dots at once. Below, is a one by one pixel dot. For the purposes of this exercise it isn't transparent like the real counter dot because, well, then you wouldn't be able to see it...
This dot is so small that it won't affect the formatting of your HTML. So no headaches there. The dot is produced by a cgi (common gateway interface) program. Each time the dot is requested, the software logs information about the person who has requested it. Some of this information is directly passed on by the JavaScript and other info is gathered from 'environment variables'. This information includes IP addresses, time of day, what browser and operating system the visitor is using and other very useful information. The information is then immediately available to you every time you log in to the WunderCounter. You will be able to look up IP addresses and find out a great deal more about the visitors to your web site.
As for the WunderCounter link trackers, they work somewhat differently. Usually, when you click on a link, you are requesting a direct link -- that is, you are brought directly to the page you want to view without any third parties being involved. The WunderCounter solution is to use a 'redirect' script. The link which you wish to track is actually a link to a program on the WunderCounter server -- not a link to the page which you want your visitor to arrive at. When the link is clicked, the redirect software gets your link request, quickly logs information about the person who is requesting the link and then sends them on to the page which they actually want to see. This all happens very quickly. Often, users won't even realize that they aren't directly linking to the page. The file download tracker does essentially the same thing and is just as helpful.
This is very helpful information if you want to track how many people are downloading .pdf, .exe, .mp3 or other sorts of files directly from your web site. You can also use it to track how many people are downloading these same files via links to other web sites. In addition to this, you can use the WunderCounter link tracker to track whether people are taking links to affiliate programs which you have signed up for. This is an extra safeguard for you, because you are now able to verify whether the companies with whom you are working are being honest with you. Whether you are being paid per click or otherwise, you can now verify how much traffic you are generating for someone else's site. Link and download trackers are only available to those users who sign up for a Premium account.