Re: [cobalt-users] invisible counter doesn't work

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steven Werby wrote:

> > It works (when called from an .shtml file).  but it gives me an error on
> > the screen every time it works <frown>.
> 
> I tried to duplicate your error.  It works fine when $visible = 1.  When
> $visible = 0 or is commented out, the browser displays an internal server
> (500) error.

Yes, my webmaster deleted the line completely.  I told him he should
have just commented it out; oh well.  If he'd commented out I might have
been able to debug/hack it as well.  I appreciate your work <smile>.

> > Anyone know why?
> 
> I'm far from being a Perl programmer, but I'm an excellent Perl hacker.  PHP
> is for programming, Perl is for hacking.  I added the following to the
> bottom of count.cgi and it works fine.  Delete lines 64-67 and replace them
> with:
> 
> print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
> if ($visible) { print "$count"; }

Will try that.

> > Or have an invisible counter I can use?
> 
> I prefer PHP to the overhead of a Perl CGI.  YMMV.  If you have PHP
> installed, a short PHP script could be used to write to a text file and
> increment a value whenever the page is viewed.  Alternately, you could write
> to a MySQL DB.

I believe you.  But there are so many Perl CGIs out there, and they're
so easy to just use <smile>.

> I could definitely whip up something for you pretty quickly,
> customized for your needs.  On one of my sites I use PHP, MySQL and Apache
> environment variables to track clickthroughs on hyperlinks by timestamp, IP
> address, href and referring page which is useful for analyzing and reporting
> user behavior, link placement and link effectiveness in order to test the
> effectiveness of hyperlinked elements and make informed decisions to
> optimize the site.

Thanks very much for the offer; I may yet take you up on it.  Right now
all I need is an invisible counter on a low-volume website.  (Low volume
is exactly why we want the counter invisible <wry grin>.)  I'm going to
go ahead with this one, with your excellent help <smile>.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672
Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 787-8589  *  fax: (909) 782-0205