Log AnalysisDISCUS Administration Instructions


PRO All features in this section are available in the professional version of this discussion board software only.

The Log Analysis tool allows moderators to gather statistics about visitors to their topic areas, both in terms of read accesses ("hits") and posts made. The results returned by the Log Analysis tool are controlled directly by the moderator in the opening configuration screen.

Analyzing the Posting Log

To analyze the posting log (count posts by user/moderator account), select the topics you wish to analyze from the topics list. Ensure that "Count posts by users" is checked (this is the default) and click on "Perform Log Analysis." Posts are broken down by moderator/user/public origin in the first table, and by account in the second table. You can see at a glance where most of your activity comes from.

Analyzing the Access Log

This option is available only if the superuser has set up one or more entries for access logs in the Options Manager. If so, you can select which logs to analyze from the available logs by checking the file names of the log files from the list. The superuser was instructed in the documentation for the Options Manager to list the logs from most recent (top) to oldest (bottom). Click "Count "hits" on pages from server access log" and select the log files you wish to analyze. Then click on "Perform Log Analysis." BE PATIENT! Analyzing the access log can take up to a few minutes, depending on the size of the log. Select the minimum number of logs necessary to obtain the statistics you desire to cut down on processing time.

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