47 replies to this topic

[Randy]

No issues at all.

I have the UTM code snippet loading in the footer of my dynamic sites so that the rest of the page loads first, but still there has been no detriment to page load times. It's a very small file for what it does.

For the e-commerce module I actually have my Thank You page record the sales data into a completely separate file from the normal logs via a bit of PHP scripting. It just seemed easier than writing the data I wanted to track back into the normal access_log. Then I simply point Urchin to this dynamically created "log" file to grab its data.

Both have worked very, very well for me.

[Googlefrog]

I'm using this at work currently, not sure I like it though, as the interface seems archaic. For my personal sites I was using haveamint, which was great in terms of look and feel and have the ability to see at any point in time where I ranked. I guess this analytic program is kind of old now?

[Randy]

I guess this analytic program is kind of old now?

Depends upon what version you're using Googlefrog.

If you're still on a 5.x version of the installed version of Urchin, it hasn't received an upgrade in something like 3 or 4 years now. In Internet years that's certainly archaic.

Google did release a Beta version of a new, updated Urchin (installed version) about a year ago. I tried to test it on a couple of servers at the time but could never get it to install properly. I suspect mainly because the versions they released only supported up to RHEL 3 and my servers were already all running RHEL 4 at the time. I finally gave up on it rather than risk messing up a server to beta test something. Especially since the signs at the time were that my Urchin 5 license through my current host/reseller wasn't going to be able to be applied to the new Urchin license. In other words, I'd have to shell out 3 grand for each server, and wouldn't be able to buy directly from Google but would have to buy from another reseller.

To my knowledge this Closed Beta version was never released for real. I assume this is still true since I just went to Google's installed Urchin download page and they still only offer version 5.7 and still max out at RHEL 3.

The new version, by my understanding, was supposed to incorporate a lot more of the old Urchin On Demand stuff that ended up being the platform for Google Analytics. But again I've never actually seen it or been able to test it so that's just what they were saying at the time. In either case, since the new release has never been released and since there are other options, even free ones like Google Analytics, that offer more information and better integration, I don't think I could recommend anyone spend $3,000 for something that is obviously not a focus for the software vendor.