Joomla! Discussion Forums

One way that you can squeeze performance out of shared hosts with your scripts is to use file IO instead of database IO. Usually, when you're suffering, it's because some a**clown on your server is hitting the database 100 times per page load at 50 page loads per second. Plain file IO is usually VERY fast because hardly anybody uses it, so you have a nice big pool of resources to yourself. The bad thing about file IO is that it is difficult to load balance across servers and provide atomic multi-writer access to.

I'm able to get great BSQ Sitestats performance on my shared host because I minimize the amount of traffic to the database while caching files on disk.

And by file IO you mean caching, right?

A few components I have seen write data to file instead of DB (Gallery 1.** etc.) Is this not possible for your services BSQ stats or will you always need a database for some reason..relations?

Need a database for relation and synchronization.

Hi,
I don't currently use any of the stats but would like to enable 'Log Search Strings:' is that likely to cause server overload in a shared hosting environment?

That will depend on the server you are on, the number of other sites on the server, your hosts tollerance for usage and the number of searches done. Short answer is I doubt it.

Ok, thanks 

So, assuming I have access to Apache log files and don't want to install a stats component due to the performance hit, does anyone have any recommendations for stats packages that are open source and handle Joomla urls particularly well?

Will any stats package do?

I have installed PHPMyVisites. I don't know if it takes much load on the servers yet - I haven't looked. But one good thing about it is that it uses a small gif on the target site to record hits on a separate DB. Therefore, you can have a comprehensive stats package in a completely different location to the subject site with no issues about integration with Joomla (or any other type of site) at all.

For the ones still  having problems with stat programs i recommend
http://www.statcounter.com

is free with few limitations, for medium sites does the trick.

for server side solutions, have a look at awstats..
it's really good.

also google analytics rocks..

Do anyone have some trick to show AWStats into a module (just visits / countries / browsers) ?

I've pretty much followed this thread for quite a while now and I guess that I do have to comment at last. Just a few short queries to clear up the issues in my head so please bear with me.
We all know how useful site statistics are in terms of gathering information on those who view and use the websites we build. However, it is also true that not all statistics programs are created equally. Some have more features than others, some provide more information, some are easier to understand, some have nice graphics and charts and graphs, some even integrate with other programs.

• First, Rochen stated this thread claiming that some Joomla site statistics programs create load issues on heavily trafficked sites or shared hosts with multiple sites. Is this really true? Does anyone have any real proof that this occurs?
• Second, do Joomla site statistics programs have any advantage over server-based site statistics (i.e. AWStats, Webalizer, etc.)? If so, what are the advantages?
• Third, do Joomla-based statistics have any advantage over third-party provided statistics (i.e. Google Analytics, Urchin, etc.)? If so, what are the advantages?
• Fourth, if Joomla-based statistics don't have any or only have minor advantages to server-based and third-party statistics, why not switch statistics programs and just do away with the performance problem?

Correct me if I'm wrong about any of these assumptions/questions. I honestly don't see any advantage of using a Joomla-based component to monitor my website's performance. I've tried quite a few of them and their most important features can be replicated using Google Analytics which uses a JS script hosted outside my own host with a little tweaking of the reports.
Thank you!

Well, let me try to answer your questions one by one...
1. It's simple.  No matter how, the component MUST execute a database write for every single hit.  While the write may be very fast, these writes add up quicky... 
2. Some people say the data is more uniform (and can be more granular).  I don't see it personally...
3. Some people say so, but I don't think it's worth it...
4. The only thing you can get, is user based data (such as how logged in users behave)...

I don't think it's worth it, but that's me...

ircmaxell has a point. AWStats and the like will always be faster/less resource intensive because they only analyze the webserver's logs, as opposed to having their own database and doing realtime tracking (IMHO).

Google Analytics has a nice interface and reports, but I also check my locally hosted stats (AWStats) once in a while - the JS-based tracking GA does won't catch everything.

I know I'm a bit late here, but we have avoided using internal stats gathering since we began using mambo. As I'm sure many of you would agree that Urchin or now Google stats provide a great depth of details about site traffic. Might one solution to this be to includea palce to enter your Google tracking code in the Global admin? And have no built in stats gathering at all?

Our clients that have hired us to build multiple sites (think ad agencies) love being able to view and drill down into multiple site stats via a single interface. Couple that with Ad sense integration and it looks like a win win to me. Hey, at the very least it is another opertunity to work closley with Google . We all know what huge supporters of OS they are.

jmtc, thanx

Hi
It seems this thread has died off but that it did not prevent a lot of confusion about these stat modules.
I have gone through all of them and all the reviews and could not make up my mind...
So I have inserted the Google analytics code before the </body> of my template's index.php. And that works fine... but G-A only counts approximately a third of the visits counted by my Joomla native stat module: so what does this module really count? (after how much time without action does he count a re-visit?) I could not find any detail on how that module really works.
Could some of the Joomla administrators give us some information about it?

and/or is did I miss something with Google Analytics?
Cheers
pancho

You may wish to review the Google FAQ's for the answer to your question.

Just like to clarify the meaning of these sentences... so that include "Statistics Modules", "Who's Online" and "SEF Mambots" that comes with the Joomla! installation package?

Joomla! 1.0.15
Global configuration:

Under SEO Tab - I have "Search Engine Friendly URLs: Yes " and " Dynamic Page Titles: Yes"

Under Statistics Tab - I have "Statistics: Yes" and "Log Content Hits by Date: No" and "Log Search Strings: No"

Are all these problems!!!? My site has been constantly down due to too much queries on mysql. I am having an headache to find out the cause. Seems like many areas are involved. ... confused.

I do have access to Awstats so it won't be a big issue to remove Statistic feature on my Joomla! site, but I would like to show how many visitors visited my site... will using a counter generated from the CGI Center in my Cpanel be a better solution? Will that caused any problem to mysql too?

Please advise .

Thanks!

Thanks Brad, but searching for "Joomla" in the Google forum yields... zero answer; quite odd actually.

The say the code is best inserted before the closing </body> tag.
Yet G-A only gives me a third of the Jomla counter;

Hence my desperate and renewed call to administrators: do we know what the counter counts (f.i. after which time a visit is considered ended?) or it is so old that nobody remembers anymore!?
Cheers
Pancho

Simply insert the code as they instruct. You will need to be sure you add this to your templates index.php file.

That's what I did
(unless I miss something, there is [u]only one [/u ]index.php file in the root of the (only) template I use

This is really off topic from this thread. However, you need to consult Google for information on how traffic is tracked. Simply, each page that loads that Google analytics code is counted. You should be able to see the code on all your pages in the source.

Feel free to open your own thread in the lounge if you wish to get feedback on Google Analytics.

Brad said:
Re: Goggle analytics,brad,"Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:52 pm",,"Google analytics are accurate. I would rely on them. Joomla AFAIK only counts article hits, unless you are using 3rd party statistics tools.",

I don't know what AFAIK means but the information seems to be that Joomla native stat counter counts "article hits" (I read: pages hit); If this is true can we put that information somewhere in the help screen of the module?!
Pancho

I have inserted the Google analytics code in a module (new), then into every page i want tracked. This seems to work just fine. Just keeping on the off topic LOL.

As far as I understand you don't need to insert the code in all pages: if you do it in the template's index.php then it will be inserted in all the pages when generated.

Do you mean you edit all your -say- static contents pages, click on html, then insert the code at the end?

Google analytics also works fine with me (with just one insertion) and I have checked withe the "view code" of Firefox that my generated pages do bear the code.
But let me know how GA counts as compared with the native Joomla counter. I am really curious to know.
If I understood Brad well, the counter counts page hits but I could not get that in 100% clear terms (so why does the title says "visitors:" ?)
Cheers
Pancho

Yes this is how i have done it. As i didn't know how to access the other way of doing it. The other way you suggest sounds easier, but it would be good to know if anyone has tried both methods, just to see if the results are the same.

My limited understanding of Joomla/php: all the pages are generated through the index.php so indeed all created pages had the code inserted. Google-A indicates how to insert the code at the end.
Several Joomla applications do that automatically, as I understand but it's not a big deal.
The problem with your method is that for each new page you'll have to do it again.
In any case monitor the two counters to check if they match (after all we don't want something that counts but something that counts WELL!)

This is good idea. It worth to try this.

I see no reason why inserting the code in all pages since Google-A explains that the CSS is read each time (so one insertion is enough):
Now I have been monitoring my site for 9 months and I still have three times more hits recorded by the inbuilt Joomla counter than by Google-A: I just don't know which is right: I first thought that the Joomla module was recording pages but it is not the case; I never could get any information from developpers on how that module works!!!
I am still in the blue....

Google analytics will give you all the information you need regarding keywords people have used, referrals and just about everything else. Installing a statistics component will just add extra weight to your database as I found out. The beauty with Google analytics is all you need is a little of code and that is all.