For the first time I needed to do something with drupal statistics and I was shocked to see that session ID is not stored so I can't track my guests. I guess this affects most sites as the typical site has magnitudes more guests than logged in users.

update_sql is not here, if you say this is a go, I'll write it.

CommentFileSizeAuthor
#11 anon_paths_0.patch3.42 KBwebchick
#10 anon_paths_2.patch0 byteswebchick
#9 accesslog_update.patch2.07 KBwebchick
anon_paths.patch1.04 KBchx

Comments

dries’s picture

dries commented

Storing the session ID is one thing, using it another. How would this affect the existing statistics pages? Would you update them to group/sort by session ID rather than by IP?

jeremy’s picture

jeremy commented

Why not? Do you see any negative impacts from that, or are you just pointing out that it's missing from the patch?

If the same IP shows up with multiple session ID's, either the same person is using multiple browsers, or it's multiple users behind a NAT device, or...

However, it seems the various "track by IP" type operations no longer exist. I only see "track page visits" tabs on the user page. Why was the ability to track users by IP removed? (it evidently happened a while ago, I'm used to 4.5, and see they're gone as of 4.6...)

chx’s picture

chx commented

Let contrib modules use the data. But they can only use what's stored.

kbahey’s picture

kbahey commented

Anything that would restore or improve the functionality that we partially had in 4.5 is welcome.

In 4.5, I was able to "track host" and see if it is a crawler or a human. It was very helpful.

Putting the session in the table is a good idea to track anonymous users.

The only comment here is that it would apply to humans for sure (since they are using browsers, and accept cookies).

But what about crawlers? Do they accept cookies and send them in their next page access? I would be surprised if they did.

Regardless, there is definite value in adding this, only that it will not give the whole picture.

+1 from me.

chx’s picture

chx commented

This is a usability issue. Usability but not in the sense of admin interface but navigational paths. Path analysis is a must if I want to see whether my users are able to find what they seek or not. At this moment this is just not possible.

However, a path analysis module would not be simple therefore I doubt it should be in core.

kbahey’s picture

kbahey commented

I fully agree.

Path analysis is much needed, specially comparing 4.5 to 4.6.

Even if it is not in core, and only a contrib, it will be helpful. Just like I find statistics trends to be very helpful, though it is not in core.

Still +1

jeremy’s picture

jeremy commented

Why was "track hostname" etc moved when going from 4.5 to 4.6? I assume there was a reason - was it not working? I still use 4.5, and it has worked well for me, aside from the annoyance of finding the person to track in the first place.

dries’s picture

dries commented

Will commit. Please provide ugrade path. Thanks.

webchick’s picture

webchick
she/they
Primary language English
Location Vancouver 🇨🇦
commented
StatusFileSize
new accesslog_update.patch2.07 KB

This should do it...

webchick’s picture

webchick
she/they
Primary language English
Location Vancouver 🇨🇦
commented
StatusFileSize
new anon_paths_2.patch0 bytes

I'm sorry! I didn't know that postgres needs its own special way of adding NOT NULL and default when altering a field. This patch should be correct. It also includes the changes in the original patch.

webchick’s picture

webchick
she/they
Primary language English
Location Vancouver 🇨🇦
commented
StatusFileSize
new anon_paths_0.patch3.42 KB

How about one that's not 0 bytes... (?!?)

m3avrck’s picture

m3avrck commented

Shouldn't sid be %d and not '%s' ?

chx’s picture

chx commented

sid a number?? neh, no it's a md5 'ed something, 32 chars long.

chx’s picture

chx commented
Status: Needs review » Reviewed & tested by the community
dries’s picture

dries commented
Status: Reviewed & tested by the community » Fixed

Committed to HEAD. Thanks.

Anonymous’s picture

(not verified) commented
Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)