Getting statistics about your site is always useful and interesting for every type of site, be it personal or an e-commerce money making machine knowing who, how, what, when and even why your visitors decided to take a look at your site. For e-commerce this can be vital and for personal/non-commerce sites its just interesting!

So today we are going to take a look at Google Analytics this is probably the best service for providing easy to read information about how your site is doing, like with Awstats and Webalizer which is provided with XDnet’s cPanel accounts, watch this space for articles about how you can use these to take a look at your site stats soon.

• What browser are your visitors using?
• Check out exactly how many visitors have been looking at your site.
• How fast is visitors connections?
• Look at how people navigate through your site and where they exit.
• How do people find your site? What keywords are they using to get to your site?

These important facts about your site can help you make informed decisions about the direction of your website, find problems users face and fix them - notice users aren’t finding that page you want? which pages make users leave? whats wrong with it? All these questions and more can be answered with the information gathered after just a few months of using analytics tools.

Log Files…

For basic web statistics, you can download your site’s log files. Access is included with all our packages. Log files are simple, they take a note of all page accesses, but the downside is they are not user friendly. There are software available to make them into a more friendly format, but why bother when there are tools which are easy to understand and more importantly use “out of the box”.

Using Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a great tool, and one of the many great sites which we have and will look into on XDnet, which really can help make your site great.

Small catch, unlike with Awstats and Webalizer which comes with XDnet’s hosting, you will have to do a little more than just activate it in cPanel, you have to add a code snippet to the bottom of every page on your website… which can be a long and tedious process, especially if your site is not template based.

Many people simply do not have the time (or patience) to do this, especially if they are not code litterate, and can end up paying a lot of money for this to be done. However XDnet offers this service for a fraction of the price - Just open a Technical ticket.

Map Overlay:

Now this could be one of the most helpful and interesting features that comes with Google Analytics, and appears to have incredible accuracy most likely because Google is a multi-billion dollar company which can afford the very best Geo-location databases I am sure.

With this tool you can see exactly where visitors come from instantly, but of course that’s not all, you can get even deeper and get close up views of what town or city your users are from, and of course like with colour coding you can easily see which cities have the most visitors, to the right is another screenshot of a website i run. London obviously has is the most visitors which will probably be the case with most sites simply because London is a very big city, but second is Swindon (home of XDnet) and also where the sites organisation is based.

Of course you can break this down even further and take a look at how many visitors you get per day for an individual city and much more.

How users view your site:

You can also check out how your users are viewing your site, find out what browsers they are using, what screen resolution, what colours and so much more.

Google Analytics takes everything you can possibly know about your visitors and makes it into an easy to read, easy to understand and most importantly useful format.

With useful information like user connection speeds, if you find 99% of your visitors are on dial-up, maybe you should think about streamlining your site to be more low-band friendly? And vica versa, as much more likely in today’s market you find all you users are on Broadband (or higher) then maybe you can start thinking more about quality, use a slightly high resolution of images - your users are unlikely to notice a great difference so long as they have a fast Internet connection, but they will notice shiny new images where pixelated pictures used to be, however don’t forget to use caution everyone wants fast websites, and only sites with good, interesting and useful content are worth the wait of loading images.

I feel like I am starting to repeat myself a little so all i can say is, check it out, give it a try!

A few years ago I used to own a website which was forever having it’s email spoofed. How ever I only found out about the problem after someone emailed me complaining. Naturally I rushed to find a solution to the problem. Below is the solution I found:

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
Essentially this is an insanely technologically confusing method, but to put it simply…Only the server you specify can send email from your domains. It’s useful when it comes to the bigger mail services out their as they like to confirm that the email’s source is correct.
If you are using cPanel you can enable SPF by going to the “Email Authentication” page and clicking enable.

Seems everyone in the blogosphere has made comment on Google turning 10 years old.

So keeping with tradition Google had a spacial logo for their big day.Google has had an interesting and diverse history as shown in their timeline. 

However i have picked out a few key points below, and want have a small scratch at the surface of what Google has and is doing.

Here comes Google!

On 15th September 1997, the Google name first comes to light, Larry and Sergey decided the original name (BackRub) needed a new name.

After a while they came upon googol, which is a mathematical term for the number 1^100 (1 with 100 zeros after it), as this represents their goal of organising what is an infinite amount of information.

- Just take a look at the original Google homepage! 

And the money starts…

In 1998 Google received its first cheque for $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, Sun Co-Founder. This was before the guys had even properly set Google up as an incorporate or even had a Google bank account!

April Fools

Ever since their first joke in 2000 when Google announced MentalPlex, which boldly claimed Google could now read your mind and produce the perfect search results - all you have to do is stare at the swirly circle…

And of course, it didn’t stop with reading your mind! In 2002 Google explained the advanced technology behind how exactly PageRank (or PigeonRank) actually worked… a whole lot of trained pigeons finding you great results.

In 2004 Google went even futher and expanded to yet another location, the Moon and best of all they needed you to staff it. - Lunar Job Offers

Over the years Google has been quite the comedian with instructions on Google Maps which included “Swim across the Atlantic Ocean” (now removed) if you asked for directions from North America to a location in Europe.

Gmail Paper Archive, where Google will print and post your emails and attachment for free and Tisp, the Toilet ISP from 2007 being one of the ones which really makes me laugh as i look back.

More recently (2008) of course there is Virgle, when Virgin and Google team up to take us all to live on Mars… Yes, Mars.

The application form on the site alone can really make you laugh, with questions like I am a world-class expert in - physics, medicine and first aid, engineering or Guitar Hero II.

But thanks to Google now owning YouTube.com they joined in the fun too by bringing a new term in the blogosphere, RickRolling where on April 1st where all featured videos on YouTube instead lead to the Rick Astley music video - Never Gonna Give You Up, i bet the video uploader was thrilled!

The list goes on with each new wakey idea topping the last, and i can honestly say i look forward to April the 1st, just to see what Google might do next.

Reference: Wikipedia on Google’s Hoaxes

I name you Google

No I am not talking about Google Inc, an “avid” Google “enthusiast” Elias Kai decided to name his new bored son Oliver Google Kai.

Google Tops 1 Billion

26th June 2000 Google Index hits 1 Billion pages (URL’s) indexed, and in the beginning of 2006 Google’s Image Search tops 1.1 Billion Images indexed.

What doesn’t Google own?

 Over the past ten years Google has become massive with the acquisition of companies/sites like Blogger.com, YouTube.com (9th October 2006), Keyhole (a digital mapping company), Urchin – a web analytics company which is behind Google Analytics technology,  Writely a web-based word processing app which is the basis for Google Docs (9th March 2006), and this year even google completed their deal with DoubleClick (the online advertising company), JotSpot which was a collaborative wiki platform which has now become Google Sites, dMarc which was a DAB advertising company and so many more, Google is taking on many different aspects of online markets, but is this good? - Leave a comment, or send us an email with your views.

Googles founders have become very rich men in a relatively short period of time, and have built up a company which is now one of if not the largest online companies in the world, with ever expanding resources and developments, such as the newly released Google Chrome browser, which Google has made to try and improve all browsers to make the web a better place, with its (currently) unique V8 Javascript engine and interesting architecture they are transforming (and controlling?) our lives, with search, adverts, email online video with YouTube and a whole lot more available from Google, will the small guys be able to hold out much longer? 

Google is doing and has done so much for technology, and it shows what billions of dollars can achieve, but I, as always, am interested in your views on Google what do you like/dislike?

Take a look at:

 - http://www.google.co.uk/tenthbirthday/

Receiving spam is always a pain. But here is quite a nice way to authenticate an email has come from where it says it has. This fantastic solution is called DomainKeys (and is this fantastic feature is available with XDnet)!

DomainKeys can be enabled in cPanel in the “Email Authentication” page.

During my time on the web I have noticed how many users have misconceptions about HTTPS or SSL, so hopefully this should help clear a few things up and ensure your clear about what SSL does… and doesn’t do and how to be safe on the web.

Firstly i would like to explain a bit about HTTPS and to try and clear up some of the misunderstandings a lot of people seem to have about it.

HTTPS:// which stands for Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol Secure, which is a secure connection between you and the server. HTTPS is NOT a protocol in it’s self. HTTPS is exactly the same as HTTP except it has a extra layer of “security” called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). When comparing HTTP and HTTPS the only “physical” difference is HTTPS uses a different TCP port (usually 443) where as HTTP uses 80 (or 8080 depending on server set up).

SSL was developed by Netscape for you guessed it sending files and information via the web without nosy neighbors peeking. SSL uses a cryptographic key system. This system uses two keys which encrypt the data being sent, the first being the public key which is known to every Tom, Chris and Rumpelstiltskin and then we have the Private key known only to the intended recipient of the data.

I have come across quite a few people who assume that because a web-page has “Secure” it means their information, which often includes full credit card details, are secure for the short journey across cyber-space and the comfy stay in a little server on the other side of the world. However often what most do not understand is this is not the case, yes the information can not be easily sniffed or taped on its connection between you and the server, but it does not secure its safety when it reaches the server OR how the webmaster as well as every one who has access to the server (which can often be a lot) do with your information.

Just because a server uses SSL (which any body with a website and a spare £23 ($45)ish can obtain, without any security checks for the website i might add, doesn’t mean the server can’t be hacked or even be already hacked.

Dodgy webmasters, not only do you have to worry about your personal information being sniffed or viewed on transfer, while it’s sitting on the web server and crackers seeing it, But what about the actual website Administrator? what is he suddenly thinks hey, i have a database full of all the transaction details  from when i have sold naff to over the net…

Getting security certificates validated by browsers.

Now virtually all modern browsers are both SSL capable and show some type of alert if the incoming SSL certificate  is self signed or invalid.

I would like to make this perfectly clear, ANY webmaster can set up a secure connection for his/her website(s) and it will have EXACTLY THE SAME level of security as a certificate signed by a authority, the only difference being that many browsers have been “told” by the “certification authorities” that your site is OK!

Other wise your browser experience is hindered by warnings (especially with browsers such as Internet Exploerer 7 and Google Chrome who refuses to show the page unless you accept)

If you would like more information about setting up SSL of purchasing a SSL Certificate through XDnet  - Just Ask! and we can help with the process.

Hopefully this post has helped users understand what SSL does do - offer an extra layer of protection to your data, but also helps to understand the importance of not providing personal information to any website on the internet, if you have doubts about the intentions of the webmaster, try asking them about their policies and how they might use your data, if they can’t answer honestly about how they process your information, don’t risk it.

Spam is a serious issue, especially if you run a website where a contact medium between users and yourself is critical. In this little “How To” I am going to show you the best way to stop spam AKA SpamAssassin™

Most web hosts should provide SpamAssassin™ (Especially if they are running cPanel 10). Make sure you enable it and enjoy the benefits (it’s really that easy). XDnet offers SpamAssassin™ with all standard and above accounts, so login and enjoy the benefits of spam free email!

If you are a power user you may want to adjust SpamAssassin™ sensitivity, to alter this go into SpamAssassin™ configuration and adjust the “required_score” variable. Keep in mind the lower your score the more aggressive SpamAssassin™ will be. I like to keep mine around 4, but it varies from website to website. (Note: This option is available to all VPS + Dedicated Clients, so check it out now!)

It seems like everyone is concerned about MySQL injections when it comes to programming, however their is an easy solution out there! Here is the functions I wrote and have been using for a good few months and I’ve never had any problems.

<?php
// The SQL Input Function This validates whats 
inputted and ’cleans’ it.
function SQL_Input($input, $is_numeric=FALSE){
if(is_numeric($input) == TRUE && $is_numeric == TRUE){ // If it’s a number and it’s ment to be a number.
return $input;
}else{ // Anything else
return serialize($input); // You can replace this for a base64,
 but I like serialize’s.
}
}

// The SQL output function. This convets the stuff pulled from the 
SQL back to normal text.
function SQL_Output($input, $is_numeric=FALSE){
if(is_numeric($input) == TRUE && $is_numeric == TRUE){ // If it’s a number and it’s ment to be a number.
return $input;
}else{ // Anything else
return unserialize($input);
}
}

### Example ###
/* In the next example I’m going to pull some data from a table called ’table’. 
Here is some info about the table:
ID - Should only be numbers.
Text - Is some plain text.

And the input is:
$_POST['ID'] - should be a number.
$_POST['Text'] - is some general text.
*/
$result = mysql_query(“SELECT * FROM ’table’ WHERE ID=’”.SQL_Input($_POST['ID'], TRUE).“‘ AND Text=’”.SQL_Input($_POST['Text'], FALSE).“‘”);
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo ‘<strong>ID:</strong>’.SQL_Output($row['ID'], TRUE).“\n”;
echo ‘<strong>Text:</strong>’.SQL_Output($row['Text'], TRUE).“\n”;
}
?>

I was surprised to notice a remarkable difference in the quality of image in Google Chrome when I was toying with some design ideas.

I plonked a RSS icon onto the latest posts box so i grabbed my overly large (400 x 400px) PNG icon and then shrunk it down to 25 x 25px, obviously this is not ideal because many browsers have difficultly in scaling down images without distortion.

So anyway below is an example of the difference between Internet Explorer 7, Google Chrome and FireFox and i think without a doubt Chrome really beats them with the scale rendering.

Apologies that this isn’t necessarily a useful post, just quite interesting at how Google Chrome has really taken browsers to the next step, and i look forward to the others catching up and seeing the next generation of browser, made for today’s web, not last weeks.

If you’re anything like me, you will most likely need to check how a design looks in multiple browsers several times a day - Let’s face it, if a website is ugly in a client’s browser there very unlikely to purchase your product. Here are some funky and free services which makes cross browser testing a problem of the past.

IE NetRenderer - One of my favourite services, mainly because the rendering is real-time (so not waiting about) however (as the name suggests) the only browser family it renders is IE.

Browsershots - They have a lot of browsers running on several Operating Systems and loads of options (such as if you want flash/JavaScript enabled) though it can take up to 30 minutes to receive your screenshot.

A new contributor has joined our ranks on the XDnet blog, Mike Rogem! Hopefully we can see some helpful and interesting posts from Mike in the future, and don’t forget if you would like to contribute to the XDnet Blog please get in contact, just email admin@xdnet.co.uk for more info we are looking for people who have a reasonable knowledge of web stuff and can post some useful gems!

Dan,

XDnet Admin.