Web Page Hit Counter
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This is a [1]server side include "counter" function, built in to the
Apache httpd server.
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How to set it up
First, turn your HTML document into a SHTML document.
The first thing you have to do is adjust the filename extension of your
web page so that the server recognizes it as containing server-side
includes. Just change the extension to .shtml. So, for instance, if
your web page was named "index.html" or "index.htm", your new web page
should be named "index.shtml". (Other valid extensions for server-side
include HTML documents on the Why? InterNetworking web server are:
"-s.html" and "-s.htm".)
Next, create a file to hold the value of the counter.
The first thing you have to do is create a file to hold the value of
the counter. This is an ASCII text file which contains one line on
which the the counter value is stored. This file must always have the
extension ".cnt". The file can begin with any name, but we recommend
that you use the same base name as the .shtml file you intend to use it
in. So, if your web page was named, "index.shtml," then name the
counter file, "index.cnt". Put this file on the server, with one line
containing the number you want the counter to start at.
When you put the counter file on the server, it must have special
"access permissions." It must be set read/write by user, group, and
other so that the HTTP server can read and update it. You can use the
chmod command to do this from your FTP program or from the Unix shell
prompt.
Finally, add the counter to your SHTML document.
Add the counter directive in your web page where you want the counter
to appear. This directive looks like a HTML comment. In its simplest
form, its "<!--#counter file="filename" -->". Filename should be the
base name of the counter file, without the ".cnt" extension. So, if
your counter file is named "counter.cnt", the counter directive you
would use is "<!--#counter file="counter" -->". There you go, you now
have a counter in your page. Bring up Netscape and try it out!
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Advanced Options:
You can do quite a bit more with the counter than just add one to it
for each hit. You can keep track of page hits silently, adjust the
appearance of the counter, and even do things like rotating your home
page through several backgrounds. Here is the list of options you can
give the counter directive:
<!--#counter silent="no" width="0" nocommas="no" min="0"
max="2147000000" rollover="no" increment="1" ith="no" gfx="#"
file="counter" include="file%i.html" debug="" -->
Where:
* silent: Whether or not to show the value of the counter to the
person accessing the page. yes - Don't show the counter to the
page's accesser. no - Show the counter to the page's accesser
(default).
* width: The minimum width of the displayed counter (padded with 0's
if necessary).
* nocommas: Whether or not to insert commas into the number for
readability. yes - Don't insert commas. no - insert commas
(default). If width is not 0 then no commas are inserted regardless
of the setting in nocommas.
* max: The maximum number to count to. When the counter reaches this
number, its behavior is controlled by rollover. By default the
number is near two billion.
* min: The minimum number to count down to. When the counter reaches
this number, its behavior is controlled by rollover. By default the
number is zero.
* rollover: When you hit the maximum or minimum allowed number, what
do you do? yes - Flip to the other endpoint. I.e. if at max, change
to min. If at min, change to max. no - Stop counting. Do not add or
subtract any further from the counter.
* increment: The number to add to the counter. Default: 1. You may
also use the keyword "random" which means that the next value of
the counter should be a random number between min and max.
* ith: Whether or not to append st, nd, rd, or th as appropriate to
the end of the counter (i.e. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and so on.)
yes - Add the extension. no - Don't add the extension (default).
* gfx: Use graphics (i.e. GIF files) to display the counter number
instead of using a text counter. Put the html markup to include the
graphics where "#" is the digit to replace. For example, if your
counter were at 1,234 and you used the following line: <!--#counter
ith="yes" gfx="<IMG SRC=\"gifs/#.gif\">" file="counter" --> then it
would be replaced by the html markup: <IMG SRC="gifs/1.gif"><IMG
SRC="gifs/,.gif"><IMG SRC="gifs/2.gif"><IMG SRC="gifs/3.gif"><IMG
SRC="gifs/4.gif">
* file: The name of the file (minus the .cnt extension) to store the
counter in. (For example, if your filename is "home.cnt" then you
should use file="home".) Warning: the "file" directive must come
after everything except include and debug.
* include: The "base" filename (where %i is the counter) of a file to
include in to the document based on the value of the counter. (For
example, if you want to include pageX.html where X is the value of
the counter, use include="page%i.html".)
* debug, if it exists, means print out the internal variables at the
point in the command to assist in figuring out why the counter
isn't working. This is provided for expert users... If you don't
understand what its saying, don't use it.
Oh yeah. By the way, you are the person to read this page.
Enjoy!
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Suggested Uses:
Basic hit counter
Add this to your web document:
Welcome, you are the <strong><!--#counter ith="yes" file="counter"
--></strong> person to access this web page.
And create the counter.cnt file. It looks like:
Welcome, you are the 1,234,567^th person to access this web page.
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Revision History
v2.4
* Updated to Apache 2.4
vA1.1.1-2
* Added yes/no and 1/0 as valid in addition to true/false
vA1.1.1-1
* Added "gfx" option.
* Upgraded to function with Apache 1.1.1
v1.5.1-1
* Added "random" setting to increment option
* Added "yes/no" options for all tags. Previously the existance of
the tag with nothing in the quotes meant do the opposite of the
default. This action is preserved for backward compatibility.
* Upgraded to function with NCSA httpd 1.5.1
v1.5a-1
* Added "ith" option.
* Upgraded to function with NCSA httpd 1.5a
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apache-include-counter for Debian
-----------------
build with dpkg-buildpackage
<possible notes regarding this package - if none, delete this file>
cd c
cp filters/mod_include.h filters/mod_include.c .
cp mod_include.c mod_include_counter.c
cp mod_include.h mod_include_counter.h
patch -p0 < mod_include_counter.h.diff
patch -p0 < mod_include_counter.c.diff
-- William Herrin <herrin@dirtside.com> Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:15:38 -0500