Such a muppet (I am)...
Downloaded and installed Shaun Inman’s Shortstat visitor logging system last night, then spent the best part of three hours fiddling with it to try and make it work. Added the relevant include file at the bottom, then the top, then the bottom again of my page templates, tried rewording it, added and removed test code, and still couldn’t get it to record a single hit.
Finally I gave up and went to bed, disillusioned with my PHP skills and frustrated with Textpattern not parsing my PHP.
In the morning, with a clearer head, I check the Textpattern Forums for any tips on why I can’t get it to work, and eventually find a link to Jon Hicks’ write-up of how he got Shortstat working on his Textpattern-powered site – an article that I must have read at least three times previously! Doh!
Of course, it would involve editing files that I can’t access from work, so it looks as if accurate logging of my visitors will have to wait until the weekend, but at least now I know what to do.
The whole experience wasn’t helped by the fact that Shaun’s README installation instructions omit mentioning how to install the IP-to-country conversion table – extremely straightfoward (you just upload the .php and .txt files to your server, then browse to “yoursite.com/shortstat/_ip-to-country.php” to create and populate the table), but not obvious if you are a PHP novice.
UPDATE: I nipped home for lunch and made the necessary amendments – Shortstats are now up and running. Now I have proof of how non-popular the site is…
Filed under: The Site, Textpattern.
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