FILTERS
Filters are handy when you want to permanently exclude certain sets of data
from the logs, or change the way some logs are processed, there are 3 types
of filter available:
- DynamicURL
- Exclude
- Include
Include & Exclude can do many of the same things as run time filtering
does through the report interface, run time filtering is faster, less permanent,
and often much easier to use, so consider whether that might be a better
option to meet your needs.
The effects of the DynamicURL filter, on the other hand, cannot be replicated
by any other means.
All of the filters described on this page are accessible through your admin
login, under Configuration > Urchin Profiles > Filter Manager. To create
a new filter, of any type, click the add button.
DynamicURL Filter
Ideal if your site is using ASP or Coldfusion to dynamically include content
in your pages. The DynamicURL filter can be used with any site where variables
in the URL are used to make a script dynamically control content displayed
on your page.
If you have a news page that lists all of the available articles, then displays
one if your user clicks it, your reports will usually just tell you the total
number of times the file has been accessed, using DynamicURL filtering, however,
you'll see how many times the list was accessed, as well as how often each
article was accessed.
For example, say your page address was http://www.2day.com/news/display.asp?article=42
when viewing an article, all the information required to create your filter
is contained in this URL. You need to know the name of the file, the path
to that file, and the variable you want to filter by.
- The file is display.php
- The path is /news/
- The variable is article
The DynamicURL filter uses regular expressions to match a pattern in your
sites log file, here is a basic regular expression using the sample data
used above, if you change the various details to match what your site uses
it should work:
- (/news/display.asp\?article=.*)
There are other possible structures, if you know regular expressions well,
you can have a go at building one yourself, alternatively, there are further
instructions and examples on Urchin's website .
You need to create another filter, with different values, for every page
you want to filter.
Notes
Once a filter has been created, you must apply it to your log profile! If you don't do this, your filter won't do anything.
Additionally, filters are only applied to new logs, any results already
in your reports will not be changed through the addition of a new filter.
