Web Log Storming is project based software. It uses its own file format (.WLS) that defines essentials like log file locations, basic configuration and global filters.

 

 

To quickly analyze your log raw files without any pre-configuration, simply drag them from the Windows Explorer to the Web Log Storming main window. However, although convenient, this method is not suitable for more serious log analysis.

 

Step 0: Locate raw log files

 

Web Log Storming doesn't require you to embed any code into web pages. Instead, it uses raw log files to create stats and you'll need to locate them before using Web Log Storming. Log files are originally located on your web server and you can usually download them using FTP. Please contact your hosting provider for further instructions.

 

Once you locate them, you can retrieve them manually with any FTP client, or you can configure Web Log Storming to do this automatically.

 

Step 1: Create a new Web Log Storming project

 

 

You should see the Project Properties window.

 

 

Step 2: Choose log file locations

 

You can choose one or more log file sets (locations). Logs will be combined - they don't need to originate from the same website and they can be even written in different formats. You can distinguish statistics from different websites by entering a prefix that will be added to file requests. Wildcards and archive types are also allowed.

 

Three types of log file locations are supported: Local, FTP and HTTP. If you select either FTP or HTTP types, only changed files will be automatically downloaded before the analysis.

 

Examples:

C:\Log Files\*.log

C:\Log Files\2004*.zip

ftp://myserver.com/logs/*.gz

 

See also: Log File Location editor

 

 

Step 3: Set other options

 

Dates

 

Limit dates that you want to examine. Web Log Storming remembers which dates are contained in specific log files, so it doesn't need to re-read all of the log files every analysis.

 

Read all

       

All selected log files are read and analyzed. Depending on size of log files, this could be time-consuming and it's not recommended.

 

Read last

 

Reads last X days only. This option is recommended for regular analysis.

 

Read between

 

Define exact start and end date to read and analyze. Use it when you want to analyze a specific time period.

 

Your domains

 

Domains added here (separated by comma or semicolon) will be excluded from referrer reports.

 

Examples:

mydomain.net

acme.com, otheracme.com

 

Default index file

 

All web servers send a default page when a visitor accesses a directory without a filename. For example, if visitor points his browser to http://www.myserver.com/, depending on configuration, the server will actually send a http://www.myserver.com/index.html page. In this case, enter index.html here and all .../ request will be replaced with .../index.html in the reports.

 

Examples:

index.html

index.htm

index.php

default.asp

 

Time zone correction

 

If your web server doesn't log time for your time zone, you can enter the time difference here.

 

Other options and Global filters

 

Please view the Project Properties page for descriptions and other options.

 

Step 4: Analyze

 

When you are finished with these settings, click the Analyze or Save buttons.

 

See also

       Project Properties

       Log File Locations

       Terminology