Is it possible to add the IP address the person is logging in from in this listing? Would help immensely. Right now I go to Statcounter, find the time (usually the latest time for that IP address), and match it to the Login Stats page to pretty well determine who was on which pages. I think you have the IP address because it is always included in a CONTACT US email. Sometimes it is hard to track back - especially for AOL people.

Just askin'

I have 2 concerns here:

1) For 99% of Admins the IP Address is going to be of no value at all. Very few will ever figure out how to match up something like Statcounter with the IP address to see who was doing what.

2) If we were going to do this rather than making it hard for people we'd simply track who was where on the site and when. You'd just have a button to click on to see that. Believe me when I tell you though, numerous people won't like this. If we're going to provide that kind of tracking we'd need to disclose it somewhere to those who are being tracked. Imagine the mess if even 1% of of users complained about this, and the likelihood is it would be higher than 1%. In fact tracking like this can actually hinder usage of the site. Image the person who likes to go to work but secretly has the Live Chat open the entire day, and trust me there's lots of things similar to this. If they know that you know they're doing it they may quit doing so. For the most part I think people are opposed to having their every move tracked.

Hi Brad,

Can't imagine why we (admins) would need to identify which classmate is looking at a specific page other than curiosity. Person specific tracking would be a huge invasion of privacy and trust. From a pool of 210 classmate emails there are 174 signed in after one year. I assume that the remainder have their own reasons for not joining, including lack of interest, but I'm told there are significant numbers of them who worry about their privacy, being watched and somehow invaded via the Internet. Software improvements that protect our classmates privacy are highly desired. Thanks for all you do to help our site be successful!

Donna

Brad,

Your #2 response:
Quote:

That's what "Cookies" do, so it seems to me that further describing an event that most internet services have already been doing for the last several years doesn't seem to make any sense. All anyone needs to do is Google the word "Cookies" and they may NEVER use a computer again!

Donna,

I for one use that information all the time NOT to track a specific person unless there is abuse, but to track various degrees of activity. Like the previous site I created, I never knew if I was wasting my time creating pages that no one ever looked at or to determine if there might be topics that needed improving.

For the most part as "commercial" website designer, I like having this information available. It tells me such things as the browser a person is using, what Operating System, what pages they look at, do they return to the site and how often/long do they stay. With CC I have had limited needs and now none, since I am no longer involved with my former site. (This one may go away as well--as I'm considering a "career" change.)

Looks as if Barbara might have a different purpose than class reunions (Pelican Resort Owners Group?) I use sitemeter.com (the free version) but you can pay extra monthly for that type of info. I know some artists use it to track which pages and works of art attract people.

A great tracking tool for general info about page popularity is Google Analytics, which can be set up on your Preferences page.

You are correct, Paschal. Because this site is not a class - there are different things to consider. I particularly try to see which pages non-registered people are trying to view and who came to us from a link at another site.

And, Thanks, Brad. I use both Statcounter and Google Analytics. With these in combination with my CC Statistics I usually get to the answer I'm looking for...just takes me a few steps.