AC.log Pro Manual - Start Page

Get to Know Your Web Site Users

Note: Pressing "F1" always gets you context sensitive help

Contents:

• About AC.log Pro (license information)
• How to download AC.log Pro, get a trial license, or buy a full license
• How to install, configure, start, deinstall AC.log Pro
• How to use AC.log Pro
• How to get the most out of reports (descriptions and interpretation guides)
• How does it all work? Primers on AC.log Pro, WWW, and web server logs provide answers. You'll enjoy reading these!
• How to shoot troubles

1, 2, 3: A Usage Guide for Those in a Hurry

Congratulations! You successfully started the program, but what to do next? (In case you weren't able to get the program started, please consult the trouble shooting guide).

What is your situation?

• You need to get the log files.
• You got the log files, and want to create a log file set.
• You got a log file set, and want to analyse it.

1. Get the web server log files

The situation: You need to get the log files from the web server which serves your web pages.

What to do:

• If you have your pages hosted by a web service provider: Check the home page of the company. Try to locate the page which offers the log file download. Often this will be somewhere in a user area you need to log in for. Download the log.
• If you have your own webserver (either hosted by a web service provider or on a local network): Depending on the web server you use, locate the directory into which it writes its log files. Download the log (you can skip this step if the log can be accessed directly from the computer you run AC.log Pro on).

2. Create a log file set

The situation: The web server log files can be directly accessed from the computer you run AC.log Pro on (they are either saved on your local disk or somewhere on the network).

What to do:

• A log file set is - a set of log files (aha!). For your convenience, a number of log files can be put into a named group, the log file set. In example, your log files may cover a month, so you might want have a group for a whole year.
• Click on the "Manage" button to call up the log file set manager.
• Click on "Create" to create a new log file set (give it a name).
• Click on "Add" to add the log files you want.
• Click on "Save" to save the log file set.
• Click on "OK" to start the analysis.
• The other buttons: "Remove" to remove one or more selected log files from the set; "Save" to save your changes, "Revert" to forget your changes, "Save as" to create a copy, "Delete" to delete the whole set.

None of these operations harm you log files, so even when you delete a set, it's just the grouping which gets deleted, not the log files in the group.

3. Analyse!

The situation: There are one or more log file sets ready to use.

What to do:

• Select a log file set. Analysis starts right away, and - voilá! - the first report pops up.
• Select a view (which fits your intentions best), a report group, and a report, and see what the users have been up to.
• Once a report is displayed, you may press "F1" for a description and a guided tour.