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2. Visitor tracker questions and answers

I've started tracking my website visitors and the information I get is very detailed. Can anyone see the information I'm recording with TraceMyIP?

No. If you don't share your login information with anyone, it is not possible to view your private website visitor tracking information, unless you specifically would like to share your stats.



Is any of my account data and private personal information shared with anyone without my knowledge?

Absolutely not. Unlike most free web based services, TraceMyIP does not monetize on its users’ private account and statistics data.

TraceMyIP will never send email spam to its users or sell either tracking or private user information to third parties to cover the operating expenses. Our array of cheerfully running web servers and a group of peaceful and happy engineers strictly rely on the revenue generated from advertising that is being displayed to free account holders and on the subscription fees from the premium account users.

Although your tracking information also stays private for a long as you use the service, you have an option to share it with other people by using either a guest mode or assigning an authorized user.



I'd like to share the statistics under my account with other people but I do not feel comfortable with giving them my login information. What can I do?

A Guest Mode is a quick way to share your website statistics with others without compromising your account's information and security. With Guest Mode enabled, you can share your stats by either using a special Guest Link that you can use in emails, printed materials or posting your website or blog, or by linking your visitor tracker icon directly to your stats. To read more about this feature click here.

If you require custom access policies, you can also add "Authorized Users" to your account with limited access privileges. For example, you can add "Bob" as an authorized user and under his profile assign to him only one project from your account and prohibit any changes to be made. Bob will be able to login to your account, but will not see any of your personal information nor he will be able to change or delete anything under your account - just view the statistics. You can read more about "Authorized Users" feature here



I installed the tracker code on my main page, but the Visitor Tracker does not detect visitors on my other pages and I believe I'm missing hits from some visitors. What could be wrong?

The tracker code must be placed on every page that needs to be tracked. The best location for the tracker code is in the header of the website, because the header is usually displayed on all pages of your website. The other reason is that the header is loaded before any multimedia content, ensuring that a tracker detects your visitors reliably. A good indication that your tracker is installed properly is its visual presence on all pages of your website.



Can I use the same tracker code for all of my websites and blogs?

No. Each project has its unique code and is designed to track a single domain with all subdomains, or a domain with a specific subdomain. The Website URL property of each project must point to the exact location of your home (root) page.

It is very important for your project's Website URL property is setup properly. Please read this page for instructions on how to properly setup Website URL property for each one of your projects. 



When I look at the today's number of Unique Visits on My Projects page, it doesn't match the number of visitors I have on my "Visitor List" report. Is my statistics wrong?

No. The "Unique Visits" count does not reflect the number of individual visitors coming to your site. The "Unique Visits" count reflects the total number of visits, meaning any visitor coming to your site may re-visit it multiple times in the day. A "Unique Visit" reflects both "New Visits" and "Returning Visits".

For example, If a visitor accessed your website at 9:00 and then visited your website again at 11:00, the tracker will count it as 2 separate visits from the same visitor. Any visit that is 60 minutes or more apart from the previous visit is counted as a separate "returning" and "unique" visit.

For more information on terminology, please see this document.



My website serves content to European Union member states. The new EU Cookie Law requires me to get consent for each cookie placed in my visitor's browser. Is there a solution to that?

Yes, tracemyip.org offers a feature that allows you to track your visitors without using cookies. The cookieless tracking is a solution for helping to achieve the directive of the EU Cookie Law, and gives you an ability to track your visitor traffic without asking your visitors to approve the usage of cookies.

For more important information on this subject, please see this document.



What's the difference between a JavaScript tracker code and HTML version?

The main difference is that the JavaScript version of the code will generate significantly more information about your visitors and will allow you to setup a Page Tracker to control access to specific pages on your website. However, not all website editors and social networks allow usage of advanced JavaScript tools. When you generate your tracker code, select your social network or editor from the code type selection drop down box, and the system will generate a proper type of tracking code.

For details on the difference between JavaScript and HTML versions of the trackers, please see this page.



I have a domain name that I own and I installed TraceMyIP tracker per instructions in the header of my website and it does detect all visits. However, I do not see any information on my logs that tells me where my visitors are coming from and how they find my website. What could be the problem?

This feature is called "Referrer Tracking". Most likely, when you have generated your visitor tracking code, you had selected an HTML version of the code. An HTML version of the code should only be used for social network and blog sites that do NOT allow using advanced JavaScript tools.

If your publishing software allows you to use JavaScript, simply select a JavaScript version of the code from the drop down menu while generating your visitor tracking code. Once the JavaScript code is placed on your website, your project will automatically be switched to a full tracking mode upon its first visitor detection with a JavaScript code. You'll be able to see the information about your presence on search engines, search engine keywords used and websites that link to your web pages.

For more information on this topic, please see this document.



When I click on the tracker icon on my web page, it takes me to TraceMyIP home page that shows my information. Will visitors see my IP and other pertinent information?

No. TraceMyIP home page only shows the information of the current visitor. If your website visitors click on the tracker icon, they will see their information. This is a great way to tell your visitors that any abuse or illegal activity on your website is captured and recorded for you by TraceMyIP.



If I tagged a visitor and that visitor has changed their IP, what happens then?

The system places other identification markers for a tagged visitor, other than just an IP address. Therefore, even if the visitor has changed an IP address, in 90% of the cases, it will be able to still track that visitor, while indicating the original IP address on your log.



Is it possible to see which pages were viewed by a specific visitor on ALL of my websites at once?

Yes, the IP tracking address book feature let's you track any specific visitor across all of your projects and website domains. Please see this page for information on how to track a specific IP.



What are the blocking IP boxes under my account settings page?

By entering an IP that you would like to block in one of the boxes under your account settings page, you will prevent any particular IP from being logged by the system.  Therefore, it will not show up in your traffic logs. This is useful if you work on your website and would not want to capture your own visits or if there is a specific IP that you'd like the system to ignore. The IPs specified in the IP blocking section under your account settings page will not be actually blocked from  accessing your website. For preventing specific IPs from accessing your web pages, you can use Link Tracker or Page Tracker.



Can I block specific visitors from accessing my website pages by IP address?

Yes. You can use the Link Tracker to protect your content by monitoring your website links or Page Tracker to block or allow access to specific pages or the entire website. Please note, that to use a Page Tracker, your website publishing tools must allow usage of a JavaScript code. With Link and Page tracker tools you'll get a complete control of which visitors can access your linked content, pages or files. You can control the access by IP, Country or Timeframe filters.

Furthermore, you can monitor your file downloads using Link Tracker. You'll get the statistics of how many total downloads has occurred from first time, unique and returning visitors. You can also control who'd be able to download and view your online documents using IP, GEO and TIME controls.



I have installed my tracker code, and I can see the Page Loads, Link Tracker and other options, but I do not have a Page Tracker option visible. What is wrong?

The Page Tracker option that allows you to control visitor access to specific pages on your website is only available if you use a JavaScript version of the tracker code. Only if you are able to install a JavaScript version of the code and you have logged visitors with the JavaScript tracker, the Page Tracker option will appear.

Many social network sites do not allow usage of advanced JavaScript tools and you may not be able to use a JavaScript tracker, however, if you do have the ability to use JavaScript on your site, simply generate a new JavaScript tracker code by clicking on the "tracker code" link for your project, remove the HTML version of the tracker from ALL pages of your website, and reinstall the JavaScript version on all pages of your website. The Page Tracker option will appear as soon as you log a first visitor with your JavaScript tracker.



My traffic log size is 500. Does “500” mean? Does it stand for unique visitors or page load count?

Log of 500 indicates a number of database entries (per project) allowed for your free LEVEL 1 subscription. This means that each project's log can hold up to 500 very detailed visitor activity events entries, whether they are unique visits or page loads. Each page load takes 1 database entry. If for example your website has only one page and every visitor views this page only once, you'll have 500 individual visitors logged. On the other hand, if your website for example has 5 separate pages, and each visitor views all 5 of them, then you’ll have the information of 100 most recent visitors.



I'm using a free plan with a log size of 500. What happens when it reaches 500?

Each visitor's click uses a single entry database. 500 Traffic Log size means that the system always stores 500 of the most recent visitor clicks  that contain the information about links, keywords, operating systems, GEO data, etc.

As your Traffic Log size reaches its limit, TraceMyIP will delete the oldest visitor's click information and add a new visitor's click line entry on top of your records table. This however does NOT affect the actual counting of the visitor clicks and only affects how much details you will get in your reports about the keywords, sites that link to you, most popular pages, first time visitors, etc. In other words, your actual visitor counters for unique, returning and first time visitors and pageloads stored in a separate database partition that has an unlimited storage capacity. The Log Size only applies to your detailed page load information.



Someone has stolen the tracker code from my website and now my tracker logs someone else's traffic. I can see that under page loads section of my statistics, the landing pages show URLs that do not belong to my website. What can I do?

You can enable the "Domain Tracker Security" feature. Once enabled, it will force the tracker to only run under the domain name you have specified as your Website URL. To enable this feature, please read the document here.



I am curious, how do those visitor avatar images get assigned to each visitor? Do you know my visitors' gender and age?

Since everyone deserves the privacy, we do not go as far as determining the gender and age of your visitors. However, their behavior and demographics are analyzed by our proprietary algorithms (while adding some random factors as well) to approximate the personality characteristics and gender of each visitor. Thus, the incognito avatars are assigned to each IP address. At this point there are no guarantees as for the accuracy of the gender and age representation. The visitor identification algorithms are primarily established to help you to differentiate each visitor and to simplify the navigation within your logs.



I set my auto logout time to 1 hour, but sometimes, the system keeps logging me out before 1 hour has passed.

If your browser cookies are deleted, the system will automatically log you out since your browser no longer stores a security session. If you do not manually delete your browser cookies and still getting logged out, check your firewall / antivirus software as it can automatically purge the browser cookies or live sessions, depending on the settings.

Deleting browser cookies is generally NOT a good idea, as it will alter the behavior of the websites you browse.



I have been using TraceMyIP for a while and would like to review and rate the service. How do I submit my review?

Login to your TraceMyIP account, go to "My Account" menu and select  “Service review / testimonial”. On the review form, select “Service review / testimonial” option. For more information on the type of information you can submit, please see this page.



What's the difference between all these different tracker styles icons that I can install on my website?

When you create a new visitor tracking project, you have a choice of what kind of graphics you'd like to display on your website. The counter icons simply help you to see how many visitors are logged when you look at your website pages and visually confirm that all pages on your website are being monitored. The other styles can simply be used to notify your visitors that your website is being monitored by a website statistics service and that you supervise your traffic closely for security reasons.

All styles of graphics log exactly the same information about your website visitors. The only difference is what kind of information is displayed on your website.

Once you've created your tracking project, you can always change the style of the graphics displayed on your website without losing any visitor tracking data captured under that project. Simply click on the "tracker code" link that's located on the same row as your project name under "My Projects" summary page.



Can I install different tracker styles for different pages of my website?

Using different tracker styles simultaneously for the same website project will produce a tracking conflict and will result in a "Duplicate Tracker Code" error. The tracker code used should be exactly the same on all of pages of your website. The best practice is to install a single instance of the code either in the header or a footer of your website, rather than manually installing it on each page separately.



Can I track a Flash or Silverlight based website with TraceMyIP website tracker?
Yes. Please follow this tutorial to track Flash events: Tracking Flash Events with TraceMyIP



Can I modify the tracker code?

No. TraceMyIP periodically scans the web pages to insure the integrity of the code generated by the system. If alteration is found, your account may get banned and you will no longer be able to use TraceMyIP.



Is it possible to hide tracker status icons?

Yes. If your subscription is LEVEL 2 or above, simply click on the "edit" link located on the same line as the name of your project, and check the box that gives you an option to make the tracker invisible. All other methods of hiding the tracker image are prohibited by TOS. For detailed instructions, please click here.



The visitor count statistics I get from TraceMyIP seem to be lower than my server logs statistics. Why is that?

TraceMyIP is designed to track real visitors and their computer systems, whereas your server’s software logs any server connection made. Although your server detects all connections and they may appear like real visitors browsing your site, in reality those could be search engine robots indexing your content, automatic website scanning software activity such as illegal email address extractors, website cloning software, spam robots, etc. Therefore TraceMyIP produces a much more realistic overview of the visitor traffic information by presenting you with data on real human browsing activity.

For more information on this topic, please refer to this document.



When I used another website statistics service on my SSL (HTTPS) website, I was getting the following error: "this page contains both secure and non-secure items ". Will I have the same problem with TraceMyIP visitor tracing and counter code?

Absolutely not. The system is designed to handle a wide range of websites, including professional web commerce applications. To avoid "this page contains both secure and non-secure times" message displaying on your website, simply login to your TraceMyIP account and select "Add New Project" from the user menu. As you go through the prompt of creating a project, simply check the box to have an SSL / HTTPS compatible website visitor tracking code. This will resolve any problems associates with the above error.



Does TraceMyIP record search engine spiders?

Search engine spiders are generally not captured by TraceMyIP because they do not execute JavaScript. However, as technology advances, more and more spiders are being captured by TraceMyIP. You can enable or disable this function under the settings page of your project. Simply click on the “edit” link for each one of your projects, and you’ll find the traffic filter settings there.

If you absolutely in need to capture ALL automatic web query scripts accessing your website, you'd need to install a custom PHP script directly on your server to capture the traffic from the bots. If you have a dedicated server, you can look up the server's raw logs for this information.



One of my visitors, has a landing page link that starts with "file:///C:/Documents and Settings/user1/Local Settings/". Does this mean this visitor accesses my hard drive??? Help me please, I'm scared!

Do not panic! It simply means that this visitor has downloaded your website's page, along with the tracker code to his or her local storage device and views it locally without visiting your actual website. The path reflects where your web page along with the tracker was downloaded on the visitor's computer and not yours. Furthermore, some web browsers and their extensions do cache web pages for faster loading times which may result in the same landing page display. Your TraceMyIP tracker simply spies for you and delivers the information where your visitor stores this information on his or her computer.



It appears that the visitor's city tracking does not always show a precise location of the city. Why?

Geographical tracing of the visitors is offset intentionally on a random basis to protect the web visitor's privacy. However, if you feel that one of the visitors abuses your network, website or privacy, call the ISP provider of that visitor and provide them with the IP number detected by TraceMyIP and the time of the visitor's activity. The ISP can then file a complaint at that point and take appropriate measures against the offending party.

You can improve the precision of your GEO tracking by upgrading to a premium subscription that would give you the maximum geo location precision currently available to consumer market.



When I look at my statistics within Visitor Bounce report, it shows that most of the visits as bounced. Why does this happen?

If you track a single social network's page or your website has only one page available, your visitors can only view ONE page. The Visitor's Bounce Rate is only calculated if your visitors browse to more than one page on your website. If you do have multiple pages on your website, ensure that the Visitor Tracker icon shows up on ALL pages of your website. Otherwise the statistics will not be properly calculated and you will be missing tracking information on other visitors who come to your website.



I just created a new project and I already have a visitor! However, it's a robot, and the ISP is "tracemyip.org Robot Visit". What's going on?

The robot is actually a simulated visitor entry made to demonstrate and provide you with a sample data you can get with TraceMyIP technology.



My website occasionally shows some pop-ups or messages that I did not place on my website. Can this be attributed to TraceMyIP tracker code?

Some members have asked us regarding the safety of tracking implementation that tracemyip.org provides. Many, experience unknown popup windows, random unwelcome messages or ads appearing on their website of unknown origin and have asked our support team whether TraceMyIP can introduce such behavior on their websites.

The answer to the above question would be as follows:

TraceMyIP is organization committed to complete privacy that applies to all its members regardless of level of subscription. The website tracking code that users place on their pages has no implementation that can introduce any type of messages or inject any type of malicious code into their websites. TraceMyIP does not place any type advertisements or interferes with operations of any websites that contain its tracking code. Furthermore, the member’s account data is never sold or traded in any way and remains completely private. That’s our guarantee.

And finally, TraceMyIP is the most trusted visitor tracking system available globally today and is used worldwide not only by consumers and businesses, but also internationally by government establishments, law enforcement entities and organizations that require 100% confidentiality of their data. Be assured that TraceMyIP is the company you can trust with its robust hardware and software implementations and privacy policies that place customers at the top of priority list when it comes to security and end user privacy.



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