Comments for AJAX...It's Not Just for Cleaning at http://www.lyrishq.com , comment 0 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.lyrishq.com Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:48:26 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.lyrishq.com/index.php/Web-Analytics/AJAX...It-s-Not-Just-for-Cleaning.html#pc_71 Karl, you bring up some very good points. It might've been better to say that a javascript-based analytics solution would typically need customization in order to accommodate AJAX. Simple data collection javascript only runs on page load, and the author was noting that the processing for AJAX is on the server side, where logging occurs but not javascript. However, AJAX can incorporate javascript functions that trigger the analytics tool to record data as if another page load has occurred. The log-based side of the answer depends on the specific AJAX implementation, and I believe the author was simplifying to make this an introductory conversation. The page URL typically is the same with AJAX processing, but URL parameters can be appended to indicate what specific action is being taken. With ClickTracks log file analysis, we can easily parse those parameters to show specific activity. Another very important factor to consider regardless of data collection method is interpretation of the data. Since AJAX actions are reported like page views, a site with a lot of AJAX being tracked will report large numbers of very short page views. So Average Time on Site will still be a good metric, but Pageviews Per Visitor and Average Time on Page will need to be taken with a grain of salt. - Dan Miller Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:44:25 +0100 http://www.lyrishq.com/index.php/Web-Analytics/AJAX...It-s-Not-Just-for-Cleaning.html#pc_44 This article is completely incorrect, or at least incomplete to the point that it conveys the completely wrong message. The writer assumes that any included JavaScript tag is only executed when the page first loads. However, instead by actually utilizing the AJAX functionality itself to add JS page tags for AJAX events, it is possible to track these events using JS. Fact of the matter is that log-based analysis is NOT the answer for most AJAX applications, UNLESS every AJAX call requests a specific and different URL. This is not the case in most instances. Instead, your log-based analysis is going to have many requests for the same URLs with no way to differentiate the user actions. On the other hand, by implementing specific JavaScript tags for certain AJAX actions you are able to, with fine granularity, track user behavior (including where they navigate on the page, buttons pressed, AJAX requests etc. etc.) which in many cases would not be discernible from log-file analysis. - Karl Persson Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:23:32 +0100