1. What is the current version of LinkTrakker, and what features were added?
A partial history of LinkTrakker versions is available as part of this website.
2. Don't my other statistics programs (such as wwwstat and Access Watch) already tell me the same thing as LinkTrakker?
No, actually they don't. Programs like wwwstat and Access Watch provide summaries of usage information by analyzing a server's access log. While these programs provide essential information about what pages are accessed by your visitors (and even in what order they read these pages), they do not provide information about incoming hyperlinks. LinkTrakker supplements the statistics you are already collecting about your webspace rather than replacing them.
3. Why not just use a referrer log analysis program like RefStats?
RefStats provides summary information about your webserver's referer log, which records the referencing hyperlink for every file transfered from your server. These logs actually contain very little information -- LinkTrakker provides improved verification and data filtering over a webserver's referer log while offering a manageable page-by-page reporting system.
4. Why does the Netscape server require a different installation method?
As of LinkTrakker version 3.5, there is no difference in installation on Netscape servers (utilizing the recommended JavaScript deployment method.)
Unfortunately, the Netscape line of webservers does not provide complete support for the Server Side Includes specification so cannot be used with the older SSI deployment style.
5. What is the difference between Verified, Unverified, Internal and Unreachable links?
LinkTrakker reports are divided into these four major sections, representing the results of LinkTrakker's spider verification of the incoming hyperlink. Results are placed into one of the four categories based upon the presence of an actual link to your site on that page, whether or not that page is within your site and whether or not that site was reachable.
Verified links are real links on an outside page that were present at the time of verification.
Unverified links are pages that exist but there is no longer a link to your site on that page (most likely the site of a banner bar, random link generator, or other "time limited" link to you). In other cases, this link might be on a page that is password-protected.
Internal links are ones from inside your own website.
Unreachable links are people who came to your site in such a way that LinkTrakker could not verify (including newsgroup postings, web-based email messages, and pages local to a visitor's hard-drive).
6. If my webserver doesn't support Server Side Includes (SSI), can I still use LinkTrakker?
Absolutely. While earlier versions of LinkTrakker relied upon SSI to collect data, the new recommended JavaScript deployment does not require any SSI support from your webserver.
7. Can one copy of LinkTrakker track incoming hyperlinks for multiple websites?
Yes it can -- since LinkTrakker collects data via JavaScript, LinkTrakker calls could be put on any website you want you track and each of these sites would be displayed in your reports.
8. What if I want to track incoming hyperlinks to a CGI program instead of an HTML file? How would I integrate LinkTrakker with other CGI programs?
A modular LinkTrakker library (useful for calling LinkTrakker routines from a CGI program) is available for programmers as part of the LinkTrakker licensing. More information about this library is available as part of the Programming with LinkTrakker guide.
9. I would like to customize my LinkTrakker, add new features and then re-sell that. Is this ok?
Absolutely not! You are free to make whatever changes you like to the software within the bounds of a "you break it, you pay to have it fixed" restriction. However, GMD Studios owns the copyright to the software and the sociated intellectual property rights. When you "buy" LinkTrakker, you are buying a license to utilize the software on a single webserver (consult the Radiation License Agreement for details.)
10. What are my technical support options?
Online technical support is available to registered users only.
