How do I count unique visitors to my site

Question

I am making a visitor counting system for user posts to show the most viewed posts on homepage  I have a visitor counting system now but all it registers a view at every page refresh  I cannot use Google Analytics   What I need is a visitor counter which only counts the unique visitors  In my case  unique means one person can only view a post in a day  Even a week might work  I think  Can you write that php code in here  You can give me a link to some good tutorials too if you like too   This is what the code needs to do  or equivalent     Once the page loads  check if the visitor is new or old I have no idea how to do it      If he is old  ignore him If he is new  in mysql  views   views   1

User · Answer

Unique views is always a hard nut to crack. Checking the IP might work, but an IP can be shared by more than one user. A cookie could be a viable option, but a cookie can expire or be modified by the client.

In your case, it don't seem to be a big issue if the cookie is modified tho, so i would recommend using a cookie in a case like this. When the page is loaded, check if there is a cookie, if there is not, create one and add a +1 to views. If it is set, don't do the +1.

Set the cookies expiration date to whatever you want it to be, week or day if that's what you want, and it will expire after that time. After expiration, it will be a unique user again!

Edit:
Thought it might be a good idea to add this notice here...
Since around the end of 2016 a IP address (static or dynamic) is seen as personal data in the EU.
That means that you are only allowed to store a IP address with a good reason (and I'm not sure if tracking views is a good reason). So if you intend to store the IP address of visitors, I would recommend hashing or encrypting it with a algorithm which can not be reversed, to make sure that you are not breaching any law (especially after the GDPR laws have been implemented).

User · Answer

user ip   SERVER  REMOTE ADDR      check ip   mysql query  select userip from pageview where page  yourpage   and userip   user ip     if mysql num rows  check ip  gt  1       else      insertview   mysql query  insert into pageview values     yourpage    user ip          updateview   mysql query  update totalview set totalvisit   totalvisit 1 where page  yourpage          code from talkerscode official tutorial if you have any problem http   talkerscode com webtricks create-a-simple-pageviews-counter-using-php-and-mysql php

User · Answer

I have edited the  Best answer  code  though I found a useful thing that was missing  This is will also track the ip of a user if they are using a Proxy or simply if the server has nginx installed as a proxy reverser   I added this code to his script at the top of the function   function getRealIpAddr         if   empty   SERVER  HTTP CLIENT IP         check ip from share internet              ip   SERVER  HTTP CLIENT IP              elseif   empty   SERVER  HTTP X FORWARDED FOR         to check ip is pass from proxy              ip   SERVER  HTTP X FORWARDED FOR              else              ip   SERVER  REMOTE ADDR              return  ip     adresseip   getRealIpAddr      Afther that I edited his code   Find the line that says the following      get the user name if it is logged  or the visitors IP  and add the identifier        uvon   isset   SESSION  nume        SESSION  nume       SERVER  SERVER ADDR     vst id    and replace it with this    uvon   isset   SESSION  nume        SESSION  nume      adresseip   vst id    This will work   Here is the full code if anything happens    lt  php  function getRealIpAddr         if   empty   SERVER  HTTP CLIENT IP         check ip from share internet              ip   SERVER  HTTP CLIENT IP              elseif   empty   SERVER  HTTP X FORWARDED FOR         to check ip is pass from proxy              ip   SERVER  HTTP X FORWARDED FOR              else              ip   SERVER  REMOTE ADDR              return  ip     adresseip   getRealIpAddr        Script Online Users and Visitors - http   coursesweb net php-mysql  if  isset   SESSION   session start              start Session  if not already started   filetxt    userson txt       the file in which the online users  visitors are stored  timeon   120                 number of secconds to keep a user online  sep                          characters used to separate the user name and date-time  vst id    -vst-             an identifier to know that it is a visitor  not logged user      If you have an user registration script   replace   SESSION  nume   with the variable in which the user name is stored   You can get a free registration script from   http   coursesweb net php-mysql register-login-script-users-online s2        get the user name if it is logged  or the visitors IP  and add the identifier        uvon   isset   SESSION  nume        SESSION  nume       SERVER  SERVER ADDR     vst id    rgxvst        0-9         vst id    i              regexp to recognize the line with visitors  nrvst   0                                           to store the number of visitors     sets the row with the current user  visitor that must be added in  filetxt  and current timestamp        addrow      uvon   sep  time        check if the file from  filetxt exists and is writable      if is writable  filetxt              get into an array the lines added in  filetxt        ar rows   file  filetxt  FILE IGNORE NEW LINES   FILE SKIP EMPTY LINES          nrrows   count  ar rows                   number of rows       if there is at least one line  parse the  ar rows array        if  nrrows gt 0            for  i 0   i lt  nrrows   i                   get each line and separate the user  visitor and the timestamp            ar line   explode  sep   ar rows  i             add in  addrow array the records in last  timeon seconds           if  ar line 0    uvon  amp  amp   intval  ar line 1    timeon  gt  time                   addrow      ar rows  i                                         nruvon   count  addrow                        total online  usron                                             to store the name of logged users    traverse  addrow to get the number of visitors and users for  i 0   i lt  nruvon   i       if preg match  rgxvst   addrow  i     nrvst             increment the visitors  else         gets and stores the user s name     ar usron   explode  sep   addrow  i        usron      lt br  gt  -  lt i gt     ar usron 0     lt  i gt          nrusr    nruvon -  nrvst                  gets the users  total - visitors      the HTML code with data to be displayed  reout     lt div id  uvon  gt  lt h4 gt Online      nruvon    lt  h4 gt Visitors      nrvst    lt br  gt Users      nrusr   usron    lt  div gt        write data in  filetxt if  file put contents  filetxt  implode   n    addrow     reout    Error  Recording file not exists  or is not writable       if access from  lt script gt   with GET  uvon showon   adds the string to return into a JS statement    in this way the script can also be included in  html files if isset   GET  uvon     amp  amp    GET  uvon     showon    reout    document write   reout       echo  reout                 output  display the result   Haven t tested this on the Sql script yet

User · Answer

for finding out that user is new or old   Get user IP     create a table for IPs and their visits timestamp    check IF IP does not exists OR time  -saved timestamp   60 60 24  for 1 day   edit the IP s timestamp to time    means now  and increase your view one    else   do nothing    FYI   user IP is stored in   SERVER  REMOTE ADDR   variable

User · Answer

Here is a nice tutorial  it is what you need   Source  coursesweb net php-mysql  Register and show online users and visitors Count Online users and visitors using a MySQL table In this tutorial you can learn how to register  to count  and display in your webpage the number of online users and visitors  The principle is this  each user   visitor is registered in a text file or database  Every time a page of the website is accessed  the php script deletes all records older than a certain time  eg 2 minutes   adds the current user   visitor and takes the number of records left to display  You can store the online users and visitors in a file on the server  or in a MySQL table  In this case  I think that using a text file to add and read the records is faster than storing them into a MySQL table  which requires more requests  First it s presented the method with recording in a text file on the server  than the method with MySQL table  To download the files with the scripts presented in this tutorial  click - gt  Count Online Users and Visitors      Both scripts can be included in  quot  php quot  files  with include     or in  quot  html quot  files  with  lt script gt    as you can see in the examples presented at the bottom of this page  but the server must run PHP  Storing online users and visitors in a text file To add records in a file on the server with PHP you must set CHMOD 0766  or CHMOD 0777  permissions to that file  so the PHP can write data in it   Create a text file on your server  for example  named userson txt  and give it CHMOD 0777 permissions  in your FTP application  right click on that file  choose Properties  then select Read  Write  and Execute options   Create a PHP file  named usersontxt php  having the code below  then copy this php file in the same directory as userson txt   The code for usersontxt php   lt  php    Script Online Users and Visitors - http   coursesweb net php-mysql  if  isset   SESSION   session start              start Session  if not already started   filetxt    userson txt       the file in which the online users  visitors are stored  timeon   120                 number of secconds to keep a user online  sep                          characters used to separate the user name and date-time  vst id    -vst-             an identifier to know that it is a visitor  not logged user      If you have an user registration script   replace   SESSION  nume   with the variable in which the user name is stored   You can get a free registration script from   http   coursesweb net php-mysql register-login-script-users-online s2        get the user name if it is logged  or the visitors IP  and add the identifier        uvon   isset   SESSION  nume        SESSION  nume       SERVER  SERVER ADDR     vst id    rgxvst        0-9         vst id    i              regexp to recognize the line with visitors  nrvst   0                                           to store the number of visitors     sets the row with the current user  visitor that must be added in  filetxt  and current timestamp        addrow      uvon   sep  time        check if the file from  filetxt exists and is writable      if is writable  filetxt              get into an array the lines added in  filetxt        ar rows   file  filetxt  FILE IGNORE NEW LINES   FILE SKIP EMPTY LINES          nrrows   count  ar rows                   number of rows       if there is at least one line  parse the  ar rows array        if  nrrows gt 0            for  i 0   i lt  nrrows   i                   get each line and separate the user  visitor and the timestamp            ar line   explode  sep   ar rows  i             add in  addrow array the records in last  timeon seconds           if  ar line 0    uvon  amp  amp   intval  ar line 1    timeon  gt  time                   addrow      ar rows  i                                         nruvon   count  addrow                        total online  usron                                             to store the name of logged users    traverse  addrow to get the number of visitors and users for  i 0   i lt  nruvon   i       if preg match  rgxvst   addrow  i     nrvst             increment the visitors  else         gets and stores the user s name     ar usron   explode  sep   addrow  i        usron      lt br  gt  -  lt i gt     ar usron 0     lt  i gt          nrusr    nruvon -  nrvst                  gets the users  total - visitors      the HTML code with data to be displayed  reout     lt div id  quot uvon quot  gt  lt h4 gt Online      nruvon    lt  h4 gt Visitors      nrvst    lt br  gt Users      nrusr   usron    lt  div gt        write data in  filetxt if  file put contents  filetxt  implode  quot  n quot    addrow     reout    Error  Recording file not exists  or is not writable       if access from  lt script gt   with GET  uvon showon   adds the string to return into a JS statement    in this way the script can also be included in  html files if isset   GET  uvon     amp  amp    GET  uvon     showon    reout    quot document write   reout    quot    echo  reout                 output  display the result   gt    If you want to include the script above in a  quot  php quot  file  add the following code in the place you want to show the number of online users and visitors     4 To show the number of online visitors  users in a  quot  html quot  file  use this code   lt script type  quot text javascript quot  src  quot usersontxt php uvon showon quot  gt  lt  script gt   This script  and the other presented below  works with   SESSION  At the beginning of the PHP file in which you use it  you must add    session start     Count Online users and visitors using a MySQL table To register  count and show the number of online visitors and users in a MySQL table  require to perform three SQL queries  Delete the records older than a certain time  Insert a row with the new user  visitor  or  if it is already inserted  Update the timestamp in its column  Select the remaining rows  Here s the code for a script that uses a MySQL table  named  quot userson quot   to store and display the Online Users and Visitors   First we create the  quot userson quot  table  with 2 columns  uvon  dt   In the  quot uvon quot  column is stored the name of the user  if logged in  or the visitor s IP  In the  quot dt quot  column is stored a number with the timestamp  Unix time  when the page is accessed    Add the following code in a php file  for example  named  quot create userson php quot     The code for create userson php   lt  php header  Content-type  text html  charset utf-8        HERE add your data for connecting to MySQ database  host    localhost                MySQL server address  user    root                     User name  pass    password                 User s password  dbname    database               Database name     connect to the MySQL server  conn   new mysqli  host   user   pass   dbname       check connection if  mysqli connect errno    exit  Connect failed     mysqli connect error         sql query for CREATE  quot userson quot  TABLE  sql    quot CREATE TABLE  userson      uvon  VARCHAR 32  PRIMARY KEY    dt  INT 10  UNSIGNED NOT NULL    CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8 general ci quot        Performs the  sql query on the server to create the table if   conn- gt query  sql      TRUE  echo  Table  quot userson quot  successfully created   else echo  Error      conn- gt error    conn- gt close      gt    Now we create the script that Inserts  Deletes  and Selects data in the userson table  For explanations about the code  see the comments in script     Add the code below in another php file  named usersmysql php   In both file you must add your personal data for connecting to MySQL database  in the variables   host   user   pass  and  dbname    The code for usersmysql php   lt  php    Script Online Users and Visitors - coursesweb net php-mysql  if  isset   SESSION   session start               start Session  if not already started     HERE add your data for connecting to MySQ database  host    localhost                MySQL server address  user    root                     User name  pass    password                 User s password  dbname    database               Database name      If you have an user registration script   replace   SESSION  nume   with the variable in which the user name is stored   You can get a free registration script from   http   coursesweb net php-mysql register-login-script-users-online s2        get the user name if it is logged  or the visitors IP  and add the identifier   vst id    -vst-              an identifier to know that it is a visitor  not logged user  uvon   isset   SESSION  nume        SESSION  nume       SERVER  SERVER ADDR     vst id    rgxvst        0-9         vst id    i              regexp to recognize the rows with visitors  dt   time                                          current timestamp  timeon   120                 number of secconds to keep a user online  nrvst   0                                         to store the number of visitors  nrusr   0                                         to store the number of usersrs  usron                                             to store the name of logged users     connect to the MySQL server  conn   new mysqli  host   user   pass   dbname       Define and execute the Delete  Insert Update  and Select queries  sqldel    quot DELETE FROM  userson  WHERE  dt  lt  quot     dt -  timeon    sqliu    quot INSERT INTO  userson    uvon    dt   VALUES    uvon    dt  ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE  dt   dt quot    sqlsel    quot SELECT   FROM  userson  quot       Execute each query if   conn- gt query  sqldel   echo  Error      conn- gt error  if   conn- gt query  sqliu   echo  Error      conn- gt error   result    conn- gt query  sqlsel       if the  result contains at least one row if   result- gt num rows  gt  0         traverse the sets of results and set the number of online visitors and users   nrvst   nrusr    while  row    result- gt fetch assoc          if preg match  rgxvst   row  uvon      nrvst             increment the visitors     else          nrusr                         increment the users        usron      lt br  gt  -  lt i gt    row  uvon      lt  i gt                stores the user s name               conn- gt close                        close the MySQL connection     the HTML code with data to be displayed  reout     lt div id  quot uvon quot  gt  lt h4 gt Online       nrusr  nrvst     lt  h4 gt Visitors      nrvst    lt br  gt Users      nrusr   usron    lt  div gt        if access from  lt script gt   with GET  uvon showon   adds the string to return into a JS statement    in this way the script can also be included in  html files if isset   GET  uvon     amp  amp    GET  uvon     showon    reout    quot document write   reout    quot    echo  reout                 output  display the result   gt    After you have created these two php files on your server  run the  quot create userson php quot  on your browser to create the  quot userson quot  table   Include the usersmysql php file in the php file in which you want to display the number of online users and visitors     Or  if you want to insert it in a  quot  html quot  file  add this code     Examples using these scripts     Including the  quot usersontxt php  in a php file    lt  doctype html gt       Counter Online Users and Visitors              Including the  quot usersmysql php quot  in a html file   lt  doctype html gt   lt html gt   lt head gt    lt meta charset  quot utf-8 quot    gt    lt title gt Counter Online Users and Visitors lt  title gt    lt meta name  quot description quot  content  quot PHP script to count and show the number of online users and visitors quot    gt    lt meta name  quot keywords quot  content  quot online users  online visitors quot    gt   lt  head gt   lt body gt    lt  -- Includes the script   quot usersontxt php quot   or  quot usersmysql php quot   -- gt   lt script type  quot text javascript quot  src  quot usersmysql php uvon showon quot  gt  lt  script gt    lt  body gt   lt  html gt   Both scripts  with storing data in a text file on the server  or into a MySQL table  will display a result like this  Online  5 Visitors  3 Users  2  MarPlo Marius

[php] How do I count unique visitors to my site?

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