Piwik: Liberating Analytics - Final Thoughts

Piwik has been a surprise for me, not realising its full potential until now. I’d mentioned that I moved to AWStats instead, and this was an OK move at that moment in time but I’ve not been able to continue to use AWStats due to moving my web server from Apache to Litespeed (at least until I reconfigure AWStats). AWStats gathers all data from the access_log file(s) that Apache creates. It then consolidates all information from this file and reports it within AWStats. Piwik, on the other hand, uses Javascript code to determine the same information. Since Piwik uses Javascript it can report in real time but has some limitations.

Previous issues

Upon original testing of Piwik I had found my web server was not functioning due to running out of RAM. I originally thought this was due to Piwik using a lot of RAM. However, I did later find that it was due to not having a swap partition on my web server. Ever since the swap partition was added I have had more stability with Piwik.

Do not track

Do Not Track is a great feature and one backed by the EFF and myself. This feature is great as some users may not want to be tracked around your website, I know I don’t so having this feature enabled gives confidence in your users that they are not being tracked for analytical purposes. You can disable this option and allow your users to click an opt out button but it’s that whole idea of the user having to do something extra to not being tracked when in the first place they shouldn’t have to do anything if they don’t want to be tracked.

This technology has it limitations though as with AWStats all the data is gathered from access_log file as stated above. This means that it will only get a visitor count rather than the ability to track users. I think it is swings and roundabouts but either way, users’ privacy is much greater to protect than silly numbers.

Conclusion

I must admit, due to my own faults I thought Piwik was a resource-sapping unfriendly tool. But in the end, after understanding how the software works, I have come to enjoy and respect Piwik. It allows me control how I see and track my users, and if someone doesn’t want to be tracked then they can be.

This is by no means a review of Piwik, rather, it is about my thoughts and what I think of it. Piwik is a great tool, especially if you do not have access to your web server logs, but it should be used with respect.