Live User Tracking

Actively tracking users on a site might sound like Big Brother is watching, but in reality, it provides an interactive communication resource that promotes site community. Who's Online systems list active users and can show what areas of your site are most popular. In the following sections, you explore the Tracking module included with PostNuke and a third-party alternative with additional features you might want.

Online Block

For simple user tracking, a core PostNuke block is available called Online. A block instance of Online is configured by default, so you can see an example of this core block very easily (see Figure 14.4) beneath the Main Menu.

Figure 14.4. Seeing how many visitors are on your website.

The block is relatively simple and is created using the Core/online block setting. It shows a count of guests and users and offers a reminder which account you are currently logged in with. Guest users are prompted to register. The Online block also automatically displays private message notices.

The Online block provides a nice set of features, but is limited with minimal customization options and no way to see specific online usernames.

pnBloodhound

The pnBloodhound module tracks live users on your website by displaying their username and location in a convenient block. With this module, you can easily see the IP addresses and host information of your users and note session dates and times. Like the Online block, pnBloodhound integrates with private messaging, or PM, but in addition to the standard PostNuke PM, you can also use Portalzone's pmBox, PNphpBB2 messaging, or turn off private messaging support altogether.

Version 0.62 is included in this text's download materials, or you can get the current version from www.pnaddons.com. pnBloodhound's archive comes cleanly packed in its own directory, which should be uncompressed and placed in your site's modules folder. Initialize and activate the module through the Administration Menu, as you have done with other third-party modules.

When you first enter the pnBloodhound administration screen, you are presented with the Module Name Correlations listing. When viewing user information, the current areas of your website visitors are using is displayed with the users' names. pnBloodhound automatically detects all installed modules and through the name listing allows you to customize the display of those areas with more friendly names.

Note

Modules installed after pnBloodhound are not immediately named in the Module Name Correlations list. Assign a name in the list to new modules to remove the "Unknown" label.

The configuration page seen in Figure 14.5 provides an extensive set of options in four main sections:

Figure 14.5. Changing pnBloodhound's configuration.

• General Settings

• User Page Settings

• Block Settings

• Developer Settings

The General Settings options let you choose how pnBloodhound integrates with other modules on your site. You can select which personal messaging system you want to use and which profile is linked from user references. Of course, you need to have the other systems, such as PNphpBB2, installed to use the integration.

By clicking the Users Online link, you see your users' information is displayed in a simple table. This table is configured with the User Page Settings. The font size option lets you shrink the font size as needed to prevent the breaking of your theme due to the screen becoming too wide. You can select which information is displayed using the additional check boxes.

Block Settings change how your pnBloodhound block displays its information. You can add bullets to each item, crop usernames, adjust font size to prevent theme breaking, and turn headers on or off.

Most users can freely ignore the Developer Settings. You might find running the Garbage Collection feature more often improves your performance.

Except for the aforementioned options, pnBloodhound functions much like the core Online block. If you feel the core block works well but just needs a few more features, this is the module for you.