Hi Folks,

Just under 1 year ago, we explained how different adverts are shown on StatCounter in different parts of the world. This means that here in StatCounter HQ, we don’t actually get to see every single advert shown to our members.

We like to think of StatCounter as a “family show” so we do our best to screen out any nasty adverts. Despite our efforts, however, we had a report last night of another nasty advert being shown on our site to a member in the United States… so now we are asking for your help to eliminate these offensive ads!

If you spot a nasty advert on StatCounter here’s what to do:

1. Right click on the advert and select either Copy Shortcut (IE) or Copy Link Location (Netscape) to capture the URL of the advert.

   (Please make sure only to RIGHT CLICK on the advert - left clicking would result in you inadvertently supporting the ad.)

2. Paste this link or URL into a text editor (e.g. Word or Notepad) to keep it safe until you’re ready to paste it in our blog.
3. Please then come here to our blog and post a comment and tell us:

• The type of advert i.e. what’s offensive about it.
• Where the advert was on the StatCounter site e.g. on the left hand side of the homepage.
• Paste the URL info you captured earlier into the comment also. (This allows us to block the advert)

As we explained last year, StatCounter advertising revenue is used to fund our free service - but we only want the nicest, best behaved ads on our site…

Many thanks for your help folks - together let’s stamp out these nasty ads!

By the way, when we say “nasty” adverts we mean any adverts that contain nudity, suggestive poses, sex, sex phonelines, escort services etc. All the kind of things that WE don’t want and YOU don’t expect to stumble upon when you are looking at StatCounter!

Hi folks,

We’re hiring!

Applications were open until midnight GMT on Sunday 20 April - APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED - thank you to all who applied. Applicants will initially be hired for a trial period. Positions are not expected to be permanently filled for a number of weeks. We will update you as things proceed.

We are looking to expand our customer support team.

We want to hire one full-time (approx 40 hours per week) or two part-time representatives.

What does the role involve?

• Answering support tickets and dealing with member queries via email, phone and our support system
• Referring the more difficult or complex queries to the appropriate area
• Helping members to install StatCounter code
• Proactively suggesting ways to improve StatCounter and the service we provide
• Actively monitoring warning systems and immediately reporting any issues
• Upgrading and downgrading accounts
• Adding queries and resolutions to the StatCounter Knowledge Base

What knowledge/skills/abilities are required?

• Friendly, patient & sincere
• Fluent in English. Foreign languages are a bonus.
• Highly knowledgeable about StatCounter from a user perspective i.e. understand all the features etc
• Comfortable with basic HTML and simple website updates via FTP
• An excellent communicator (email, im, phone, support system, forum)
• Willing to ask questions and open to learning
• Able to establish priorities, handle occasional and recurring issues and work independently without strong supervision
• Available on Yahoo Messenger during working hours
• Able to work during office hours in CST (that’s GMT -5 hours)

Other Information

As a part of the StatCounter Team, you will represent StatCounter to the outside world so it is vitally important that you share our beliefs when it comes to our members and how we look after them. Our focus is on delivering the best possible service and value for money to our members. We are committed to getting work done quickly and efficiently and we need your ideas to help us grow. We love to change and adapt to improve the service we offer.

Note that this job provides a “work from home” opportunity, so you must have a stable broadband connection (preferably with a static IP address) and telephone. Salary is negotiable depending on hours worked, experience etc.

How do I apply?

If you would be interested in joining our team by becoming a customer support rep for StatCounter, please send your résumé to jobs-statcounter-com with the @ and . appropriately placed! Don’t forget to include your StatCounter username and salary expectation.

IMPORTANT! You must include the following in the subject line of your email “Customer Rep” - otherwise your email won’t get to us.

Any questions? Please post them below!

Or as we say in Ireland Lá le Phádraig Shona Duit!

Some Irish words of wisdom:

Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.
Hunger is a good sauce.

Moladh luath agus cáineadh mall.
Be quick to praise and slow to criticise.

Tús maith leath na hoibre.
A good start is half the work.

Má bhíonn tú ar lorg cara gan locht, beidh tú gan chara go deo.
If you seek a friend without fault, you will be without one forever.

Cuir síoda ar ghabhar ach is gabhar i gcónaí é.
Dress a goat in silk and it’s still a goat.

Is fearr an sláinte ná an táinte.
Health is better than wealth.

And from this day on may you always have these blessings…
A soft breeze when summer comes, a warm fireside in winter, and the comfort of a true friend.

The StatCounter Team wishes you all a very happy St Patrick’s Day!

Hi all,

Firstly we want to thank all of you for your help so far with the new SC4 beta project - your feedback is invaluable and we are so grateful for the time you take to help us out.

Work continues on the beta project and we wanted to update you on progress:

We’re very pleased to let you know that we have been ironing out various bugs and other issues which were causing some trouble initially…the “new” StatCounter numbers should now be recording the same (or more!) hits than the “old” system. (The new system is even more fast-loading than our current system - this enables us to give you information even on visitors who drop by your site for the shortest time.)

Exits links have now been added to the “magnify” page - this allows you to see where individual visitors went when they left your site. (IP Blocking for the exit links has also been enabled!)

In addition to the above, we’ve been working on new features and improvements and we’ll be in touch about these as they are released.

Please continue to keep us posted with your views, thoughts and ideas about the beta - you can post here in the blog or you can register for our forum and post your feedback there.

Thanks again for all the help so far folks - please keep it up!!

Sincerely,

The men (& women!) hard at work at StatCounter

PS: You can still sign up for the beta project here!

PPS: Good luck to any women proposing today, given the day that’s in it!

For all you wordpress.org users out there, we’re delighted to announce the release of our official Wordpress Plug-In – this will allow you to easily install StatCounter on your wordpress.org blog and enjoy the full range of StatCounter stats!

We’ve also updated the install guide for wordpress.com to make it easier for you to add a html-only counter to your wordpress.com blog.

How do I use the StatCounter wordpress.org plug-in?

• Log into your StatCounter account.

• Click the wrench icon beside your project name.
• Click the ‘install’ code link.
• Follow the wizard and when asked for your web editor choose “wordpress.org”.
• Follow the remaining instructions and hey presto!

How do I add StatCounter to my wordpress.com blog?

• Log into your StatCounter account.

• Click the wrench icon beside your project name.
• Click the ‘install’ code link.
• Follow the wizard and when asked for your web editor choose “wordpress.com”
• Follow the remaining instructions and Bob’s your uncle!

What’s wordpress.org?
Wordpress.org is the version of wordpress that YOU host on your own server. This means you have full access to modify the blog template as you wish i.e. you can add the full StatCounter javascript code.

What’s wordpress.com?
Wordpress.com is the version of wordpress that WORDPRESS hosts on its servers. This means that access to modify the blog template is restricted according to what wordpress allows i.e. you can only install the StatCounter html-only code.

What’s a html-only counter?
Where you can’t install a full javascript counter, StatCounter offers you the option to install a html-only counter. While a html-only counter can’t offer you the same range of stats as the full code can, it does provide you with information on hits, browsers, location of visitors. You need to install the full javascript code to see referrers – the html counter can’t capture this information.

Why won’t wordpress allow javascript code?
For security reasons wordpress don’t allow you to install javascript code on blogs hosted by them i.e. wordpress.com blogs. We’re sure though that, if enough of you request the full StatCounter code on your wordpress.com blogs, then Matt & Co would be happy to oblige! We would certainly be happy to work with wordpress on this. So get emailing and don’t forget to pop back here to let us know how you get on!

PS: Thanks to Luke Stevenson for developing the first StatCounter plug-in for wordpress!

Update: Any problems installing the plugin? Let us know!
A few members had trouble installing the plugin. We believe this may have been a problem with the difference between return characters in windows and unix. If you try to download and install the plugin again it should work now. If it is still not working for you we would love to investigate the problem for you. Please send us the login details of your blog and server and a report of the problem you are experiencing.

Hi Folks,

New StatCounter System - In Beta

We have been working on the new and improved StatCounter SC4 system…now we need your help to test it.

A lot of changes have been made ‘under the hood’ and won’t be immediately apparent; however some of the immediate benefits include:

• Faster Loading Keyword and Country Stats
• Exit Link Stats
• Download Stats

MOST importantly the new system paves the way for other exciting new features … so watch this space!

How do I try out SC4?

It’s easy!

You need to create a new test project. This code should be added underneath your existing StatCounter code.

Note that you should retain your existing StatCounter code for now… Once the new system is fully operational we’ll convert all projects over to SC4 automatically.

To get started:

• Login to StatCounter with the “remember me” option
• Point your browser at this URL
  http://my.statcounter.com/project/standard/add.php?sc4=1
• If successful the form should now read “BETA TEST SC4 PROJECT SETTINGS” then proceed as normal to install this new code below your current code.

(Note that if you logout and login again you will be directed back to the current StatCounter system.)

Thanks for your help with this - and we’d be delighted to have your feedback posted to the comments of this blog post.

UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback so far. As the comments are getting a bit crowded we’ve created a new forum for you to discuss your ideas. Please click here to get talking about SC4! (Note: you need to register a forum account in order to post.)

Let the testing begin!

StatCounter Team

Hi all,

You might have noticed some new bar graphs like these at the top of your detailed stats pages:

These graphs are designed to help you to better understand the log size of your project.

The green area of the bar graph shows you the amount of ‘empty’ slots you have left in your current log. Using this information you can decide whether or not you would like to upgrade your account - remember there is absolutely no pressure on you to do so!

If you click on ‘Adjust your log size here!’ you will see a pie chart - this gives you the same info as the bar graph.

If your log is full and you don’t want to lose any of your detailed data, then it’s time to upgrade. If you don’t mind losing this old data, then no action is required on your part.

We’ve included a Q&A section below covering the most common questions we get asked about the StatCounter log size. As always, you’re more than welcome to post a comment or query about this topic below. For support issues, please contact us here.

Log Size - what’s that?
Your log size reflects the number of ’slots’ that are reserved for you in the StatCounter database. Every time someone views a page on your site, one ’slot’ is populated with information on that pageload. You get 500 slots in the StatCounter database for each project you create. With upgraded accounts you get additional database space, which you can allocate to your projects as you wish.

What happens when the log is full - does it stop tracking? Do I have to upgrade to a paid account?
Absolutely not! When your log becomes full, we simply overwrite the oldest entry in the database, with information on new pageloads you receive. There is no obligation to upgrade.

How many visitors will be recorded by my free account?
StatCounter gives you a log size of 500 with every project created. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to know how many visitors can be recorded in these 500 database slots - it depends on the behaviour of your visitors. For example, if 500 separate people each visit your homepage once, then your log will contain information on all 500 visitors.

If 50 people each visit 10 pages on your site, then your log will contain information on these 50 people.

Why does it matter what my log size is?!
StatCounter gives you lifetime summary stats together with highly detailed analysis of your last 500 pageloads for free accounts (more for upgraded accounts). In other words, your log size determines the amount of detailed analysis you can see on your stats. With a free account, detailed stats (eg Visitor paths, Came From, Keyword Analysis…) will be available for the last 500 pageloads.

NOTE: If you have still have a 100 log free account, then see here to adjust your log!! 500 logs have been available free since May of this year.

Folks,

We’ve been working on some small-but-important improvements on StatCounter - check them out below.

Please keep all your suggestions and feature requests coming. There’s nothing we like better than hearing your ideas and then putting them into action.

So go on… let us know your ideas… and keep us on our toes!

Note: If you have a support issue, please contact us here. We’d be more than happy to help!

Hi folks,

We would like to do a profile on one of you, our members, for marketing purposes. This will be a win-win situation, with both you and us getting some publicity from the interview!

Specifically we’re looking for an online retailer that is based in the United States.

The profile will be based on an interview, so if you don’t like talking on the phone, then this is not for you!

If you’re interested, please post here and tell us:

• What stats do you look at most often and why?
• How do the stats help you?
• How often do you check your stats?

Don’t forget to put your email address and URL in the relevant boxes below. We might need to contact you!

Thanking you!

UPDATE: The interviewee will be chosen from the sites currently listed below. New posts will not be put forward for this particular profile. Thanks!