The Metrics Editor in cPanel allows you to choose which analytics programs process your website log files and generate traffic statistics for your domains. You can select from several statistics programs including Webalizer, AWStats, and Analog Stats to track visitor data, page views, bandwidth usage, and other important metrics.
These analytics tools run automatically to generate reports that help you understand your website traffic patterns and make informed decisions about your content and hosting resources.
What Are Web Traffic Metrics?
Web traffic metrics are analytics programs that analyze your website's server log files to provide detailed reports about visitor activity. These programs track information such as:
- Number of visitors and page views
- Geographic locations of visitors
- Most popular pages and content
- Bandwidth consumption
- Referral sources and search engine traffic
- Browser and operating system statistics
At OBHost, you can choose which metrics programs run on your account, giving you flexibility in how you analyze your website performance.
How to Select Metrics Programs
To configure which analytics programs process your website statistics, follow these steps:
- Log into your cPanel account
- Navigate to the Metrics section and click on Metrics Editor
- For each domain listed, check the box next to the statistics program you want to use
- You can select multiple programs to compare different analytics perspectives
- Click the Save button to apply your changes
Your selected programs will begin processing log files during the next scheduled statistics run, typically within 24 hours.
Available Statistics Programs
Webalizer
Webalizer is a fast, efficient web analytics program that generates detailed HTML reports with graphs and tables. It provides information about visitors, pages, referrers, user agents, and search strings. Webalizer is particularly useful for quick overviews of traffic patterns and trending data.
AWStats
AWStats (Advanced Web Statistics) is a powerful analytics tool that generates comprehensive reports with extensive detail. It tracks unique visitors, viewed pages, domains, countries, hosts, browsers, operating systems, and more. AWStats provides both graphical charts and detailed data tables, making it ideal for in-depth traffic analysis.
Analog Stats
Analog is a simple, fast statistics program that produces concise reports about website activity. While less feature-rich than other options, Analog excels at processing large log files quickly and uses minimal server resources. It's a good choice if you need basic statistics without complex analysis.
Important Considerations
Your hosting provider controls whether you can select statistics programs through server-level settings. If your provider has restricted this feature, you'll see a lock icon next to the options, indicating that only the administrator can change these settings.
Statistics programs run periodically (usually daily) rather than in real-time. This means there may be a delay between visitor activity and when it appears in your reports. Most hosting environments schedule statistics processing during low-traffic periods to minimize server impact.
You can enable multiple statistics programs simultaneously to compare their reporting styles and find which one best meets your needs. However, running multiple programs does consume additional server resources, so consider your hosting plan's limitations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I select or change my statistics programs?
If the Metrics Editor displays lock icons and you cannot make changes, your hosting provider has disabled user-level control of statistics programs. This is a server-wide setting configured by your administrator. Contact your hosting provider to request access or to change which programs are enabled for your account.
How long does it take for statistics to appear after enabling a program?
After selecting and saving your metrics programs, statistics typically generate within 24 hours. The exact timing depends on when your server is scheduled to process log files. Most servers run statistics processing once daily during off-peak hours to minimize performance impact on active websites.
Can I use multiple statistics programs at the same time?
Yes, you can enable multiple statistics programs simultaneously for the same domain. This allows you to compare different reporting formats and choose the one that presents information most clearly for your needs. Each program analyzes the same log files but presents the data differently, so you can benefit from multiple perspectives on your traffic.
Do statistics programs affect my website performance?
Statistics programs process log files in the background and do not affect your live website performance. The processing happens separately from your web server operations, typically during scheduled maintenance windows. Visitors to your site will not experience any slowdown related to statistics generation.
For help configuring your website metrics or questions about analytics reports, our support team is available 24/7. Visit our contact page or email support@obhost.org for assistance.
