Who is viewing my website, please help!

[dumb****er]

I want to know how to see who is viewing my website. I'm using raw log to see what IP addresses are viewing, but I would like to know how to unzip to see the email addresses?

Thanks in advance

[Bob Barr]

I want to know how to see who is viewing my website. I'm using raw log to see what IP addresses are viewing, but I would like to know how to unzip to see the email addresses?

Thanks in advance

As far as I know, there's no way to directly link a particular IP address to a specific email account. People on dialup access get a new IP address assigned every time that they go online. Even using high-speed access, your IP address can change. (It changes less frequently than with dialup but often enough to prevent you from knowing the specific account that's currently using that IP address.)

[felgall]

The only identifying information about who is visiting a site (unless the site specifically asks for the information) is the IP address that their ISP has allocated to them at the time of their visit. That identifies which ISP those visitors are using but does not allow any closer identification. To actually identify them specifically you'd need to set up a membership site and make everyone sign up for an account before allowing them access.

You do not need to have an email address to use the web since the web and email have no connection to one another apart from that they both communicate over the internet.

[Early Out]

In the U.S., by the way, the only way to get an ISP to divulge who was assigned a specific IP at a specific date and time is with a court order.

[dumb****er]

I must have misunderstood the Raw access log statement ["Raw Access Logs allow you to see who has accessed your site without the use of graphs, charts or other graphics. You can use the Raw Access Logs menu to download a zipped version of the server's access log for your site. This can be very useful when you need to see who is accessing your site quickly."] What does this mean?

[felgall]

This can be very useful when you need to see who is accessing your site quickly."] What does this mean?

It means you get to see the IP addresses that the people who visited your site were allocated by their ISP at the time of their visit. That means you can tell what ISP your visotirs are using and where in the world they come from. There isn't anything built into the way the web works that allows you to get anything more specific than that.

[dumb****er]

I can see the IP addresses, now how do I find their location
Thanks

[Early Out]

Go to http://whois.domaintools.com, and plug the IP address into the box that appears there (it can take either a domain name or an IP address).

The results can be misleading, however. Plugging in my IP address, for example, brings up the fact that the IP is assigned to Charter Communications in St. Louis, MO. Looking at the Resolve Host provides a better clue - it reads (I'm obscuring my actual IP address):

99-999-99-99.dhcp.nwtn.ct.charter.com

This tells you that it's somewhere in western CT (nwtn is Newtown). But that's as precise as it gets. That DHCP server is serving a large area, and I'm actually 60 miles from there.

[felgall]

The IP address basically identifies the location of the ISP or proxy that the visitor is using. Most will be located somewhere near that location but it is possible that they could live as far away as the exact opposite side of the world from the proxy they are going through.