Script for # of visitors view the page?

Jaiem's picture

They have: 1,191 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

I recently visited a web site that had a line on the home page saying "You are one of N visitors currently viewing this page" (where N is the total number of people looking at that page at that moment).

Clearly some sort of script is being used to generate this message (it's not an ASP page and I don't think it's CFM).

Any idea what script is being used? I'd like to use it on my site.

Thanks.

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ArtsNFlies.com
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They have: 314 posts

Joined: Nov 1999

Jaiem, try www.livecounter.com It is not exactly what you want but it will update the counter when someone else views the page without a refresh. Worth a look.

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Thomas Minton
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Jaiem's picture

They have: 1,191 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Thanks, but that's just a counter. I have that already.

This site actually says how many different people are looking at the page at that moment. I suppose it could be a trick but don't think so.

I'd rather not ask the web owner, he's a competitor.

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ArtsNFlies.com
Original art, hand tied flies, unique books and gifts, free sweepstakes and MORE!
Come see what everyone is talking about!

They have: 334 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

I'd be willing to bet it's a Java applet, not a Perl script. Take a peek at the source code and see how it's implemented. If it's an applet do a search for something similar at your favorite Java archive. If it's CGI search your favorite Perl sites.

They have: 89 posts

Joined: Sep 1999

Here is an article on how to accomplish this with ASP. Not sure if it works as I've never tried it, but...
http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/061399-2.shtml

Jaiem's picture

They have: 1,191 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Mav - Already checked the source code.

Nope, not Java. It just appears as a line of HTML code with the text "You are one of N visitors currently viewing this page"

That's why I think it's a CGI called via SSI.

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ArtsNFlies.com
Original art, hand tied flies, unique books and gifts, free sweepstakes and MORE!
Come see what everyone is talking about!

Justin S's picture

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Joined: Jun 1999

Hmm- It HAS to be a Java Applet. I've seen something like that before and it was java. I doubt any CGI script could do that w/o refreshing. And the page would have to be updated somehow for the CGI to work.

Post a URL maybe?

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  • They have: 334 posts

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    Justin, that's what led me to believe it's java, at least on the front end. The back end could be CGI and the front end is perhaps a Java applet that repeatedly refreshes the CGI back-end. That sounds a bit server-intensive, but it could be done.

    Jaiem, obviously the thing is getting parsed at server level to return the X value. So instead of viewing the file in your browser, download it without the view. That will by-pass whatever the server is doing to it and will show you the real source code.

    Jaiem's picture

    They have: 1,191 posts

    Joined: Apr 1999

    Mav - how do I do that?

    Thanks.

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    ArtsNFlies.com
    Original art, hand tied flies, unique books and gifts, free sweepstakes and MORE!
    Come see what everyone is talking about!

    They have: 98 posts

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    I have seen it done written in TCL, so you'd have to have a TCL interpreter installed on your server.

    Also I have seen it done using PHP and cookies just so you know.

    I have never done it personally so I could not tell you how exactely to go about it.

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    http://www.were-here.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi

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    I saw this at tweakfiles.com forum (fusetalk)

    quote:
    font face="Verdana, Arial" size="1" color="White">
    There are currently <b>17</b> <a href="whoson.cfm"><font color="White">users</font></a> logged in.<br>

    Then i go to: http://tweak3d.pcstats.com/whoson.cfm
    Because in the code it says it got the current number from whoson.cfm script!
    Anyway i don't think it is java applet

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