Specifying Directory Indexes

When a visitor enters into a Web browser a URL that does not end in a page (for example, www.sane.com/), the Web server that delivers the pages on that Web site knows to display the index page (the default page) for that directory (for example, www.sane.com/index.html). The page the Web server appends to the URL is the directory index (in this case, index.html).

Even though the content that the visitor sees is the same for www.sane.com/ and www.sane.com/index.html, the two requests are logged differently in the Web server log files. NetTracker attempts to combine the statistics for both ways of accessing the page. When NetTracker encounters a log file entry for a request whose page matches an entry in its list of directory indexes, NetTracker deletes the file name from the request. By default, NetTracker uses /index.html, /default.asp, and /default.htm as directory indexes.

If your Web site uses a directory index (for example, /index.asp) that NetTracker does not try by default, you should specify it in NetTracker. Otherwise, requests that end in a directory and requests for the directory index will be two separate entries in your NetTracker reports.

If you use /index.html, /default.asp, or /default.html as page names for pages that are not directory indexes, you should delete that page from NetTracker’s list of indexes. Likewise, if you want to see the file name of the directory index as part of the page entry in NetTracker, delete the directory index from the list.

Adding a Directory Index

To add a directory index:
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. In the left-hand panel, click Directory Indexes under Content.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Enter the directory index (file name) in the text box and click Add.
  5. The new directory index will be used in new data you import. If this is what you want or if you have more directory indexes to add at this time, click Continue. If you want the new directory index to be used in log data you have already imported, you will need to delete all the data in your profile and reimport your log files. (Note: If you do not still have all the log files you have imported into this profile, you will lose data permanently by choosing this option.) To delete your profile data, click Delete Profile Data.

Changing a Directory Index

You can change a directory index.

To
Select the page in the list and
Delete a directory index from the list
Click Delete
Edit a directory index
Click Edit