Sooner or later a client will ask if their site is being used (a.k.a. hit). This is valuable to determine the success of their site or sell advertising. It is easier to sell advertising space on a site that is hit 500,000 times a week rather than 10.

Most web servers log user access information to special log files. The log files contain valuable information about the visits to a site: browser used, IP address, bytes received/sent, page requested, previous location, etc. Generally, the log files are text files. There is a standard for the text files, so the structure of the content is consistent.

Set up logging
The Lotus Domino server is no different, but it does offer an option to log activity in its native format (Notes database) or text files. If a Notes database is used, the log can be viewed from any Notes or browser client. Text files are stored on the server hard drive, so only those with access to that hard drive can access them. (Unless you've got a log analysis program that also serves analyzed pages).

Logging is set up using the Domino server document in the name and address book. The HTTP section contains fields to enable or disable logging to a domino database or text file.

To set up logging for text files, set up the log file field to Enabled; specify the directory to store the text files; specify the filename(s) for the text files (Access log, Agent log, Referer log, Error log, and CGI error log). To set up logging to a Domino database, set the Domlog.nsf field to Enabled.

Also, the server document provides an area entitled Exclude From Logging. This allows you to specify URLs, domains, access methods, MIME types, user agents, and return codes that should not be logged. Any accesses that match these settings will be excluded from the log file or database. Figure A shows the log settings area of the server document.