PHP Conversion Tracking - php

Question

I have 3 pages that I am trying to "track" so to speak. The signup process is 3 pages. Basically, I'm not wanting to count hits that are out of sequence (ie. if the user checks back into the thank you page (3rd page)) I don't want it to count a conversion again.
So something like this
1. User enters landing page +1 hit
2. User enters intermediary page +1hit
3. User enters thank you page +1 conversion
I know how to increment the count pretty easy for hits, but am unsure how to "not" count it if they are out of sequence.

Answer 1

You would set up a session variable so that on page 1 it was set to '1', page 2 = '2' and so on, but only set the variable if it is currently less then the current page number, so:
session_start();
if($_SESSION['cur-page'] < [CURRENT PAGE NUMBER]) {
$_SESSION['cur-page'] = [CURRENT PAGE NUMBER];
logHit();
}
Where logHit() tracks the page hit.

Answer 2

SESSIONS will solve your problem here.
On the first page do something such as:
session_start();
$_SESSION['page'] = '1';
// Store signup values in session
On the second:
session_start();
if ($_SESSION['page'] != 1 || $_SESSION['page'] != 3) {
header("Location: /page1");
exit();
} elseif ($_SESSION['page'] == 'complete') {
header("Location: /resubmit-error");
} else {
$_SESSION['page'] = 2;
}
// Store additional values in session
On the third:
session_start();
if ($_SESSION['page'] != 2) {
header("Location: /page2");
exit();
} elseif ($_SESSION['page'] == 'complete') {
header("Location: /resubmit-error");
} else {
$_SESSION['page'] = 3;
}
// Store additional values in session again and submit values to database or other source.
And finally the thank you page:
if ($_SESSION['page'] != 3) {
header("Location: /page3");
} elseif ($_SESSION['page'] == 'complete') {
header("Location: /resubmit-error");
} else {
$_SESSION['page'] = 'complete';
// Store data
}
On final submission of the third page redirect to completion / thank you page.
With this method a user wouldn't simply be able to return to the final page without re-completing the form.

Answer 3

Set a cookie or session variable called step. Before you run the tracking code, make sure the current step is greater than the step stored in the cookie, else don't track it. Usually for conversion tracking, it's desirable to use cookies over a session because you can track conversions for 30 days (or however long you want), rather than a short session which usually ends when a user closes the browser window.
On Page 1
$step=1;
if (!$_COOKIE['step']) {
setcookie('step',$step,time()+(86400*30),'/','.yourdomain.com');
//run tracking code (log database, whatever)
}
On Page 2+
$step=2;
if ($_COOKIE['step'] && $_COOKIE['step']<$step) {
setcookie('step',$step,time()+(86400*30),'/','.yourdomain.com');
//run tracking code (log database, whatever)
}