Does Google Analytics store the utm_source, utm_medium paramaters in a cookie or something similar that I can access on my own site using PHP? - OR - does anyone have an example of code I could use to identify a traffic source ie. PPC, Natural etc.
Yes, Google stores this information in a cookie; specifically, the __utmz cookie.
You can write a piece of JavaScript to read the cookies that GA stores in the browser. This information is stored in the __utmz cookie. For example, if a link contained all 5 possible utm variables, the cookie would look something like this (I've substituted the capitalized names for the values, so SOURCE is the value for utm_source:
43838368.1283957505.1.3.utmcsr=SOURCE|utmccn=CAMPAIGN|utmcmd=MEDIUM|utmctr=TERM|utmcct=CONTENT
This is what a __utmz cookie looks like for an organic google search:
140029553.1283957328.2.136.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=SEARCH-TERMS-HERE
This is what a __utmz cookie looks like for a direct visit:
17861479.1283957910.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)
This is what a __utmz cookie looks like for paid google search with autotagging:
175516223.1283957996.1.1.utmgclid=CLrr7fyL-KMCFZpN5QoduVOTLA|utmccn=(not%20set)|utmcmd=(not%20set)|utmctr=SEARCH+TERM
PHP is not ideal, since you could never read the cookie on single-page-visits, but here is what the code could look like in PHP.
if(isset($_COOKIE['__utmz']))
{
$cookie= $_COOKIE['__utmz'];
$params = strstr($cookie, 'utm');
$cookiearray = explode("|", $params);
$final = array();
for($i=0; $i<count($cookiearray); $i++)
{
$temp = explode("=",$cookiearray[$i]);
$final[$temp[0]] = temp[1];
}
}
This would give you an array ($final) with key-value matches for each traffic source parameter.
You'd probably be better off parsing this in JavaScript and posting it to your server using AJAX, rather than reading it on the server-side, since you could only do that on the second page view, and would thus lose the ability to track single-page-view users. This can be an annoying task with manual JavaScript, because both cookies and AJAX can be inconsistent across browsers, so I would recommend a framework like jQuery.
Here's the approach I would take using jQuery. I'd add the jQuery cookie plugin, and post it within a _gaq.push(function(){...}); clause like this (assuming that the PHP above is stored in handler.php).
$.post('handler.php', '__utmz' : $.cookie("__utmz") );
Then, switch the two references of $_COOKIE to $_POST, and do whatever you want with the array it produces.
Related
I'm puttings filters in links with GET variables like this: http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7 and I'd like to remove any given filter parameter from URL whenever a different value for that particular filter is selected so that it doesn't, for example, repeat the color filter like so:
http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7&color=1
How can I if(isset($_GET['color'])) { removeGet('color'); } ?
You can use parse_url and parse_str to extract parameters like in example below:
$href = 'http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7';
$query = parse_url( $href, PHP_URL_QUERY );
parse_str( $query, $params );
// set custom paramerets
$params['color'] = 1;
// build query string
$query = http_build_query( $params );
// build url
echo explode( '?', $href )[0] . '?' . $query;
In this example explode() is used to extract the part of the url before the query string, and http_build_query to generate query string, you can also use PECL http_build_url() function, if you cannot use PECL use alternative like in this question.
You can't remove variables from GET request, just redirect to address without this var.
if (isset($_GET['color'])) {
header ('Location: http://www.example.com/list?size=' . $_GET['size']);
exit;
}
Note: in URL http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7&color=1 is just one $_GET['color'], not two. Only one of them is taken. You can check, is $_GET['key'] exists, but you don't know how many of them you have in your URL
So, assuming I'm understanding your question correctly.
Your situation is as follows:
- You are building URLs which you put into a webpage as a link ( <a href= )
- You are using the GET syntax/markup (URL?key=value&anotherkey=anothervalue) as a way to assign filters of some sort which the user then receives when they click on a given link
What you want is to be able to modify one of the items in your GET parameter list (http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7&color=1) so you have only one filter key but you can modify the filter value. So instead of the above you would start with: (http://example.com/list?size=3&color=7) but after changing the color 'filter' you would instead have http://example.com/list?size=3&color=1).
Additionally you want to do the above in PHP, (as opposed to JavaScript etc...).
There are a lot of ways to implement the change and the most effective way to do it depends on what you are already doing, most likely.
First, if you are dynamically producing the HTML markup which includes the links with the filter text, (which is what it sounds like), then it makes the most sense to create a PHP array to hold your GET parameters, then write a function that would turn those parameters into the GET string.
New filters would appear when a user refreshed the page, (because, if you are dynamically producing the HTML then a server request is required to rebuild the page).
IF, however, you want to update the link URLs on a live page WITHOUT a reload look into doing it with JavaScript, it will make your life easier.
NOTE: It is likely possible to modify the page, assuming the links are hard coded, & the page is hard coded markup, by opening the page as a file in PHP & making the appropriate change. It's my opinion that this would be a headache and not worth the time & effort AND it would still require a page reload (which you could NOT trigger yourself).
Summary
If you are writing dynamic pages with PHP it shouldn't be a big deal, just create a structure (class or array) and a method/function to write that structure out as a GET string. The structure could then be modified according to your desire before generating the page.
If, however, you are dealing with a static page, I recommend JavaScript (either creating js structures to allow a user to dynamically select filters or utilizing AJAX to build new GET parameter lists with PHP and send that back to the javascript).
(NOTE: I am reminded that I have done something along the lines of modifying links on-the-fly for existing pages by intercepting them before they are displayed to the user [using PHP] but my hands were tied in other areas and I would not recommend it if you have a choice AND it should be noted that this still required a reload...)
Try doing something like this in your back-end script:
$originalValues=array();
foreach($_GET as $filter=>$value)
{
if(empty($originalValues[$filter]))
$originalValues[$filter] = $value;
}
This may do what you want, but it feels hackish. You may want to revise your logic.
Good luck!
just put a link/button send the user to index... like this.
<a class="btn btn-primary m-1" href="http:yoururl/index.php" role="button">Limpar</a>
I'll be serving this via PHP, so it'll be more difficult to hijack. It's a temporary solution that'll be manually reviewed, so I'm not particularly worried about security. But, I was wondering if it's possible to create a link that would work with variables? Something like this:
https://paypal.com/pay?type=link&price=55aud&item=coffee
After thoroughly searching PP's API documentation I can't find anything of the type.
Of course. You just need to build your string dynamically with PHP. For example, using your link sample, we might end up with something like this:
$price = 55;
$item = 'coffee';
$currency_code = 'aud';
$paypal_url = 'https://paypal.com/pay?type=link&price='.$price.'¤cy_code='.$currency_code.'&item='.$item;
Of course, you could use static variables like I did here, or you could load the URL items with session variables, database data, etc. Once the URL is prepared you can output it and attach it to a link, button, simply redirect straight to it, or whatever you need to do.
The actual questions
How to "map" access restrictions so it can be used from php and javasript?
What kind of method should I use to share access restrictions / rules between php and javascript?
Explanation
I have created a RESTful backend using php which will use context-aware access control to limit data access and modification. For example, person can modify address information that belongs to him and can view (but not modify) address information of all other persons who are in the same groups. And of course, group admin can modify address details of all the persons in that group.
Now, php side is quite "simple" as that is all just a bunch of checks. Javascript side is also quite "simple" as that as well is just a bunch of checks. The real issue here is how to make those checks come from the same place?
Javascript uses checks to show/hide edit/save buttons.
PHP uses checks to make the actual changes.
and yes,
I know this would be much more simpler situation if I ran javascript (NodeJS or the like) on server, but the backend has already been made and changing ways at this point would cause major setbacks.
Maybe someone has already deviced a method to model access checks in "passive" way, then just use some sort of "compiler" to run the actual checks?
Edit:
Im case it helps to mention, the front-end (js) part is built with AngularJS...
Edit2
This is some pseudo-code to clarify what I think I am searching for, but am not at all certain that this is possible in large scale. On the plus side, all access restrictions would be in single place and easy to amend if needed. On the darkside, I would have to write AccessCheck and canAct functions in both languages, or come up with a way to JIT compile some pseudo code to javascript and php :)
AccessRestrictions = {
Address: {
View: [
OWNER, MEMBER_OF_OWNER_PRIMARY_GROUP
],
Edit: [
OWNER, ADMIN_OF_OWNER_PRIMARY_GROUP
]
}
}
AccessCheck = {
OWNER: function(Owner) {
return Session.Person.Id == Owner.Id;
},
MEMBER_OF_OWNER_PRIMARY_GROUP: function(Owner) {
return Session.Person.inGroup(Owner.PrimaryGroup)
}
}
canAct('Owner', 'Address', 'View') {
var result;
AccessRestrictions.Address.View.map(function(role) {
return AccessCheck[role](Owner);
});
}
First things first.
You can't "run JavaScript on the server" because Javascript is always run on the client, at the same way PHP is always run on the server and never on the client.
Next, here's my idea.
Define a small library of functions you need to perform the checks. This can be as simple as a single function that returns a boolean or whatever format for your permissions. Make sure that the returned value is meaningful for both PHP and Javascript (this means, return JSON strings more often than not)
In your main PHP scripts, include the library when you need to check permissions and use the function(s) you defined to determine if the user is allowed.
Your front-end is the one that requires the most updates: when you need to determine user's permission, fire an AJAX request to your server (you may need to write a new script similar to #2 to handle AJAX requests if your current script isn't flexible enough) which will simply reuse your permissions library. Since the return values are in a format that's easily readable to JavaScript, when you get the response you'll be able to check what to show to the user
There are some solutions to this problem. I assume you store session variables, like the name of the authorized user in the PHP's session. Let's assume all you need to share is the $authenticated_user variable. I assume i'ts just a string, but it can also be an array with permissions etc.
If the $authenticated_user is known before loading the AngularJS app you may prepare a small PHP file whish mimics a JS file like this:
config.js.php:
<?php
session_start();
$authenticated_user = $_SESSION['authenticated_user'];
echo "var authenticated_user = '$authenticated_user';";
?>
If you include it in the header of your application it will tell you who is logged in on the server side. The client side will just see this JS code:
var authenticated_user = 'johndoe';
You may also load this file with ajax, or even better JSONP if you wrap it in a function:
<?php
session_start();
$authenticated_user = $_SESSION['authenticated_user'];
echo <<<EOD;
function set_authenticated_user() {
window.authenticated_user = '$authenticated_user';
}
EOD;
?>
Tamper Data gives all the cookie context i wish to automate that. Session-Id and Login Credentials.
WGET or Wapiti kinda stuff.. but these are cmnd line based ..
i wish a web-based one ! the Tamper data values i need to pass are under the red box of screenshot.
Relying on the request-header's values is dicey and it is flawed since the request-header values can be easily manipulated (one example is what you yourself are showing).
If you want to login automatically into another web-application using the credentials you have provided in some other web-application then you can use Single Sign-on (SSO). More info can be found in this answer.
If you have some other requirement, then you can included that in the question so that it can be seen & answered accordingly.
Here is how you can get the request-header in a JSP:
request.getHeader("cookie") or request.getHeader("user-agent").
Or can use: request.getHeaderNames() to get all the headers and then loop through the names and get each header value by using point#1 like this:
Enumeration hNames = request.getHeaderNames();
while(hNames.hasMoreElements()) {
String hName = (String) hNames.nextElement();
System.out.println(hName + " = " + request.getHeader(hName);
}
This link might be helpful: Reading HTTP Request Headers
Here is how you can get the request headers in PHP:
Nice answer to the question: How do I read any request header in PHP,
I am working on my personal site, where I want to store my customers recent search result limited to that particular session.
I am using PHP platform and Javascripts.
Here is an example of what I am exactly looking at :
It stores your previously searched domain name for that particular session so that user can make decision by comparing those results.
Thanks.
EDIT- Well Thanks for all of your answers and suggestions.
But If you have noticed
above example
It looks like some kind of script loading a new content on the same page without refreshing it and keeping previous search content <div> as it is.
How to achieve this using javascripts or some sort of div layer ????
UPDATE START
This example uses page reload. If you want to do it without page reload, you can but you'll have to use AJAX to load new search results. But then, it's not a PHP question. I suggest looking at jquery library, as it makes it easy. Tutorials: http://docs.jquery.com/Tutorials and e.g. this one ( http://docs.jquery.com/Tutorials:Getting_Started_with_jQuery#Rate_me:_Using_Ajax ).
When loading data via AJAX, the page rendering result (in my example search.php) should return only HTML for results part, not whole HTML page. This is generally a first part of my tutorial (without session).
But I really think that AJAX in here is not really needed. Session is more reliable and allows access to your page from older / mobile browsers where not always JS works correctly.
UPDATE END
Ok then. Let's try the simple tutorial then. Sorry if too simple, but I don't know your exact level.
PHP has mechanism called sessions. In reality they are just bytes stored on server. Server knows which session is for each client by reading session cookie from client browser.
Not every page uses sessions (not every page needs it, and session uses server space, even if only temporarily), session is not enabled by default. To turn on session you use command
<?php session_start(); ?>
In most cases this is either run by PHP framework you use, or put near the top of your site. Session is definitely needed if you want to authenticate user somehow. Or in your case :)
To access session you can use superglobal $_SESSION variable (superglobal means that you can access it anywhere). It's an array, so session element will be e.g. $_SESSION['search'] etc.
As example, let's assume that your page looks like that
<html>
...
<form action="search.php" method="post">
Search: <input type="text" name="searchQuery" />
<input type="submit" value="Search" />
</form>
...
</html>
this very form will send user search to file named search.php. It can be the same file where the form resides - in simplest case when you put both your code and HTML in one file. Beginners often use this schema, although it's not advisable as result is a mess and hard to further change.
In search.php then, you'll use similar code:
<?php
if (!empty($_POST['searchQuery'])) //we have a new search
{
$result = do_search($_POST['searchQuery']);
}
?>
Then, somewhere below you'll display your search result ($result variable). do_search() function is your search mechanism, I guess you have it somewhere. You may have it not 'wrapped' in a function, then I advise to create it like that, it's much more useful.
function do_search($searchQuery)
{
...
return $result;
}
mind it, the above code doesn't use sessions yet. Let's add saving previous search results in session. The code may then look like that:
<?php
session_start(); //Starting session
//let's create session variable used to store results
if (!isset($_SESSION['searches']))
$_SESSION['searches'] = array();
if (!empty($_POST['searchQuery'])) //we have a new search
{
if (isset($_SESSION['searches'][$_POST['searchQuery']]) //User already searched on this value, delete previous result from sesion
{
unset($_SESSION['searches'][$_POST['searchQuery']]);
}
$result = do_search($_POST['searchQuery']);
//Let's add new search on the begining of session array to make iterations easier.
$result = array($_POST['searchQuery'] => $result); //convert result to same format as session table
$_SESSION['searches'] = array_merge($result, $_SESSION['searches']);
}
?>
In display you'll now not iterate on $result variable as before, but instead you will do something like
foreach ($_SESSION['searches'] as $query => $result)
{
...//display of single result
}
I haven't tested following code and it's not a full program. Parts to display result and to do actual search are not described but I guess you have them already prepared. Also, this is only one possible approach of countless possibilities. But I hope this helps :)
Possible modification - now I always perform search, even if user already searched on this term. You may want to receive the result from cache without second search. Then the code will look like
if (isset($_SESSION['searches'][$_POST['searchQuery']]) //User already searched on this value
{
$result = $_SESSION['searches'][$_POST['searchQuery']];
unset($_SESSION['searches'][$_POST['searchQuery']]);
}
else
{
$result = do_search($_POST['searchQuery']);
}
For more in-depth information about sessions and some other constructs used in my example I suggest PHP manual
http://pl.php.net/manual/en/book.session.php
and various tutorials over the network. Or you can add a comment here :)
Put this code near the beginning of your script(s):
if (!isset($_SESSION['previous_searches']) || !is_array($_SESSION['previous_searches'])) {
$_SESSION['previous_searches'] = array();
}
[edit]
This code snippet checks if if there is already an array with prevous searches and if not it will be created.
[/edit]
Then when the user hits the search page put this code in the receiving script of the search:
$_SESSION['previous_searches'][] = $_GET['what_ever_your_search_value_might_be'];
[edit]
This code snippet adds the current search value to the and of the array with previous search values
[/edit]
Now you have all previous search values in $_SESSION['previous_searches']
If your website is a web application where you never reload the page nor change the page, you can keep it JavaScript in a global store (declare at top level something like var StoredSearch = []; and use it). If not, then use $_SESSION to store this and AJAX to save/load searches from JavaScript to PHP.