Myspace, Statcounter solution

Update: September 30, 2006 - This is now working.

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Outlined below, is a straightforward guide to configuring Statcounter (invisible web tracker) for Myspace. It is presented here simply for educational and informational purposes. Have you read the disclaimer?

The Statcounter web tracker code needs to be tweaked just a a bit in order to work with Myspace - but it does work.

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Save time: In case your wondering what kind of information you would be seeing from people that visit your profile do this: Go to the Statcounter site. Click on "DEMO" at the top of the page. Then use the side menu to navigate through all the features. What you see there is pretty much what you'll see.

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If you're ready to give it a try, start with Step 1.

Source: Tom Thomas

Disclaimer

The content of this site has, in great part, been assembled from bits and pieces of information freely available throughout the internet. Said content is presented here for educational and informational purposes only. This site, its owners, creators, and or anyone else involved in this project will not be held liable for any issues that may arise out of misuse of the information provided here. This site is not affilated with or endorsed by Myspace.com, Statcounter.com, or Blogger.com. Users of any of the services listed here are encouraged to refer to and adhere to each sites TOS (Terms of service).

Step 1 - Getting a Statcounter web tracker account

Go to the Statcounter website: http://www.statcounter.com

Keep this window open and use the screenshots below to complete the registration on the Statcounter site.

On the Statcounter site, find and click the "Register now" button.



Complete the green fields highlighted in the example above.



Accept the terms and conditions and click on the "Register my account" button as shown above.



Select your time zone (optional) then click the "Proceed & add a project" button.



You only have one option on the screenshot above; Click the "Next" button.



Complete the green fields highlighted above. Click the "Next" button.



Click on the "Configure & install code" button, then proceed to Step 2 - Configuring web tracker code.

Related posts: Step 1 intro

Source: Tom Thomas

Step 2 - Configuring Statcounter web tracker code

Select the "Invisible counter" radio button as shown above, then click on the "Next" button.



Select the "No, my website does not use frames" radio button, and check the "OPTIONAL - HTML Only Counter" box. Click the "Next" button.



In the "Do you use a web page editor?" box, select the "No, I want the default install guide" radio button, then click the "Next" button.



Statcounter has now generated the code you will be working with; similar to the code shown above. Copy that code and continue to Step 3 - Tweaking the Stacounter web tracker code

Related posts: Step 1 intro

Source: Tom Thomas

Step 3 - Tweaking the Statcounter web tracker code

Paste the code that you copied from the end of Step 2 into a text editor (like Notepad: In Windows 98/XP, Go to START>>PROGRAMS>>ACCESSORIES, then click on NOTEPAD) as shown below.





The only code you will use is highlighted in the example below (note that the surrounding quotes are not included).



In your own Statcounter code snippet, look for a URL similar to the one highlighted above. Copy it and move on to the next step Step 4 - Statcounter web tracker use in Myspace


Related posts: Step 1 intro

Source: Tom Thomas

Step 4 - Statcounter web tracker use in Myspace

As I mentioned before, the Statcounter web tracker code needs to be tweaked just a bit in order to work in Myspace. All references to Statcounter (the word) need to be stripped from the Statcounter URL (the highlighted code that you should have copied from the end of Step 3) by using a "Shorten URL" site. If you're not familiar with this, have a look at "Shortening a URL". After you finish there, come back to this page.

Continue below only if you have your shortened Statcounter URL.

The code below would be inserted into the "About Me" section of your Myspace account along with your shortened Statcounter URL - which would be inserted between the empty parenthesis "()".

IMPORTANT: the code must be placed OUTSIDE any STYLE tags that may or may not already be there.

<div style="background-image:url(); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:center; width:1px; height:1px;"></div>

- Paste code (as described above) into your Myspace account.
- Preview your Myspace about me section then click submit.

To see if the code is working:

- Visit your Myspace page.
- Login to your Statcounter account.
- Unless you previously setup "IP Blocking", your Statcounter account (Myspace project) should now show one new visit (you).

That's all of it.


Stacounter still not working with Myspace? Go here

Related posts: Step 1 intro

Source: Tom Thomas

Shortening a URL

I'm not a big fan of reinventing the wheel, so...

If you'd like a very, very good explanation of URL shortening I highly recommend giving the TinyURL site a look-over. They explain it really well on their home page.

When you're ready (yes this is important) go here to find a "Shorten URL" site - for the purposes of our little tutorial, TinyURL will unfortunately not work with Myspace (banned for now I think).

You simply find a URL shortening site, copy and paste/insert whatever URL you'd like "shortened" (a.k.a. "the banned URL") into the sites URL box, then hit submit. The site will return another, shorter URL. Copy that new URL and use where you would have used the original one - use it for whatever purpose you see fit.

Still confused? Click the image below to view a video tutorial of the process (you need flash).

File under: Myspace Web Tracker
PT Editor: Tom Thomas

Statcounter still not working with Myspace?

If after following all the steps listed here, you find that your Statcounter web tracker still does not work, you may have a "shorten URL" site that does not work with Myspace. Check the URL that you pasted in to your "About Me" section. The Myspace site changes blocked/banned URL's to "..." (periods). Go see if the code you pasted in the "About Me" section is still intact. If it has been changed go back to Shortening a URL and try a different "shorten URL" site.

File under: MyspaceWebTracker

Information sources

Thanks to Bunnyhero for the "URL Shortening" idea, and to Avantartist for the DIV code.

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Thanks

Tom