Number of SMC users on-line at once

[Mitchell Andrus]

I just let a tab sit there with SMC open when the computer is on, I never turn it off. I'll tickle the site to stay caught up throughout the day, but I'm not REALLY "on" the site all day.

Anyone else totally trashing any hopes of collecting meaningful statistics in this way? On the site, but not really there?
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[Mike Henderson]

For most sites, I would think the page is served to you and that's it. That is, when you first request the page, the SMC cookie is accessed so they know who you are, and the page is formatted based on that (contributor/member/guest - ads or no ads). But after that, I doubt if the page communicates back to the server to let it know you still have the page on your computer. My guess is that they hold you as "active" for some time and if they don't hear back from you (you request another page) they then mark you as "inactive". So they don't know if you went to another site, or are just inactive with their page up on your browser. If that's true, you could still be counted as "active" for a little while after you left SMC and went to another site.

Maybe someone who's really web savvy can comment.

Mike

[mickey cassiba]

I've got the site bookmarked and in my g-reader but don't have it open unless I'm actually reading, or asking.

[Jeff Bratt]

I just let a tab sit there with SMC open when the computer is on, I never turn it off. I'll tickle the site to stay caught up throughout the day, but I'm not REALLY "on" the site all day.

Anyone else totally trashing any hopes of collecting meaningful statistics in this way? On the site, but not really there?
.

Well, Aaron can probably say when a member's status is updated, but as of 5:39 PST, your status indicator shows Offline...

[keith ouellette]

I'm not sure if I have logged off since i became a member/contributor. I didn't know I was supposed to or if it mattered.

Does it?

[Jim Becker]

Mitchell, the problem with leaving it open in a tab is that if you don't access after some period of time to check things out since your last access, the "cookie timer" expires and that affects "new posts" status for your login. As long as that doesn't bother you...no problem.

Keith, leaving the site up in a tab is different than logging out. I "never" log out, myself... ;)

[Mitchell Andrus]

I look at the long list of users in the "What's going on?" box on the home page. This should list every member who's on the site and 'active'. I'm thinking that it instead also lists those who haven't logged off.

So, did we REALLY have 1,643 members on-line at the same time, or were there simply 1,643 computers logged in?

<<"Most users ever online was 1,643, 12-14-2009 at 12:05 PM.">>

Was I counted as an active user on 12/14 at 12:05 pm? I think I was driving to the deli for a sandwich, but my computer was watching.

Another question: I counted 495 "viewing threads" yet "Currently Active Users (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/online.php): 585 (256 members and 329 guests)" is showing in the "What's going on?" box. What are the other 90 people who are 'on' doing?

Vacation day. Can you tell?
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