Products
Webtrends Analytics 9.x
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Issue
Most web servers log hits to static pages that look similar to the following:
/directory/page.html
Hits to dynamic pages may look like this:
/directory/page.html?URI_query_string=value
Resolution
A log file entry is considered dynamic if it contains a question mark (?) after the file name. Values after the question mark are referred to as “URL parameters.”
By default, log file entries that contain a question mark are recorded as dynamic pages in Webtrends reports. You will find this information in the Dynamic Pages and Forms table. This includes both GET and POST requests.
Dynamic pages are often used for such content like web pages showcasing products or inventory, which are dynamically generated from a database as a result of values a visitor has selected. Dynamic pages typically have URLs that look something similar to the following:
/products/furniture.asp?cart_id=445&product=couch
In addition to the base URL (/products/furniture.asp), this example also has parameters tagged onto the end after a question mark (?). The parameters in the example above are highlighted to differentiate them from the rest of the URL. These parameters typically come in name=value pairs. In the example above, there are actually two name=value pairs:
cart_id is the name and 445 is the value
product is the name and couch is the value
Note that when there is more than one name=value pair they are separated by the and/ampersand (&) symbol.
An example of a dynamic page would be a product page that changes based on the product shown or the characteristic of a product. Compare the two entries that follow:
/products/furniture.asp?product=couch
/products/furniture.asp?couch=blue
Note that the page (furniture.asp) is the same, but the parameters are what are changing, thereby defining a dynamic page.