Track file downloads from a typed URL or QR code

General questions
1

Hello,

Is it possible for Piwik to track downloads of files from a hand typed or pasted URL or from a QR code that points diorectly to a file (e.g. www.website.com/filename.ext)? I did some tests and such downloads (copy paste url, type by hand, scan a QR code) do not appear in the stats. I even tried to connect a download link to a campaign but with no results as well.

Why I need this? I’m editing a small RPG fanzine. We want to put up some posters during sci-fi conventions with QR codes on them leading directly to zine issues (pdf, mobi, epub). I want to track such downloads to see if people download the files or not. Can it be done?

Edit
Corrected some typos and bad English.

2

I would make it so:
QR links to a special area with infos and a download button.

3

The idea was to simplify things as much as possible: you scan the desired code (we have separate QR codes for each of the file formats), download the file, read the zine straight away. To direct people to a website first and then tell them to klick on something would add to the process and I’d like to avoid that if possible.

4

For tracking QR links with Piwik see 301 Moved Permanently

5

Hi Matt,

Thanks. I’ve stumbled onto that topic some time ago. However there is no answer to my question there: is it possible to track direct download links in Piwik that are not coming from another site (referer) and are either from a QR code (leading directly to a file, not a web page) or typed directly into browser address bar (again leading directly to a file).

6

It should be possible, what is your issue?

7

@Matt

I have a poster i put up on gaming conventions. On that poster I have QR codes for downloading issues of my fanzine. Links from QR codes lead directly to pdf, mobi and epub files so people can download the zine and read it on the spot.

Piwik does not register such downloads or at least I’m not able to make it do so (yes, website downloads are tracked fine). Adding campaign designators/IDs to links does not help. I did some tests and it appears that PIwik is not tracking links that do not originate from a website and lead directly to downloaded files - that includes typing/pasting an url (i.e. http://website/file.pdf) in a web browser or linking a QR code directly to a file.

8

If you have access to the server log files you could try to import them directly in piwik, cf

http://piwik.org/docs/log-analytics-tool-how-to/#how-to-run-the-log-file-analysis-script-with-default-options

9

I can access logs. However, if I read Piwik documentation correctly, I also need Python to run log analysis. Unfortunately I’m on a shared hosting so I’m not able to install Python - it’s not in a standard offer, my hosting provider said that they might add it next year, Anyway importing logs is a good idea, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks. :slight_smile: