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Google Analytics is arguably one of the most popular systems currently used to monitor web traffic. It is fairly easy to implement and allows you to track detailed statistics of your visitors trends. The system records number of visits, unique visitors, page views, browsers, connection speeds, top pages, click-through trends, search engine keywords, and location, among many other things.

Once implemented, the data rolls in continuously with a short delay. Administrators can view interactive reports of sites they manage or can export reports in several formats. These reports can also be configured to automatically be sent via email on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.

The system has a small learning curve. From an administrator’s perspective, it can sometimes be difficult to navigate the site at first as you try to grasp the site’s architecture. A common concern among users is the lack of ability to understand content generated on the reports. Although Google provides a very comprehensive help system, it is still sometimes challenging to understand the terms and data used in the standard reports.

To help, I’ve put together a document outlining the features on the standard PDF report. It gives a quick look at many of the common report statistics with descriptions that are easy to understand. I hope this helps those who may be new to the Google Analytics system.

Download the PDF version of the Google Analytics guide here.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was never really a genius when it comes to Macs. And honestly, that doesn’t bother me. I know enough to get around the system and use it for what I need to, plus some random things here and there. I don’t know everything, but I’m working on it.

As an example, when I first got my MacBook Pro I noticed my menu bar was a different color than the ones on other machines I had used. It took me some time to realize that it was because that bar is slightly opaque, by choice, and that it was the different background that was showing through and changing the color. I also knew that you could have the desktop image randomly change.

But I never thought to put two and two together. Until today.

Here’s a fun trick to have your menu bar change colors but still keep the same cute picture of your dog, favorite vacation spot, girlfriend, (or maybe all of the above together) displayed on your desktop:

Find an image that you want to use as your desktop background. Figure out how tall your menu bar is and put a colored strip that size on top of your image. Do the same thing, but with another color. And another. And another, until you’ve used every color you want to see.

Put each of these images in their own folder. Open your desktop settings under System Preferences. Click the plus button on the left column to add your new folder to the list of available items and then select that folder as the source for images. Check the box at the bottom to change the picture and set the timer to whatever interval works best for you. Be sure to check the box labeled “translucent menu bar” so that you can actually see your color.

It is something small, but if you have windows open all day and never get to see your desktop, this is a great way to spice things up a bit. Enjoy!

Need help getting started? Use this PSD template as a guide!

If you’ve ever tried to type some fancy code into your “About Me” section of MySpace and previewed the output only to find a jumbled mess of characters, you’re not alone. It’s all because of the magic power the site has at eating up your code and spitting out a series of dots. Thanks, News Corp.

In all honesty it is probably a good idea to have all the exciting features disabled on pages. There could very well be some (err, even more) nasty profile hacks out there if people were allowed to post whatever they wanted. I’m still waiting for the day people are no longer allowed to magically transform their page into some Flash deliciousness only because they copy and pasted some code from a freebie website.

In the meantime, I’ll settle for some image rollovers to snazzy up my page a bit. No problem. I’ll just create a bit of Javascript and call it good. Wait, what’s that? Javascript eats that up and turns into those killer dots? Oh yeah. (more…)