New Uzilla Component: Obzerver

The Obzerver module provides an open source implementation of a click stream monitor.  It writes log files to the local hard drive in Mozilla Firefox and the Mozilla suite.

The stored data is in the FLUD format, proposed by NIST in 2002:
loghead 2004/6/15-8:55:39 subject=100 version=v1 time_zone=-5 generator=obzerver
event 2004/7/15-8:55:40.401 1:0 url=http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/start/
#OP newpage complete * url=http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/start/
logend 2004/6/15-8:56:21

This FLUD sample shows only the page level data.  Low level event data is also partially complete but not yet integrated with logging.

The FLUD format calls for identifying the sources of navigation elements and in the web scenario might allow us to quantify the relative proportions of methods for accessing new content.  C.Soules (a CMU CompSci grad student) crafted the Obzerver implementation and is interested in the source events for a different reason; for the meta data they provide. 

Obzerver is ready for use today for simple url logging and with a bit more effort for more complete event traces.  The Uzilla.net suite provides these rich event traces, a way to model your test protocol, and data analysis. 

If you're interested in helping with the project, check the out the bug list.  Commenting on bugs and filing new ones is a great way to start getting involved. For a meta-view on how this works, check the working paper Usability Discussions in Open Source.
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Posted at 8:58