Counters are automatically created as they are used in your HTML pages, but NetCloak also provides a way to create counters manually and to adjust their values. You can also remove counters that are no longer used, which is recommended to maximize the efficiency of the counter database. In addition, you can configure counters to automatically reset periodically.

To edit counters, choose the "Edit Lists..." option from the "Configuration" menu. This will display the "Lists" window, and the first tab is used to edit counters.

Figure 7: The Counters tab of the NetCloak Lists window.

To add a new counter, type its name into the "Name" field, enter a starting value into the "Value" field, and click the "Set Counter" button. To remove a counter, select it in the Counter List and click the "Remove Counter" button.

Clicking on a counter name in the counter list will cause the "Name" and "Value" fields to be filled in with that counter's name and current value. To change the value of a counter, click on the counter in the counter list, change the value in the "Value" field, and click the "Set Counter" button.

When using the plug-in version of NetCloak, use the NetCloak CGI to edit counters as described above. To ensure that your updates take effect, quit your Web server while you are editing the counters with the CGI. After your edits are complete, quit the NetCloak CGI and re-launch the server.

For information on using counters within your HTML pages, see the "Commands:Counters" section of this Guide.

Resetting Counters Automatically

Each counter you create will, by default, start with the value you assign it, and increment by one each time an INSERT_COUNT command is processed, forever. However, you can create counters that reset to a value you specify on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

To make a counter reset automatically, first select it in the counter list, then check the "Automatically Reset Counter" checkbox. This will enable the "Set To:" and "Every:" fields below. After setting automatic reset options, be sure to click the "Set Counter" button to save the changes to the counter.

Set To: Enter the value that the resetting counter will reset to at the specified interval.

Every: Click the up and down arrows to specify whether the counter will reset on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

At: If the counter resets on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, this field becomes enabled. Click the up and down arrows to specify the time of day the counter will reset.

On: If the counter resets on a weekly or monthly basis, this field becomes enabled. Click the up and down arrows to specify what day of the week (for weekly resets) or day of the month (for monthly resets) the counter should reset on.

Because the values of counters are important to the Webmaster, NetCloak creates a file called "NetCloak Counter Resets" within the "NetCloak Files" folder. In this log, NetCloak saves the date, the time, the counter name, the current value, and the reset value every time a counter is automatically reset.