[thelist] Pop-up when user leaves site.

[deke]

On 21 May 2001, at 9:38, Rory.Plaire at wahchang.com posted a message which said:

> Based on this fact, is it then possible to determine when one leaves the
> site when one is not able to read the location of the next page? Or is being
> unable to read it not a function of where one is?

The web is state-less. You don't really "stay" at a site - you 
retrieve the files to build a page and disconnect, then create
a new connection with the next page that you visit.

Some sites use links of the form
<a href="http://mydomain.com/cgi-bin/redirect?URL=www.yahoo.com/porn.html">
Yahoo fun</a> which means the user clicks on the redirect program 
at *your* site in order to get redirected elsewhere. 

But if the user types in a URL, or clicks on a bookmark, or drags a
page from the desktop to the browser, and clicks on a link in *that*
page, or the dog tears the wire out of the wall and the user disconnects,
you don't have any way of knowing that the user is gone.

Those web pages that say "There are currently 44 people visiting our
websites"? The webmasters are likely to lie about other things as well.

deke




------------------------
 "The church is near but the road is icy; 
  the bar is far away but I will walk carefully." 
                            -- Russian Proverb