Claude AI developed a cookie-based qr code tracker.

Site-Wide Tracking System – Installation Guide

📦 What You Have

Three PHP files for comprehensive visitor tracking:

track.php – Site-wide visitor tracking (include on every page)
qr.php – QR code redirect with enhanced tracking
qr-admin.php – Analytics dashboard with 5 views

🚀 Installation Steps

Step 1: Upload Files

Upload all three PHP files to your scootercam.net web root:

/public_html/track.php
/public_html/qr.php
/public_html/qr-admin.php

Step 2: Set Directory Permissions

Make sure the directory is writable so SQLite can create the database:

chmod 755 /public_html/

Step 3: Add Tracking to Every Page

Add this line at the very top of every PHP page you want to track:

<?php require_once 'track.php'; ?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
...

For non-PHP pages (HTML), you have two options:

Option A: Rename .html files to .php and add the tracking line

Option B: Use .htaccess to parse HTML as PHP:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .html

Then add <?php require_once 'track.php'; ?> to your HTML files.

Step 4: Change Admin Password

Edit qr-admin.php line 12:

define('ADMIN_PASSWORD', 'your_secure_password_here');

Change your_secure_password_here to something secure.

Step 5: Test the System

Visit any page on your site → sets visitor cookie
Visit qr-admin.php → login with your password
Check “Overview” tab → should show 1 visitor, 1 page view

Step 6: Create Your First QR Code

Generate a QR code pointing to:

https://scootercam.net/qr.php?code=TEST&dest=https://scootercam.net/

Scan it with your phone and watch it appear in the admin!

📊 What Gets Tracked

QR Code Tracking (qr.php)

✅ Which QR code was scanned
✅ When it was scanned
✅ Whether visitor is new or returning
✅ Destination URL
✅ Links visitor to their site browsing history

Combined Intelligence

The system now knows:

Did someone browse your site BEFORE scanning a QR?
Did someone scan a QR THEN browse your site?
How many visitors came from QR vs organic traffic?
Full visitor journey from first touch to last activity

📱 Admin Dashboard Views

1. Overview – High-level stats

Total visitors
Page views
QR scans
Conversion rates
Visitor source breakdown (QR only / Site only / Both)

2. Visitor Journeys – Track individual visitors

Entry point (QR code or page URL)
First and last seen timestamps
Total page views
Total QR scans
Visitor type badge

3. QR Codes – QR performance metrics

Total scans per code
Unique visitors per code
Returning scan counts
Last scan timestamp

4. Page Views – Popular pages

Most viewed pages
Unique visitors per page
Average views per visitor

5. Recent Activity – Real-time feed

Last 50 actions (QR scans + page views)
Timestamp
Visitor ID
Device info

🔧 Configuration Options

In track.php (line 9):

define('TRACK_PAGEVIEWS', true);

true = Log every page view (recommended for low traffic)
false = Only set cookie, don’t log pages (lighter database)

In qr.php (line 11):

define('ALLOWED_DOMAINS', ['scootercam.net', 'www.scootercam.net']);

Add any additional domains you want to allow as QR destinations.

🗄️ Database Structure

The system creates three tables automatically:

visitors – One row per unique visitor

Aggregated stats (total pageviews, total QR scans)
First and last seen timestamps
First QR scan timestamp

page_views – One row per page view

Full page URL
Timestamp
Referrer
Device info

qr_scans – One row per QR scan

QR code identifier
Destination URL
New vs returning status
Timestamp

🔒 Security Features

✅ SQLite prepared statements (injection-proof)
✅ Password-protected admin panel
✅ HTTP-only, secure cookies
✅ Domain whitelist for QR redirects
✅ Admin/tracking scripts excluded from logs
✅ Silent failure (tracking errors don’t break pages)

🎯 Usage Example

Scenario: Event poster with QR code

Print poster with QR code pointing to: https://scootercam.net/qr.php?code=POSTER_DOWNTOWN&dest=https://scootercam.net/events
Someone scans it with their phone
System logs: “New visitor scanned POSTER_DOWNTOWN at 2pm”
They browse to /gallery and /contact
System logs: “Same visitor viewed 2 more pages”
Three days later, they scan ANOTHER QR code
System logs: “Returning visitor scanned STICKER_CITY at 5pm”

In admin, you see:

This visitor’s complete journey
Both QR codes they scanned
All pages they viewed
Total engagement time span

📞 Troubleshooting

Database not creating?

Check directory write permissions
Look for PHP errors: tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Page views not showing?

Make sure track.php is included BEFORE any HTML output
Check that TRACK_PAGEVIEWS is true

QR scans work but page views don’t?

Verify track.php is included on those pages
Check that pages are parsed as PHP (not static HTML)

Admin shows 0 visitors?

Try a longer time range (90 days)
Check that database file exists: ls -la qr_tracking.db

🚀 Next Steps

Add tracking to all your pages
Create QR codes for different campaigns
Monitor visitor behavior patterns
Identify which QR codes drive the most engagement
See which pages visitors love (or leave quickly)

Remember: Change the admin password before going live!

QR Codes