| category | DevelopInDepth |
|---|---|
| previous | data-model |
| next | archiving |
The HTTP tracking API (i.e. the Piwik\Tracker component) receives raw analytics data, which we call log data.
There are four types of log data:
- visits
- action types
- conversions
- ecommerce items
Log data is aggregated by the Archiving process into archive data.
Log data is never used directly for Piwik reports, archive data is used instead. The only exception is the Live plugin which uses log data to generate real-time reports.
Log data is represented in PHP as Piwik\Tracker\Visit objects, and is stored into the following tables:
log_visitcontains one entry per visit (returning visitor)log_actioncontains all the type of actions possible on the website (e.g. unique URLs, page titles, download URLs…)log_link_visit_actioncontains one entry per action of a visitor (page view, …)log_conversioncontains conversions (actions that match goals) that happen during a visitlog_conversion_itemcontains e-commerce conversion items
The content of those tables (and their related PHP entities) is explained in more details in the Database schema guide.