XF 1.5 Is it possible for robots to show up as guests?

[jr777]

I'm having a really hard time gauging how much traffic my site is getting. I know Google Analytics isn't working right.

If the numbers on my site are correct, then I'm getting pretty good traffic from guests, but if this were the case then I think more people would be signing up. Is it possible that the software is confusing robots for actual people?

 

[Mouth]

Is it possible that the software is confusing robots for actual people?

XF will catgeorise known robots as such, and everything else as guests. If you're getting lots of robot visits from fringe or bad robots, then it's quite likely.

 

[jr777]

Bad robots? Is that something to be worried about?

 

[Mouth]

Bad robots? Is that something to be worried about?

They can use a lot of resources and bandwidth, for little or no value to you.

 

[jr777]

They can use a lot of resources and bandwidth, for little or no value to you.

How does one prevent that?

 

[Mouth]

How does one prevent that?

I use https://github.com/mitchellkrogza/nginx-ultimate-bad-bot-blocker/blob/master/README.md
You'd need a VPS or dedicated server, using nginx for your web server, and good information/learning on how to configure and apply it. Or pay someone to do it for you.

 

[AndyB]

How does one prevent that?

I suggest using the following add-on:

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/robots.3900/