Is the 'who's on' count a true count?

The Member and visistor count stats on the bottom of the main page,

I am wondering if they are true counts of the members and visitors online.

The reason for this, is that many, many times I see the ratio is exactly 10 or 20 to 1.

Example - right now...



Who's On - There are a total of 108 registered members and 1080 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.

That in itself is not unique, but the number of times I have noticed this arouses my suspicions that maybe the count get haywire and there is a default 'standby' count, or something like that.

Not that it really matters that much.

Also, on BTS when I check 'who's on' from MyATS, it is still reporting 98 and 980, respectively. It has been like that since at least the server upgrade.

I would have to guess that the count is pretty accurate as of this post here is what it says:

Who's On - There are a total of 98 registered members and 1372 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.

Don't see why it wouldn't be.

Personally when ever my computer is on ATS is one of the sites I have up at all times. I just refresh the page every hour or two to see what new posts have been made.

Do me a favor...

Go to BTS and then to MyATS, and check the 'who's on' at the bottom of that page, and tell us what it says.

It has been reading 98/980 for the longest time for me here. From ATS it reads differently for me.


Is it just me?

Right now, from ATS Myats, it reads 84/840

From BTS Myats, it reads 98/980 - still!!

[edit on 6/4/2006 by Mechanic 32]

No, it's not at all accurate. At least, it wasn't accurate before the server switch, and I haven't heard anything about it getting tuned up.

It works on a delay (how long, I'm not sure), so that people who show up as on are often not, and people whose names don't show up could very well be lurking.

It's something to do with refresh rate I think, they have it set low so it doesn't suck resources, but that results in a very inaccurate 'census' so to speak.

Also, people tend to pop on and off real quick, so if the page updated everytime someone came or went, it would almost certainly give the server the electronic equivalent of a brain fart before too long.

Originally posted by WyrdeOneit would almost certainly give the server the electronic equivalent of a brain fart before too long.

And what about from BTS, in MyATS?

It always says 98/980.....

Who's On - There are a total of 98 registered members and 1274 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.

*refresh*

Who's On - There are a total of 94 registered members and 1692 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.

Doesn't seem like it always says 98/980 for me.

Also just the fact that what does it mean to be "on ATS" could be affecting it. Do you have to be posting? Reading a page? Sitting in chat while your actual ATS doesn't refresh at all? etc. Plus the whole "last seen an hour ago" thing.

Okay, for those of you who seem to have missed my point the first time...

Look at these screen captures taken less than a minute apart....




The one marked "1" was taken while on Above Top Secret from My ATS. From on this board.

The one marked "2" was taken from Below Top Secret from MyATS on that Board. There is a difference, no?

I am not talking about never refreshing my screen!

Also notice what I have underlined in red!

Thank you, I know I'm not crazy! At least not for making this observation.

Simon, you're not listening to the little details, either I'm afraid.

Go to BTS right now, then to MyATS.

Now check the stats from that page.......

From MyATS page of each forum:
ATS:
Who's On - There are a total of 149 registered members and 2980 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.
accepttheownage, AceWombat04, ADVISOR, AgentSmith

BTS:
Who's On - There are a total of 98 registered members and 980 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.
AgentSmith, Amethyst, Amuk, andpau66, apc

From main page of each forum:
ATS:
Who's On - There are a total of 149 registered members and 2980 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.
accepttheownage, AceWombat04, ADVISOR, AgentSmith,

BTS:
Who's On - There are a total of 149 registered members and 2980 visitors on AboveTopSecret.com domains right now.
accepttheownage, AceWombat04, ADVISOR, AgentSmith,

The listing above in bold seems to be 'wrong'. It also has Agent Smith's name not bolded, which indicates it was taken from before he became a moderator. His name is bolded in the other three pages...

Thank you, Benevolent Heretic! I knew I was'nt just going nuts!


What happened to Simon Gray's post here??

Makes me look like I'm talking to a figment of my imagination.

Mechanic..... Riiiiiiiight!



No I see what your saying. Doesn't seem to be 100% accurate.

It would appear that MyATS on BTS is frozen in time. I'll mention it to S.O. for some feedback.

Thank you Simon, I'll be quiet now.

Originally posted by Mechanic 32
Thank you, Benevolent Heretic! I knew I was'nt just going nuts!

I make no claims about your sanity...

What happened to Simon Gray's post here??

Makes me look like I'm talking to a figment of my imagination.

See my comment above...

It can't be accurate, and I have often wondered about tis myself. Whenever I see that at the bottom of a page, I sort of without much if any prior plannin, will check to see if my name, "CyberKat" is included. More often than not, t isn't.

I wondered if maybe one must first make a post in order to be recognized by the sortware. But, that doesn't usnually work either. But, then again, I didn't become a member of this site, nor do I post here so I can see my ueer name at the bottom of the page. I'm not that shallow!

But still, it is sort of odd. Sometimes I just click on the site and find that my name is already there. Go figure.......

UPDATE --- upon further investigation, I find that the number of visitors divided by the number of registered members, ALWAYS returns an integer EXACTLY.

i.e., as of this post, 175 reg. members, 2275 visitors.

2275
/175
-----
13 exact.

earlier today... 187 reg. members, 2992 visitors.

2992
/187
-----
16 exactly.

and another... 167 reg. members, 3340 visitors.

3340
/167
-----
20 exactly.

Anyone can check this for theirself.


In my original post here, when I started this thread, I only reported the instances of divide by 10 or twenty. The reason for that is, it is more obvious with divisions of multiples of ten. I had found out some time after that, that it is not limited to multiples of ten. They are just more obvious.

So it seems that the actual count of visitors, at least, is not all that accurate. So when board statistics are posted are they erroneous as well?

Any more thoughts?