The WebTrends *.wlp file — knowing enough to be dangerous

by rocky

(Applies to: software)

It’s early in the history of the WebTrends Outsider and we may as well get in big trouble right away.

This topic is about the *.wlp files. You need to know that they exist and you might actually find them interesting. And once in a while you will need to alter one — for example when dealing with the issue of the Pages report showing both www and non-www versions of your domain name, resulting in double listings for some pages. The fix for that problem involves adding a line to a .wlp file.

Nobody seems to know what “wlp” stands for. You just need to know that it’s the mother configuration file for a profile, and every profile has one.

You will need:

A text editor (Notepad is unsafe because it blocks access for the files it has open. Invest in TextPad.)
Access to the WebTrends program directory on the WebTrends server (i.e. have the necessary privileges and permissions to browse around in there and open files)
The semi-secret GUID of the profile you are interested in (this is the 11-character string that appears in greyed-out font in the Profile File Name field of the General tab when you edit a profile. Or, when you are looking at reports, it is in the address bar as the *.wlp filename) (GUID stands for “Globally Unique Identifier.” The GUID will stay constant no matter how often you change a profile’s title. This is a good thing.)

Ready? It’s best to look at *.wlp files when WebTrends isn’t actually analyzing or displaying anything.

Using Windows Explorer (or any file browser) find your WebTrends program directory. Go here:

… Program Files / WebTrends / storage / config / wtm_wtx / datfiles / profiles

In the /Profiles folder you’ll see *.wlp and *.bak files, for all your current GUIDS and maybe some old ones too.

Open the *.wlp file that has the same name as your favorite profile’s GUID. (This would be a good time to tell Windows that you want all *.wlp files to be opened with TextPad.)

Now, just read through it. Did you find it interesting, even exciting? Then you have the makings of a WT hacker. Was it scary? It’s just as well. You really don’t want to change anything in these without somebody telling you exactly what to do.

That’s it. End of tip. Just thought you should know.

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