!(alignright)http://www.sensoryoutput.com/wp-images/postings/mint_logo.png(Mint, by Shaun Inman)!:http://www.haveamint.com/ After a long lull in my posting, I am sure that no one even cares: I have installed “Mint”:http://www.haveamint.com/, the fresh web statistic tracking program created by “Shaun Inman”:http://www.shauninman.com/. Although this site serves little more than my personal creative outlet for writing, thoughts, ideas, and exclamations, there is a wee bit of narcissism that follows the creation of a personal blog. As such, how can I tell if I am (not) popular? Eating a “Mint”:http://www.haveamint.com/, of course!

Mint intelligently collects and displays hits, unique visitors, referrers (minus the referral spam, of course), and much more. Mint replaces the venerable “ShortStat”:http://www.shauninman.com/plete/2004/06/shortstat-again, which I used since this site’s inception more than a year ago. I added an SVG chart to my copy of ShortStat that matched the look and feel and I am anxious to rework it as a plugin (called Pepper) for Mint.

At $30 per domain, Mint might be a little overkill for my site, but the scalability and logical, common sense approach to the data collection is right in line with my goals of -world domination- better data visibility in smart, open formats. SQL is a such a format, and Mint is the means to accessing that data. Did I mention that there is also a “Mac OS X Tiger”:http://www.apple.com/macosx/ widget, aptly named Junior Mint?

The installation was more simple than I imagined. Change a few lines in the configuration file, upload the directory. I followed the installation prompts (site name, email, and password for authentication to haveamint.com presumably), copied the JavaScript line into the site files I wanted to track, and in seconds, I was staring at Sensory Output’s mint breath.

For all your linking pleasure, see these gushing accounts of the wonders of Mint. (Yes, by now, I am a Mint horror, too!)

* “Mint: The Flavor of the Month(Mint: The Flavor of the Month)”:http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/09/mint-the-flavor-of-the-month, by Mike Davidson
* “Mint: Better Than Girl Scout Cookies(Mint: Better Than Girl Scout Cookies)”:http://jeffcroft.com/blog/archives/2005/09/mint_better_tha.php, by Jeff Croft
* “Mint: Fresh ‘N Yummy(Mint: Fresh ‘N Yummy)”:http://www.thebignoob.com/Blog/308/mint-fresh-n-yummy, by Keegan Jones
* “Mint: It’s Good and Good For You(Mint: It’s Good and Good For You)”:http://www.iammattthomas.com/journal/mint-its-good-and-good-for-you, by Matt Thomas
* “Pimp My Mint(Pimp My Mint)”:http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/pimp-my-mint, by Jon Hicks

* “Dr. Inman’s Mint(Dr. Inman’s Mint)”:http://www.bearskinrug.co.uk/_articles/2005/09/03/dr_inmans_mint/index.php, by Kevin Cornell
* “Mint: A Stats Odyssey(Mint: A Stats Odyssey)”:http://www.robweychert.com/editorials/2005/09/03/mint_a_stats_odyssey/index.php, by Rob Weychert