Timeline

WinGate provides the Timeline system for the analysis of both real-time and historical web activity, and the tracking of certain system events throughout WinGate. When users access a web site through WinGate, their activity can be recorded to a database file and displayed in graphic form as an activity bar on a timeline. This gives administrators an easy to understand picture of web use as it happens or when reviewing previous activity. The Timeline system also provides the tracking of other types of activity and events that take place in WinGate. These include VPN activity, email sending and collection, and various system events.

Timeline panel

The Timeline panel (provided by the Timeline module) provides a linear record of a users web requests. Each site they visit will be displayed as an activity bar that will grow in length as their activity continues along the Timeline. When their visit ends the activity bar will stop growing, and its color will change indicating that their access has finished. System events (such as shutting down of the WinGate engine) are displayed as points along the Timeline for easy tracking of their start and finish times.

Database

Using a database to record each piece of activity, the Timeline system can provide a powerful reference tool for administrators when they need to see activity that has taken place in either real-time, or a historical context. Having the Timeline stored in a database, allows you to to build SQL queries (with a suitable SQL application) in order to extract history reports from the Timeline data. The content of the database can be purged on a regular basis, or it can keep a continuous historical record of all activity and system events, that can be displayed on the Timeline panel for as long as you require.

View filters

To manage what is shown in the Timeline, you can create filters to limit what activity information will be displayed. This is useful when you only need to view a certain type of activity on the Timeline. Once created, each filter can be easily accessed from the Timeline panel when needed.