An access log is a text file containing an extensive report on all of the files accessed by your site visitors. All of the files which were requested in one way or another shall be included, so if you have a PHP script program and a website visitor opens only the home page, for example, you might find plenty of files inside the log. This is because there are resources on the home page which are embedded - parts of other pages, pictures, etc. These files shall be listed within the access log, so that you can get a full picture of the way your website functions. The info is in plain text format, so the logs are sometimes referred to as "raw data" as well. An access log shows the name of each and every requested file, the path to it, the date it was accessed, along with the user’s IP address, web browser and OS. Additional information, including the referrer Internet site, is oftentimes included too. A log file can be processed by various desktop applications for statistical purposes as an addition to the web statistics supplied by your website hosting server.