Kernl Analytics does it’s best to collect as much data as possible that isn’t considered PII (personally identifiable information). We aren’t interested in who is requesting updates, so much as how their WordPress installation is configured so our customers can provide a better experience in their plugins and themes.
One question that we often get asked is: “Is it possible to see where my customers are hosting?”. On the surface it seems like an odd question, but dig a little deeper and you find that even if WordPress is the same different hosts often have different restrictions. Knowing where your customers are hosted allows you to make informed decisions about how you build your plugin/themes.
Introducing Host/Network Information for Kernl Analytics
In the “Domains” section of Kernl analytics you now can see a new column called “Hosting|Network”. This column takes the IP address of the domain and queries WHOIS to get the owner of that IP block. In most cases, this leads to useful information. For instance, in the above screenshot you see DigitalOcean and OVH. It is very likely that these customers are self-hosting.
While this isn’t a perfect solution to finding out where your customers host their sites, it does provide another piece of information to help you make informed decisions.