Popular open-source analytics solution Piwik just received a major (and we mean major) update in version 1.5. The solution now includes several features which could make the offering competitive in nature to analytics solutions including Google Analytics. Piwik, which is licensed under the GPL, has been used by more than 150,000 web sites.

Piwik users now have the ability to track custom variables on a per page basis, can access inline help for reports, delete old logs to keep database size small, and add custom logos in the UI. But it gets better. Perhaps the most visible change is that Piwik no longer relies on Flash for drawing graphs (now includes JavaScript Canvas Charts which draws graphs using the jqplot library).

The addition of Ecommerce analytics however is what could make Piwik a viable analytics solution. Users now have access to e-commerce specific analytics for tracking orders or product views when visitors add items to their shopping carts. Piwik consulted with Jirafe, an ecommerce analytics company, for the functionality.

The 1.5 update also addresses a critical security vulnerability in the software. In non-default configurations where an anonymous user has access to reports, the Piwik server could be compromised and allow the execution of arbitrary code.