Google Analytics for WordPress reaches version 4
Google Analytics has gotten so many new features in the last year, that the only way I could incorporate those into my Google Analytics plugin, which has been downloaded 2,809,170 times, was by doing an almost complete rewrite. That’s why today, I’m proud to announce version 4.0 of this plugin.
What’s new with this Google Analytics plugin?
Asynchronous tracking
First of all, this new version 4.0 switches to the new asynchronous tracking method. This new tracking was also the reason it took a while to get this version out the door: there were quite a few bugs to work out; tracking by the beta was not reliable for a while.
What’s the advantage of the new tracking you ask? Why bother switching? Well, there are three reasons, as listed by the Google Analytics blog:
- Faster load times for your web pages due to improved browser execution of the tracking code.
- Enhanced data collection & accuracy.
- Elimination of tracking errors from dependencies when the JavaScript hasn't fully loaded.
If you want to know more about asynchronous scripts, check out this blog post by Steve Souders, in which he explains the concept and what it means for page load times. The short version: a normal script blocks other objects on your page, like images, from being loaded until it has been fully loaded. An asynchronous script allows for those other objects to be downloaded at the same time.
Custom Variables
Google launched the custom variable support in October 2009, and I’ve been playing with ways to use these in tracking ever since. Custom variables are a way to add data about the current page, the current session or the current user in your tracking, which you can use for some very cool things.
I've been thinking and working with guys like my buddies Frederick Townes and Justin Cutroni about what you should and could be tracking. It wasn't easy, which is why I’m very proud to show you this settings panel:
Google Analytics Custom Variables
As you can see in the screenshot, you can segment by:
- Logged in users: speaks for itself, very useful on BuddyPress sites etc: where do people that are logged in go, where do others go. It stores the users primary user level in the variable, so you can even segment for just "subscribers". (There's an advanced option to ignore users of certain levels should you want to btw)
- Author name: track page views per author.
- Single category: if your posts are in only one category each, this allows you to track views per category.
- All categories: track multiple categories per post, a bit harder to view in Analytics, but could still be useful.
- Tags: track all tags for each post, has its limits but might be useful.
- Publication year: see what’s doing good and bad, more specifically whether your old posts are still getting traffic.
- Post type: especially with the new custom post type features in WordPress 3.0 this is very useful: if you’ve got movies, actors etc. set up as custom post types, this allows you to track how many page views each post type got.
So you could run reports showing which authors do better, which categories and / or post types get more pageviews and so on. This will provide you with the kind of analysis you need to improve your blog. I hope you’re starting to get why I’m so excited about this release. But wait, there’s more.
Google Analytics API integration
Where in the past I'd ask you to enter your "UA ID" from the backend, you can now simply click a button, authenticate with Google Analytics, select the right account and then the right profile and start tracking! Check out how easy that is:
Google Analytics Configuration
Of course you can still enter the UA ID by hand if you want to, just check the box in the lower left of the screenshot and you'll get an input box to enter the UA ID.
E-Commerce integration
This plugin now fully integrates with both WP E-Commerce and Shopp: for both of these plugins it tracks sales using e-commerce tracking, allowing you to track where people that bought something came from, how they went about your site and which pages triggered them to buy.
All you have to do is install the plugin, and it'll automatically detect whether you're running one of these two plugins. You'll then get a box like this:
WP e-commerce analytics integration
Event tracking
In the past this plugin used page views to track downloads and outbound clicks, thereby inflating page views. I started doing this before event tracking even existed, but of course this needed to be changed. The plugin now uses event tracking for this by default, but, if you want to, you can just check a box and it’ll switch to using page views again. You can also switch to page views just for downloads, to keep your goals working the same way.
An API for this plugin
This plugin adds a couple of filters so you can add your own tracking from your own plugins without having to hassle with the rest of the tracking. The 3 filters are:
$push = apply_filters('yoast-ga-custom-vars',$push, $customvarslot);
$push = apply_filters('yoast-ga-push-before-pageview',$push);
$push = apply_filters('yoast-ga-push-after-pageview',$push);Custom variables are hard to deal with, as they need to be in the same "slot" all the time, that's why the $customvarslot is passed along.
Go get the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin
I have to believe that I've convinced you by now, so please go get the plugin. Please do let me know in the comments when you've upgraded, and what you think I should be adding!
PDF Tags: Analytics, Google Analytics, WordPress Plugins
Category: Analytics, WordPress
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by Darren on 7 July, 2010 at 14:00
Oh damn :L since launching my new site I've become too much of a stats whore :L This wont help that erm addiction.
Joke aside, thanks for the update :D
by Ricky Buchanan on 7 July, 2010 at 14:11
This is fantastic! Thanks so much for the great plugin - it's on my "must install for every site" list and I wouldn't know what to do without it :) Your work is muchly appreciated.
r
by Nick Soper on 7 July, 2010 at 14:32
Brilliant! Installation on the next site I build is guaranteed.
by Edwin on 7 July, 2010 at 14:32
Great work, Joost. I've been using your plugins for some time now. Can't wait to try this new version. Keep up the good work
by vp on 7 July, 2010 at 14:33
It seems like a great update! Congrats on your hard & clever work! I updated most of my sites already and it worked just fine, except for one of them in which I get the following error message:
"Fatal error: Cannot use string offset as an array in /home/consev/consev.es/wp-content/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/googleanalytics.php on line 266"
Any idea how to solve it? Thanks!
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 14:34
Hmm try to re-authenticate with Google Analytics, think that's a problem in the feed... If that doesn't solve it we'll have to dive deeper :)
by vp on 7 July, 2010 at 14:48
Thanks for your quick reply! I'm afraid it didn't solve it. I even logged in & out at G. Analytics with a different account, and then again with the right one, but same result.
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 14:49
Hmm that sucks. Ok I'll dive in deeper. For now, go to your Google Analytics, get the UA code for the right site, and enter it manually by checking the box on the left.
by Onelargeprawn on 7 July, 2010 at 14:55
Hi Joost,
Thanks for making this great plug-in. I too have gotten the fatal error. Whenever I go to another section of WordPress, the warning says "Google Analytics is not active. You must select which Analytics Profile to track before it can work." but whenever I click the link, it takes me back to the fatal error.
by vp on 7 July, 2010 at 14:55
The problem is I cannot access the plugin configuration anymore. The error message appears just after clicking here:
"Google Analytics is not active. You must select which Analytics Profile to track before it can work."
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 14:57
Yikes. OK, please ping me over email (joost - yoast . com) I'd need to see any of these installs as an admin with FTP access, so I can quickly see what's going wrong...
by LVC on 7 July, 2010 at 14:50
I'm getting the same error.
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 14:52
Just emailed both of you, will have to figure this one out. Could it be that there's only one site in your profile?
by JR on 7 July, 2010 at 15:30
I have the same problem. I did the update, was prompted to authenticate. Now I get error message saying, "Google Analytics is not active. You must select which Analytics Profile to track before it can work."
If I try to select it again I get put in the Tools>Google Analytics page and the screen is basically blank. The title is at the top, "Google Analytics for WordPress Configuration" and that's it.
To answer you question above -> yes, There is only one site on my profile.
by Lucas on 7 July, 2010 at 15:31
The same happened to me. And I only have one site in my google analytics profile...
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 15:32
Ok I just solved the issue and released 4.0.1, it should be available on wordpress.org within 10-15 minutes. Please do let me know here whether that fixes it!
by Lucas on 7 July, 2010 at 16:22
Thank you!
The plugin is working again.
by LVC on 7 July, 2010 at 16:36
Seems to work now. Thank you!
by vp on 7 July, 2010 at 17:59
It works like a charm now. Thanks a lot!
by MOCHIMADdotCOM on 14 July, 2010 at 16:15
I just updated as of 14 July and get that error. Furthermore, it did something to my analytics account and now the Analytics settings page in Google itself cannot find my list of nine sites that I track. The plug-in made me re-authenticate, but after doing that yielded failure, I manually entered the UA tracking code. I don't understand why the update forced the reauthentication. It remains to be seen if I lose stats over the next couple of days.
by Pallab on 7 July, 2010 at 14:34
Sweet! Was waiting for a plugin with async tracking.
by richardbaxterseo on 7 July, 2010 at 14:35
Brilliant, Joost - this is just what I've been looking for. You're a legend!
by Luciano Passuello on 7 July, 2010 at 14:53
Exciting!
This plugin is clearly superior to the plugin I currently use (Ultimate Google Analytics plugin -- which is also server-based).
Actually, the only reason I still use that plugin is because of the ability to track outbound links in my sidebar widgets. All I need to do is to filter widget text by using a function in the plugin:
add_filter( 'widget_text', 'uga_filter' );Does your plugin offer similar functionality? Is there a way I can filter widgets like that? Are there any alternatives to track items outside the main content area?
Thanks!
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 14:56
Hmm it doesn't support that right now but that's quite easily added, as the filter function does exist, the filter itself just doesn't :)
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 20:27
Ok I released 4.0.2 and it contains this new filter, nothing you have to do, it'll filter text widgets automatically!
by Luciano Passuello on 9 July, 2010 at 20:07
Wow, this is A-W-E-S-O-M-E, Joost!
No excuses for not using your plugin anymore! :)
Thanks a bunch!
by Luciano Passuello on 9 July, 2010 at 23:19
Hi Joost,
I just tested this feature and it works fine, except that the tracked links don't seem to honor the "Internal Links to Track as Outbound" option when placed in a text widget.
I tried the exact same link in the same page, one in the content and the other in the sidebar. When in the content, an OnClick event was added, when in the text widget, it didn't.
by Joost de Valk on 9 July, 2010 at 23:21
hmm that works for me, where is it? Can you show me?
by Luciano Passuello on 9 July, 2010 at 23:32
Sure, go to this page.
The link is to "/go/random/", and it appears at the very bottom of the content (where the tracking code is added) and in the sidebar (where it doesn't). The option is set to treat "/go/" as external links.
by Luciano Passuello on 9 July, 2010 at 23:34
Something went wrong with the link. It's http://litemind.com/about/
by Luciano Passuello on 9 July, 2010 at 23:38
Ok, it seems the sidebar widget was a red herring. It seems the reason it's not working is because it's an tag with a inside. If it's a regular link, it works fine.
by Tsene on 7 July, 2010 at 15:04
Excellent work. Keep coding ;)
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 15:39
4.0.1 is available now, so for the few of you having issues please update and let me know if that fixes it :)
by André Scholten on 7 July, 2010 at 15:51
Great Yoast, I know a lot of users that are using a plugin to imlement Google Analytics in WordPress. You're giving them all kinds of cool new information. And a better/faster tracking technology that won't slow down their sites.
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by Illiya Vjestica on 7 July, 2010 at 16:25
Excellent update Joost, this will definitely come in handy.
Not only was your plugin the very best Google analytics plugin for WordPress, now it's even better!
Keep up the great work!
by Hannes on 7 July, 2010 at 16:29
Sounds good. I was wondering when you were going to support the asynchronous code and event tracking ;)
But I checked the source of this page and it looks like you're not adding the Analytics code right before the closing of the head tag as instructed by Google.
You're loading jQuery and other javascript files after running the Analytics code. Any reason for that? Or will you fix this in the next update?
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 16:33
I'm doing it this high on purpose: if any of the other scripts loading on a page break (and trust me, this happens a lot when you have almost 1 million users), the tracking will still be valid.
by Hannes on 7 July, 2010 at 16:59
Alright, fair enough. I was just wondering :)
by Nicolas on 7 July, 2010 at 17:31
Upgrade worked well for me. I was just wondering why you place the tracking code in the header ... isn't it better to place that stuff in the footer? Love all your Plugins ... thanks for the update!
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 18:40
Not for asynchronous scripts, for normal scripts you'd be right though :-)
by Rolands on 7 July, 2010 at 17:55
Nice! I was already using my own small solution for WP GA, now just merged them.
by Jesse McFarlane on 7 July, 2010 at 18:48
Looks great as always Yoast!
by The Longest Way Home on 7 July, 2010 at 19:07
Hi Yoast,
After listening to your podcasts, and reading your work here. I must say you really have put great effort into this plug-in.
Whereas most can't wait to be first to release an update, you took your time in doing it. And, did it right. (something others can, & should learn from)
Just wanted to say thank you.
Dave
by Andreas on 7 July, 2010 at 19:09
Installed! Actually the first time I use a Plugin for my Analytics Code, I used to manually insert it into the footer template. The features mentioned here are just great.
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by bryan Bliss on 7 July, 2010 at 19:42
Usually i dont even read all the comments in a blog , so many blog comment spammers, the attaboyt and thank you" for a link gets abit much'
but in this case i wanted to see how this upgraded version is being received. i generally dont want to put my blog into the guinea pig testing mode until upgrade related bugs have been worked out.
I thought it was pretty cool to see the evolution of a bug report and instantaneous solution, with a brand new version uploaded to wordpress so quickly.
Alot of the code and tech escapes me or confuses me, so its nice to see that if sopmething DOES go wrong, you're there on the spot backing up, re-examining and improving your work.
this commitment to ones own quality control should be more common.
thanks
I dont understand whats behind the plugin, but ill install it anyways (later) and be glad you made it work better.
by Eric James Stone on 7 July, 2010 at 20:32
Upgrading loses the currently set UA code. That means Google Analytics does not work on the site after upgrade until either the link with Google's API is set up or the UA code is manually inserted. Wouldn't it be better to keep the old UA code and use it until the plugin is set up to use the API?
by Joost de Valk on 7 July, 2010 at 20:35
It would be, but for several reasons I can't rely on the old settings.
by Savvy Chick on 8 July, 2010 at 07:46
Thanks, Just updated to the latest version. :)
by Ramoonus on 8 July, 2010 at 10:52
Joepie de poepie ;-)
Thanks chap! You just made my day
by Tim on 8 July, 2010 at 11:02
An excellent plugin, which now is even better.
Just one feature request: Please support the "anonymizeIp" function from the admin panel.
At least for us here in Germany it is essential not to collect IP addresses.
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 11:03
Ah, yeah, will add that in the next release!
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 20:27
Ey Tim, I just released 4.0.2 and it contains this functionality :)
by Tim on 14 July, 2010 at 16:48
Hi Joost,
there is a bug in the anonymizeIp feature. The generated code should be
_gaq.push(['_gat._anonymizeIp']Without _gat it won't work. You can check this by tracing the call to google-analytics.com with httpfox. The URL should contain a "aip=1" if IP anonymization is enabled.
by Rune Risom on 8 July, 2010 at 11:11
Fantastic stuff Joost! The previous version worked like a charm and v4 looks 100 times better. Great job!
by Gary on 8 July, 2010 at 12:51
Thanks Yoast...
Have to admit to being a bit worried about performance implications of placing the tracking code in the header. I've measured placing the code both in the header and footer with both Google Pagespeed and Yahoo YSlow.
On YSlow my performance reduced by 1/100 with the code in the header whereas in pagespeed my score improved by 2 by having the code in the header!
Nice! Thanks.
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by Ann Donnelly on 8 July, 2010 at 15:15
It's a great plugin - also a must have for all my sites. Glad to see you're working on it. Thanks.
Upgraded one site from back end with one click. It was a little awkward to have to re-enter in some settings though. Like I wanted to keep /outbound/ for consistency. As I have a number of sites to upgrade now, it'd be handy for that to be held through upgrade if possible.
I entered the GA code manually cos I was thinking it would be better if site has other admins or was handed over to someone else. Is that an issue?
Was hoping that clicking of email links might also be included as well as other links -- have a site with links to members emails and it'd be nice to show how many clicks there are. (I've held off adding a tracking code manually to each link.) Since I installed your plugin to that site it's great that client can generate reports to show their members how many clickthroughs they get!
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 15:17
tracking mailto: links will be supported in the next version, added it last night :) If you've got outbound click tracking on it'll automatically track those with prefix "mailto" and then the email address.
by Ann Donnelly on 8 July, 2010 at 15:20
Phew! Glad I didn't go and add it manually to all the 1,000s of email addresses on the site! :-)
Oh, and can you add encryption too! :-D
(I really need to learn php.)
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 15:21
encryption of what?
by Ann Donnelly on 8 July, 2010 at 15:25
...email addresses so that spambots don't harvest them. Plugin I was using for that also encrypts regular links and I get loads of 404 errors showing in Google Webmaster Tools, so thinking not a good thing. Don't like using plugins unless I can understand the technology at least a little -- or they come from a trusted source. I'd try to avoid listing the email address, but this is a directory and the emails need to be easily accessible.
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 15:28
won't be able to do that, unfortunately, as that goes beyond the scope of this plugin.
by Joost de Valk on 8 July, 2010 at 20:28
Ok Ann, I released 4.0.2 a few hours ago which contains the mailto tracking :)
by TODHD on 8 July, 2010 at 17:37
I like this update because it allows me to manage my analytics inside of WordPress
by Foxy on 8 July, 2010 at 18:00
Awesome plugin. I really appreciate all your efforts to get this to version 4.0! :)
by Norm# on 8 July, 2010 at 18:31
Hi Joost,
thanks for this wonderful plugin, it seems to have a problem with my site tho.. actually im having two wordpress sites, both on the same domain. So far everything was working fine and admins (me) were not tracked. After the update tho, my main site started to track me although I am a logged in admin and yes, I told the plugin not to track admins. The plguin works correctly on the other install. What am i doing wrong?
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by Gunaxin on 9 July, 2010 at 15:25
Nice work on the plugin, this has some great features that I've been looking for, and previously implemented by modifying your old version. On thing in particular is the ability to use custom variables to track by author. However I was wondering if you would be able to help us a bit more with how to read these reports. I currently don't see anything listed under Visitors / Custom Variables. I can setup an advanced segment for each individual author, and that works, but I can't figure out how to just get a report listing the performance of ALL authors. Any thoughts?
by Brian at Arctic Llama, LLC on 9 July, 2010 at 22:17
Thanks for the update. This is the only plug-in that has ever worked for me when it comes to tracking AdSense, which is the really important thing to me. Well, that and the keywords that bring people in. I've got this installed on all my best performing websites (which is why I'm glad it now defaults to just using the UA that is already configured instead of having to re-set it up.)
What I really think is amazing is the both the speed and care with which you support your stuff. Just following along in the comments above I see two very quickly released updates to address both a potential issue, and a feature request. You don't get that much anywhere else.
Thanks for this plugin, and for all the unbiased wisdom you've dolled out over the years.
Brian
ArcticLlama.com (Arctic Llama Freelance Writing)
by Joost de Valk on 9 July, 2010 at 22:43
Thx for the positive feedback Brian!
by Austin on 9 July, 2010 at 23:45
Joost, another great piece of work! Can you explain how I can use your new API feature to add the setDomainname? I want to remove the cookies generated by Google Analytics from my subdomain.
Thanks
Austin
by Joost de Valk on 10 July, 2010 at 07:47
setDomainname is actually a feature of the plugin, just have a look under advanced settings.
by Udegbunam Chukwudi on 10 July, 2010 at 00:48
The plug-in works pretty well and I love it. Is there a way of making it work on wordpress pages within the same domain?
I'm also looking forward to your response to Justin's question about cookieless subdomains.
Cheers and thanks for an awesome plug-in ;-)
by Joost de Valk on 10 July, 2010 at 07:48
I don't get what you mean, could you be a bit more verbose? :)
by Udegbunam Chukwudi on 10 July, 2010 at 09:48
Ooops! I meant non-wordpress pages ;-)
Sorry about that. Here's what I mean. My site's main page and 404 page were created using Dreamweaver. Only my blog uses wordpress. Now I've heard that there are some analytics plug-ins that could help me track both pages on my blog (which was created using wordpress and so functions beautifully with you plug-in) and @ the same time track my main page and 404 pages?
I hope that explains it better ;-)
The setDomainname feature doesn't really work well.
Instead of _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'www.domainname.com']); it does this _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', '.www.domainname.com']);. Please notice the dot before www in the second code and this wrong according to Google Analytics
Hope you can help out. Cheers and have a great weekend
by Ian on 10 July, 2010 at 09:42
Hi Joost
Thanks for this upgrade to the plugin, I was a little worried to begin with when it didn't seem to want to play but when you released an updated version in worked immediately.
I'm a great fan of the podcast and listen to it either walking the dog or in the car, over the months it's saved me a lot of time and effort and given me some fantastic starting points for new ideas.
Just one question, we have a client site which uses wp-ecommerce and the plugin automatically detected it. E-commerce now appears in the sidebar of Google analytics, having enabled it according to your instructions. This doesn't however seem to pick up any data, could you give me any pointers as to why not or tell me where I could find out a bit more. This would be a brilliant way to track sales data.
Thanks again for your plugins and also the info that comes from the site and the podcast.
Cheers
Ian
by vanni linux on 10 July, 2010 at 11:28
Thanks for sharing this ..i love word press
by freelancehyderabad on 11 July, 2010 at 05:22
Realy awesome plug-in thank you
by Danny Gavin on 11 July, 2010 at 05:39
We have upgraded the plugin - however - there for the past 2 days.. Friday and Saturday, Google
ANalytics has not been picking up any traffic from our website. I am pretty sure it has to do with the upgrade, can you please suggest what I need to do to get my tracking up and running again.
THanks!
by chris on 11 July, 2010 at 06:48
Same problem here I have had no traffic tracked for the past 2 days after updating.
by Joost de Valk on 11 July, 2010 at 08:36
have you both re-configured the plugin? Are the websites that aren't tracking the websites you've linked?
by chris on 11 July, 2010 at 22:17
Yes, I even manually entered my UA code
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 12:38
Could you upgrade to the just now released version 4.0.3 and check if that fixes it for you?
by Danny Gavin on 11 July, 2010 at 22:25
I manually entered the codes.. and it seems to be working
by Danny Gavin on 11 July, 2010 at 09:22
How do we reconfigure the plugin?
by o.m. on 11 July, 2010 at 13:33
brilliant my friend. you're slowly growing into an empire :)
by Jay on 12 July, 2010 at 00:25
I had used this plugin for ages and always regarded it as a top-notch plugin for WordPress users. I did get one update recently that lost my Analytics account--I had to reestablish the connection.
The next day, I received another update (maybe this past week), which I upgraded to. For some reason, this update caused my site do redirect to Quantcast. The only way that I could fix this problem was to deactivate the plugin.
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 20:13
That sounds like another plugin's javascript is erroring out, did you upgrade multiple ones? Quantcast doesn't even exist as text in my plugin...
by cijay on 12 July, 2010 at 12:25
Great plugin - make it so easy to work on and having many features as well.
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 12:39
I just released version 4.0.3, check out the changelog here, one bug that some of you might be dealing with got fixed in it, so please upgrade.
by Oslobåden on 12 July, 2010 at 13:34
It's nice with all of the new features for Google analytics. It's by far one of my favourite free programs when it comes to data from my website.
by Rafael from iloveplanes.com on 12 July, 2010 at 14:20
This plugin is off the chain! I love that I can quickly see the stats that matter to me.
Hartelijk dank Joost!
by Lisa on 12 July, 2010 at 16:55
Is there a place on the dashboard or backend of WP where we can view the google stats OR do we have to log into google analytics all the time in order to see?
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 20:12
You'll have to log into Google Analytics, or, even better, install the awesome MailChimp Analytics360 plugin, which can show Google Analytics straight on your dashboard. You do not need a Mailchimp account for that plugin to work by the way.
by Mommy on 12 July, 2010 at 17:27
What a great update. Site speed has increased and pageviews are reported more accurately.. x
by Smetr on 12 July, 2010 at 18:45
Hi Yoast, thank you for your great plugin, but the ecommerce tracking doesn't work. I'm using the wp ecommerce plugin the actual version. Everything is working very well, just only the ecommerce tracking track no sales!
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 20:11
Have you enabled ecommerce tracking in the backend?
by Ian on 12 July, 2010 at 20:43
Hi Joost
I'm also having the same problem, see my earlier post. I have ecommerce enabled in Google Analytics and your plugin detected that I had wp-ecommerce installed.
Is there somewhere else that it needs enabling? Which backend are you referring to.
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 20:46
Well there's a new section in the bottom of the google analytics admin panel where you should check one box.
by Ian on 12 July, 2010 at 20:56
I've done this in the Google account:
The first step of tracking e-commerce transactions is to enable e-commerce reporting for your website's profile:
1. Sign in to your account.
2. Click Edit next to the profile you'd like to enable.
3. On the Profile Settings page, click Edit next to Main Website Profile Information.
4. Change the E-Commerce Website radio button from No to Yes.
And in the admin panel in the plugin I've checked the box that says:
Enable transaction tracking:
Could it be something to do with the fact that we are using paypal payments standard as a payment provider.
I'd love to get this working as it would just be the icing on the cake for our analytics reports to the client.
by Joost de Valk on 12 July, 2010 at 20:57
Hmm ok Ian, that's about all you should do indeed. Let me connect with you through email and see if we can get this fixed.
by Smetr on 13 July, 2010 at 15:36
yes i've enabled the ecommerce tracking in the backend. But still no success!
by Drew on 21 July, 2010 at 01:17
Was there any resolution to this? I'm having the same problem and when I do test transactions, I see that the thank you page is showing the normal tracking code, not the transaction code. It would be super cool to get this piece working.
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by Heidi Wyka on 12 July, 2010 at 22:33
Hello. I'm new to the blogging world. I am trying, desperately, to get Google Analytics up and running, but I'm having trouble. I set up an email account with gmail. It's ecofriendly1983@gmail.com. Each time I click the button for authentication, I keep getting an error and I don't understand what to do. I have my blog website set up through wordpress. What do I need to do or what am I doing wrong. Can you help me please?
-Heidi
by Voyle on 13 July, 2010 at 01:43
Yoost, just want you to know something. I have subscribed and unsubscribed to close to 100
"lists" and of them all, yours has been the best. Never had any desire to unsubscribe. You
are delivering value. Though you're waaay over my head, I do understand some of it and
I use it. Better, I read every comment -- never have done that before. I'm impressed with
your support. I'll be a subscriber for a long time. (Of course, at 68, that might not be a real '
long time...but hey, I'm with you to the end. :)
by Joost de Valk on 13 July, 2010 at 07:49
Thx for those kind words Voyle, appreciated :) (68, though? My dad isn't even 68 yet, but then again, he wouldn't know how to deal with all the information on this blog, or how to install a plugin ;) )
by colin on 13 July, 2010 at 03:18
thank you for your great plugin. love that I can quickly see the stats that matter to me.
Hartelijk dank Joost!
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by aljuk on 13 July, 2010 at 10:03
That's great work.
by Phil v. Sassen on 13 July, 2010 at 11:33
The plugin worked like a charm.
Unfortunately since the recent update Goggle doesn't track anything. BTW: I am using Version
4.0.4.
Best regards from Berlin - Germany, Phil
by Joost de Valk on 13 July, 2010 at 11:37
Hi Phil,
as far as I can tell, tracking is working fine, the right stuff is going to Google without any warnings.
by Phil v. Sassen on 13 July, 2010 at 11:51
Thank you for your speedy reply.
In this case google seems to be in hiccup mode. Yesterday it reported only one visitor where the Automatic stats registered way more than this. BTW: Even my Alexa Rank improved ...
Hope its a temporary issue.
Regards, Phil
by Joost de Valk on 13 July, 2010 at 11:55
Just thought of this just now, but what could have happened is that your pages were cached... I see you're running W3 Total Cache and the plugin doesn't automatically clear the cache once you've updated the settings, even though it probably should...
by Phil v. Sassen on 13 July, 2010 at 12:00
Joost, your support is great! I emptied the cash.
As soon as I have a clue I am going to update you.
Thanks once again,
Phil
by Phil v. Sassen on 14 July, 2010 at 09:46
analytics is back again. It was a temporary issue!
by akanx on 14 July, 2010 at 08:42
previously I was using version 4.0.2 now I've updated it to version 4.0.4, thank you earlier
because after using this plugin very aesthetically difference in my stats.
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by Blair on 14 July, 2010 at 10:01
Hi Joost,
You'll probably laugh because the answer might be 'because you didn't have any visitors', but I've recently added your analytics plugin to my blog, and now my stats are showing 0 visitors (Before installing the plugin I had a steady trickle).
The reason I think this might be wrong is I had 3 separate people retweet one of my posts yesterday, so for the analytics to say 0 visitors is a bit strange?
I've clicked on 'check status' inside google analytics itself, and it says 'receiving data' with a tick symbol. Is it possible that I've made some incorrect selections inside the admin section?
Really grateful for any advice you could offer.
Thanks,
Blair
by Faren on 14 July, 2010 at 10:59
Mine is saying the same thing. Hope its just a small fix!
by Doug Smith on 14 July, 2010 at 13:07
Thanks for your hard work on a great update!
One thing I have noticed is that I'm seeing a large increase in 404 errors in my logs where the URL is mangled with part of an analytics URL tacked on to the end, like this:
/contact/.google-analytics.com/ga.jsI spot-checked the IP addresses of some of them and they all seem to be from Hughes Network Systems. So I don't know if it's something in the plugin or just Hughes' proxy server mangling the URLs, which I've seen happen before. I thought I'd mention it just in case.
by MOCHIMADdotCOM on 14 July, 2010 at 16:58
The instant I updated, all nine of the sites I track forced me to reauthenticate. I ended up entering my UA manually, which let me skip the reauthentication. AND the actual Google Analytics settings landing page can no longer see my list of sites. There is a red-boxed error warning in the masthead that says 'This page has encountered an error that may prevent it from working correctly.' I was able to view my sites in the dropdown, but the settings page sees nothing and loads nothing. It started the minute I updated the first site to the latest plug-in. I hope I don't lose months and months of stats or lose current stats.
by Krims@nline.com on 14 July, 2010 at 21:08
Since the installation of the new GA plugin GA is not tracking my comments anymore. The _trackPageview is not showing up in my top content. Any one an idea ?
function trackFormSubmit(pageview) {
try {
_gaq.push(['_setAccount','UA-3532XXX-X'],['_setCustomVar','1','commenter','1','1'],['_trackPageview',pageview]);
setTimeout('return true;', 100);
}
catch(err){}
...
For the rest I'm using GA plugin for a long time now and it does what it needs to to in an easy way. Thanks for this super plugin.
by John on 16 July, 2010 at 18:53
The updated version is working great for me but none of the custom variables I've selected are showing. I believe I should see it in visitor > custom variables
Is anyone else not seeing them? or am I looking in the wrong place?
Thanks
by iBenRowe on 18 July, 2010 at 03:46
Great work! Locked and loaded! Thanks! :D
by Ant Stone on 19 July, 2010 at 05:12
Great plugin Yoast, but I'm having trouble with something.
In the "Google Analytics for WordPress Configuration" dashboard I select the account I'd like, and one of the two associated profiles.
I click, tick and mould the settings then click: 'Update Google Analytics Settings'. But the profile I selected defaults back to the one I don't want.
The extra profile is actually a result of following another one of your tutorials (http://yoast.com/track-seo-rankings-google-analytics/). This is the one I do not want to track with your new plugin, I just want to track the default Google Analytics account for this particular account.
Thanks for taking the time to produce this plugin, perhaps you can help — am I missing something?
by Joost de Valk on 19 July, 2010 at 07:49
If I get it correctly they're for the same site? In that case this is the result of the fact that both profiles share the same UA code, and the one comes first in the list of profiles. So, it'll track just fine, I just need to add an explanation of some sort to reflect that...
by Ant Stone on 19 July, 2010 at 08:01
Thanks Yoast. Yes, both for the same site.
For example, the two profiles I have created for this site are:
SEO Rankings (your tutorial)
http://www.MYDOMAIN.com (main Google setup)
The figures shown aren't exactly the same for some reason, so I'm editing the SEO Rankings to "X SEO Rankings" to default to the http://www.MYDOMAIN.com one.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
by Rand on 20 July, 2010 at 16:50
Hi Yoast,
Thanks so much for the plug-in!
I having some trouble, though, after having moved my domain to a new server, I receive a blank screen when choosing the GA settings, with a reference in my error log to:
PHP Fatal error: Cannot use string offset as an array in foo/google-analytics-for-wordpress/googleanalytics.php on line 284, referer: http://MYDOMAIN.com/wp-admin/plugins.php
4.0.4 was working fine on the other server.
I've deactivated and removed 4.0.4, and reuploaded and reactivated 4.0.4, with the same result.
Any ideas?
by Rand on 20 July, 2010 at 17:02
Oh, sorry, I should have mentioned, I'm using WP3.
by Travis Clark on 20 July, 2010 at 16:55
Great work Yoast, as usual. I seem to be having the same issue with this site not tracking
since I updated. (I am using 4.0.5).
I have one other site under the same account (the primary) and it's tracking properly. Using
WP3. Any advice would be great appreciated.
by Dan Greene on 20 July, 2010 at 22:49
Does the plug in support multiple tracking codes?
by Udegbunam Chukwudi on 21 July, 2010 at 14:38
The plug-in still works fine for me. Just wanted to remind if there was a way of fixing the setdomain name issue that keeps putting a dot before www ie _gaq.push(['_setDomainName','.www.strictlyonlinebiz.com'],['_trackPageview']);
Cheers
by Joost de Valk on 21 July, 2010 at 14:39
Hmm jotting that one down, would have to look into it.
by Charles on 23 July, 2010 at 19:19
I see this plugin is now at v4.0.6 so I'm guessing most / all the issues mentioned by people in the comments have been fixed?
by Joost de Valk on 23 July, 2010 at 20:54
Yes. All of them.
by Christina on 25 July, 2010 at 18:36
If it's fixed already...then it's really a must have...I'll try it myself...thanks.
by Stephanie on 30 July, 2010 at 00:59
OK- so I loaded google analytics on the blog- but does it take a bit to start tracking? I get the big ! warning on my google analytics page.
by Mark Jansen on 31 July, 2010 at 09:48
Thanks for writing this great plug-in!
One suggestion: could you implement a feature which automatically segments users if a certain parameter has been specified in the URL? Eg. if the visitor visits http://blog.com?source=newsletter I want to be able to segment using this variable "newsletter". Is this possible?
by Joost de Valk on 8 August, 2010 at 13:13
Hey Mark, that's actually what the Google Analytics campaign tagging was invented for... Read the docs, and try out the tool that google provides to help tag links.
by brad on 31 July, 2010 at 18:51
Hey there, I was wondering if this plugin could some how be used to track user traffic on an author by author basis. Im trying to pay them on a performance basis but there dont seem to be any decent plugins out there for that and at the moment, I just literally count the views per post over a period. Would be nice if I could see it per author.
by Joost de Valk on 8 August, 2010 at 12:22
You can by using the advanced segments and specifying author as one of the advanced segments to track. A tutorial on how to do this is in my planning actually :)
by Zacchaeus on 31 July, 2010 at 23:57
Should I use this in addition to my Google Analytics client in my Google account? Do they override eachother?
by Ken on 3 August, 2010 at 06:48
Great plug in. I am running 4.0.6. Everything seemed to install easily enough. The settings are very east to use. But the first day running the plug-in just closed and Google did not pick up any traffic. To be fair, I also just migrated the site from Joomla to WordPress, changing hosts at the same time. But their do not appear to be any issues with accessing the site externally. We got a normal number of comments today so I know there was traffic. I am not even sure where to start. Any ideas?
Thanks.
by Joost de Valk on 8 August, 2010 at 12:23
There's a 24 hour delay in Google picking up traffic, especially right after when you install a new tracking code, if the problem has persisted, please contact me through this site.
by Ken on 4 August, 2010 at 06:22
Let me know if you have any thoughts on what the problem might be. I didn't get any stats again today so I dug a little deeper. I entered the UA code manually and also inserted the tracking code manually in header.php before the tag. That seems to have fixed it. I can now see the code when I view code from my browser. The outbound links were getting tagged before but not the main tracking code.