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--- configuration:usage_stats [2022/12/19 21:29] – [Enhanced UI Tracking with GTM and GA4] demiankatz
+++ configuration:usage_stats [2023/11/09 19:18] (current) – demiankatz
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 It is often extremely helpful to measure user behavior in order to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of your user interface, your indexing rules and your underlying collection.
-VuFind offers several options for collecting usage statistics.
+VuFind® offers several options for collecting usage statistics.
 ===== Google Analytics =====
-[[https://analytics.google.com/|Google Analytics]] is a very popular hosted solution for gathering site statistics. VuFind offers out-of-the-box GA support through the [GoogleAnalytics] section of [[configuration:files:config.ini|config.ini]].
+[[https://analytics.google.com/|Google Analytics]] is a very popular hosted solution for gathering site statistics. VuFind® offers out-of-the-box GA support through the [GoogleAnalytics] section of [[configuration:files:config.ini|config.ini]].
 ==== Some Tips for Using Google Analytics ====
-Google Analytics provides a variety of ways to track web traffic to gain a better understanding of how users find and use your website.  Here are a few tips for using Google Analytics with VuFind.
+Google Analytics provides a variety of ways to track web traffic to gain a better understanding of how users find and use your website.  Here are a few tips for using Google Analytics with VuFind®.
   * Use the Content Drilldown option to examine what parts of the site users are visiting.\\ On the sidebar menu, navigate to Behavior -> Site Content -> Content Drilldown. In the main pane select /vufind/ in the Page path level 1 column.\\ This will show you the number of page views of records (/Records/), searches (/Search/, /Author/ (author search)), browsing activity (/Browse/ and /Alphabrowse/), and any custom pages you have created. Unless you specify a date range (in the upper right of the main pane), Google Analytics will set the date range to the last 30 day period.
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 ===== Matomo 4+ =====
-// Available starting with VuFind 8.0. //
+// Available starting with VuFind® 8.0. //
 (see also legacy Piwik/Matomo 3.x support below)
@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 ===== Google Tag Manager =====
-// Available starting with VuFind 9.0. //
+// Available starting with VuFind® 9.0. //
 [[https://tagmanager.google.com/#/home|Google Tag Manager]] is a platform for deploying a variety of Javascript code snippets ("tags") onto a website/webapp based on specific criteria ("triggers"). It supports [[https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/9442095|built-in tags for Google Analytics v4]] (and earlier, deprecated versions) as well as a community-provided library of tags that [[https://tagmanager.google.com/gallery/#/owners/trackify-info/templates/GoogleTagManager-WebTemplate-Matomo|includes Matomo]].
-Configure VuFind's out-of-the-box support for GTM through the [GoogleTagManager] section of [[configuration:files:config.ini|config.ini]].
+Configure VuFind®'s out-of-the-box support for GTM through the [GoogleTagManager] section of [[configuration:files:config.ini|config.ini]].
 ==== Enhanced UI Tracking with GTM and GA4 ====
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 Event Tracking in GA can be used to measure the use of particular UI features beyond page navigation.  GTM makes it possible to do this without any custom Javascript.  For example, this example GTM tag and trigger record the use of the "record navigation" / "action toolbar" buttons like "Cite this" and "Text this".
-{{:configuration:gtm_tag.png?400|}}
+{{:configuration:gtm_tag.png?400|Tag Configuration panel showing Tag Type is GA4 Event, Event Name is "click", Event Parameters are "section" => "action_toolbar" and "link_text" => a GTM variable "Click Text"}}
+{{:configuration:gtm_trigger.png?400|Trigger Configuration panel showing Trigger Type is "Click - All Elements" and the trigger fires on "Click Element matches CSS selector .record-nav a"}}
-{{:configuration:gtm_trigger.png?400|}}
 ===== Built-In Statistics Collection =====
-:!::!: This feature was disabled in VuFind 4.0; it is strongly recommended that you use Google Analytics or Piwik instead, as these are more robust solutions. :!::!:
+:!: Early versions of VuFind® included built-in data collection mechanisms, but these were removed in VuFind® 4.0 since external services like Google Analytics and Piwik/Matomo have much richer functionality.
-The [Statistics] section of [[configuration:files:config.ini|config.ini]] allows you to configure VuFind to collect basic record view and search data into one or more of the following places:
-  * A MySQL database table
-  * A Solr index
-  * A file on disk
-Reports on this data can be generated in VuFind's administration module; some targets support more detailed reports than others (with "file on disk" offering the fewest options).
-:!: VuFind's built-in statistics mechanism is not designed to handle large volumes of data, and its use is not recommended except for short-term, limited testing. The third-party statistics options offer much more robust functionality.
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