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Add Google Analytics to your Rails app
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google-analytics-rails.md

Google Analytics for Rails

Fast Universal Google Analytics setup for Rails. This gem is mostly intended for small to medium websites with a simple analytics strategy.

Why use Google Analytics?

  • Google Analytics generates detailed statistics about a website's traffic and traffic sources
  • Also measures conversions and sales
  • Most widely used website statistics service
  • Basic service is free of charge and a premium version is available for a fee

    Why is it important?

  • Provides loads of information on your users and their behavior
  • Tracks data that impacts your sites' rankings in google search results

    What does it give you?

    alt text

    Setup

    First, sign up for a google analytics account:

    Add the following to your Gemfile:

    gem 'google-analytics-rails', '1.1.0'

    Then run:

    bundle install

    Basic configuration:

    Production only

    config/environments/production.rb:

    # replace this with your tracker code
GA.tracker = "UA-112233-4"

    app/views/layout/application.html.erb, in the <head> tag :

    	<%= analytics_init if GoogleAnalytics.valid_tracker? %>

    Different configurations also available for:

  • With DoubleClick instead of vanilla Google Analytics script
  • Different accounts for staging and production
  • Premium Google Analytics accounts

    ISSUE TO NOTE - Turbolinks compatibility:

    Many developers have reported problems with page view tracking both with and without Turbolinks

    Resources with detail on potential fixes:

    Documentation & Resources:

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