Administrative and Maintenance Tools - Adding Google Analytics to your Board

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics (abbreviated GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. Its main highlight is that a webmaster can optimize AdWords advertisement and marketing campaigns through the use of GA's analysis of where the visitors came from, how long they stayed on the website and their geographical position. {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics}

Why is Analytics Important?
If you (the Board Owner) want to know what is really happening on your site and how best to optimize it to increase visitors and participation and hopefully...... get a conversion.... (make money).... then GA is an important tool for you...

[bbcentral]

Originally Posted by flypaper

I challenge you to find </body> in the footer (on a default style anyway).

OK So technically that's correct, because 'footer' is included just before the </body> tag.

Paste it just after this in your footer template:

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
	// Main vBulletin Javascript Initialization
	vBulletin_init();
//-->
</script>

And it will appear before </body>.

My point still stands.

[Sunka]

So, when I update forum to vBulletin v3.8.0, I have nothing to do? I mean, This MOD will continue working?

[secrtagnt]

Originally Posted by bbcentral

Google does all the work for you, so the correct instructions for this mod should be:

1. Open your footer template
2. Find </body>
3. Paste the code just before </body>
4. Save the template

If you don't believe me, try it out for yourself.

Seriously, they both work. The instructions for this mod are _not_ incorrect.

[secrtagnt]

Originally Posted by Sunka

So, when I update forum to vBulletin v3.8.0, I have nothing to do? I mean, This MOD will continue working?

It should.

[btotw]

Assuming your analytic results are w/n the same margin from month to month, why not try it both ways to settle the debate?

If you currently ONLY use it in the footer, try it the other way as the author suggests.

It will NOT reduce the analytic content if the author is incorrect.

But if he happens TO be correct...?

[vithorius]

Thank you so very much for this EXCELLENT hack!

[mattwmc2001]

Ok, at first I had this the codes installed in the footer - noticed they were not directly before the body tag.

When I used this mod they were.

I don't see how it is going to make much of a difference.

The footer is called for each page and google analytics knows via the url its a different page, no?

[Matafleur]

Google recommends you place the analytics javascript before the </body> tag so that if the Analytics web server is down or slow to load, the content on your website still renders normally rather than present a blank page while it's waiting a minute or so for the HTTP request to Google to timeout.