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Google Analytics 4 integration with Limesurvey

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1 year 2 months ago #240118 by tonyget1
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Hello.
As the so called Universal Analytics will practically cease to exist in June 2023, I tried to connect Limesurvey with the new Analytics 4 and failed.
What I did was to put the API key of Google Analytics 4 (it is called Management ID now) instead of UA ID I have used until that moment. I put it in the respective field of the survey, I also tried to use the global settings (put the ID there) but the result was the same: Analytics does not react to this.
The older version of Analytics, that is still functioning (and will end in June) works, so I guess the problem is in the integration between the platforms.
What should I do in this case? Is there some solution?
I use Limesurvey version 3.27.10 on our own (university) server. We use the standard templates. Thanks!

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1 year 2 months ago #240136 by holch
A couple of points: Support for LS 3.x will run out soon, I guess. I don't think that new features will be implemented into LS 3.x anymore. So if you need to use Google Analytics 4 the only chance to continue is moving to LS 5. Not sure if LS5 is prepared for Google Analytics 4.

And here another point, not really 100% to your question: Running Google Analytics with a survey tool might cause some privacy issues, depending on what you promise in terms of privacy. So you might want to discuss the use of Google Analytics in Limesurvey with the ethics committee of your university.

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1 year 2 months ago #240137 by holch
Oh, and you might want to create a bug report for the issue, because the core developers generally don't look into the forum. So if you test this in LS5 and it doesn't work with LS 5, you might want to open a bug ticket.

You could try with LS3, but I am pretty sure the answer will be that LS 3 won't receive any feature updates anymore. But who knows...

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1 year 2 months ago #240172 by tonyget1
Replied by tonyget1 on topic Google Analytics 4 integration with Limesurvey
Thank you for the detailed response!
Of course, I have checked the GDPR limitations before the introduction of Google Analytics (any version). But its use is an issue in some cases, yes.
I'll update my version immediately if this could help but from what you wrote me, I guess is better to try to sent a bug ticket. I didn't find anything about this topic in Limesurvey general documentation either and I think the main problem is that Analytics had made some structural changes for the introduction of Analytics 4 (possibly in the script also) so a bug ticket would be necessary.
Thanks again!
 

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1 year 2 months ago #240174 by holch
I think that most people that do research and need to guarantee anonymity to their respondents won't want to risk using Google Analystics anyway, so there is probably not so many using GA with Limesurvey, just to avoid any problems. And as many who run their own instance of Limesurvey are probably highly interested in open source software, if they use some kind of analytics, they probably go with Matomo.

So the GA feature might not be used that much and if there is some change in the infrastructure (e.g. the script that needs to be implemented has changed), then this would need to be adapted in Limesurvey. I don't use GA with Limesurvey, so I can't say it with certainty, but there is a very high probability that LS5 will have the same issue (only the old standard implementation will be available).

It is probably a good idea to make developers aware of the upcoming change for Google Analytics.

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1 year 2 months ago #240188 by holch
Did you make a bug report yet? I couldn't find any relating GA.

If so, please post the link to the bug report here so that others can find it easily and add their comments.

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1 year 2 months ago #240233 by holch
So I had a quick chat with one of the developers and according to him in LS5 this should work.

And as expected, there are no plans to adapt LS3 for this change. It is in a phase where no new features should be added and I expect it to be EOL still this year.

So there are good reasons to move on to LS5.

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1 year 2 months ago #240249 by tonyget1
Replied by tonyget1 on topic Google Analytics 4 integration with Limesurvey
Hello.
I was about to send the ticket when I received your message. Thank you again for your cooperation!
So I see it is not necessary to create a ticket and the solution is LS5 upgrade. I'll do it next week and if I have some problems with Analytics 4 again, I'll write.
Thank you again for being so fast and cooperative!

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1 year 2 months ago #240250 by holch

So I see it is not necessary to create a ticket and the solution is LS5 upgrade.


Not so fast, hahahaha. I would setup a test environment first, if your only reason to upgrade is Google Analytics. The developer wasn't 100% sure and tried to confirm with another one, but I don't have a definite answer. So if you want to make sure that it works, setup a test environment first and try it. If you are a user of this forum you should have a Limesurvey.org account and probably have a free tier instance of the SaaS service which runs on LS5. So you might not even have to setup a test environment but could test there. Have a look into your account here on Limesurvey.org.

So first test if it works in LS5, don't blame me for upgrading and not working. ;-)

But I think LS5 is worth the upgrade anyway.

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1 year 2 months ago #240256 by tonyget1
Replied by tonyget1 on topic Google Analytics 4 integration with Limesurvey
Ok :) In both cases I should upgrade, as you said, the developers don't intend to fix problems in LS3, so...I'll try it next week and if it doesn't work, then I'll create a bug ticket and I'll post it here.

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1 year 2 months ago #240273 by holch
Real "problems" like serious bugs or security fixes are still applied to LS3 afaik. But the support of GA4 falls more under "new feature", I guess.

But yes, I would recommend an upgrade to LS5 anyway, because I think LS3 will reach its EOL soon. Now, there have been changes in the theme system between LS3 and LS5. So if you use custom themes and javascript workarounds, you will need to test them and most probably adapt them to LS5.

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1 year 2 months ago #240304 by tonyget1
Replied by tonyget1 on topic Google Analytics 4 integration with Limesurvey
Thank you for the tips. We use only default themes, so I hope there will be no problems in that aspect.
However, I  saw  that there are some active survey right now, so is better to wait with the update a little bit. In any case, if there is a problem with GA 4 and LS 5 integration I'll make a bug ticket and I'll post it also here.

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