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Is Google Analytics Installed? – GA? Firefox Extension

 

To get the best results out of Google Analytics, you need to ensure it’s installed on each page of a website. To automatically check for you, I’ve created a Firefox extension to do all the work.

Google Analytics Check

GA? will put a little icon in the status bar of your Firefox web browser. It will then check each page you load to to see if it has Google Analytics installed. If so, it’ll show a colored bar chart. If Google Analytics doesn’t appear to be installed, it’ll show a gray bar chart.

This is a handy little tool if you have a smaller website, if want to do a spot check on a handful of pages or if you want to ensure that certain pages are being tracked.

Works with Firefox 1.5 to 5.

Known Issues:
1. It doesn’t currently re-check for each tab or window you cycle through. It only checks the page that completed loading last. Updates are planned for it to refresh per window or tab focus.  : Version 0.5 updates on tab change.

2. It doesn’t detect Google Analytics code put in the head of the document.  It only searches the body of each page. Working in version 1.0.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

GA? can be downloaded at Mozilla’s Addon site.

Developed and tested on a Mac running Firefox 2.x & 3. Works well on Windows too. Unsure of how well it work in Firefox versions less than 2.x.


73 Responses

  1. Jono Ellis says:

    This is a fantastic invention – I work for an SEO company and I often have to check through entire sites to make sure that Analytics is on all of the pages. Great stuff.

  2. Thomas says:

    Thanks Jono. A new version should be out next week that will check on tab change so it stays up to date. 🙂

  3. Timothy says:

    Any reason your extension does not show GA installed on my site? GA is installed on most pages, including the home page, yet your tool shows GA not installed (grey).

    I’ve written a SEO tool that detects the “urchinTracker();” string and finds GA everytime. What is your indicator as to if GA is installed?

    http://asbdc.ualr.edu/ecommerce/internet-marketing-tool.asp

  4. Thomas says:

    Excellent question and I think I have an answer. The extension looks for Google Analytics code in the body of the page. Since that’s where Google says to put it, that’s where I’m looking. 🙂

    Your site has the Google Analytics code in the head of the document, not the body. That’s why my extension doesn’t see it. I’ll have to do more research to see if I can look in all HTML.

    Thanks for pointing that out.

  5. Marius says:

    Your Add-on is great, but would it be possible to set a parameter to be able to define what code will be looked for in the html source of the page? If this is possible, we could have an open generic add-on which could be used in a lot of case (for example: webtrends, xiti, personalized coding for google analytics…).

  6. Thomas says:

    I agree, that’d be a nice idea Marius. I’ll keep it in mind.

  7. Chris says:

    Just to let you know. GA has just launched a new script for tracking websites. Your Extension does not work with the new version. The old version was “urchin.js” and now the new is “ga.js”. You can check the code on my website at http://www.chris-aranha.co.uk

    thanks

  8. Hi Thomas
    I wrote you in December 2007, that your add-on was great. I need your add-on, but with more options. I wanted to send you my request with the contact form but it hasn’t work.
    Could we buy your code for internal use in our company OR will you change your add-on and create one for us in order to check other tags in the page? I’m sure my requests are not difficult for you and will help us to check the qualtiy on our web pages 🙂
    If you are interested, you can reach me with my mail.
    Thanks.
    Marius

  9. iroel says:

    nice plugin. It’s really helpfull. Thanks

  10. Thomas says:

    Marius – What else are you looking for? Feel free to email me at twistermc / gmail.com. And my contact form should be working.

  11. Noreen says:

    Dia is mhuire Dhuit Twister Mc,
    I was amused and amazed at your “cupla focail”.
    I’m no great Gaelgoir myself, but well done !!
    Now, about that colourful invention of yours ; product of your fertile brain….. you know the one that tells you if your google analytics is properly installed or installed at all.
    I have downloaded it but it seems to be completely ignoring me…… not a bar chart in sight, neither the coloured version or the grey.
    Is the continuous rain and the damp grey mist of Ireland too much for it?? Yes it is sitting there on the add-ons, happy in the company of its extension pals…… but will it get to work ?? not a budge out of it. Please take a look at it and tell it to get the finger out… get cracking… stop being a slouch..
    Go raibh mile maith agat
    Noreen

  12. bbrian017 says:

    Thanks checking it out now!

  13. Bob says:

    Great tip to see if our competitors websites have analytics installed, quickly.

  14. Bob says:

    This is a excellent pluggin that will help us know if a website has Analytics installed on their websites.

  15. DaveG says:

    Would it be possible to make the icon moveable to any toolbar?

  16. Thomas says:

    DaveG – That could be coded in, however I don’t see it as a big priority right now.

  17. Reinis says:

    I put the two code snippets (new trancking code) provided by Google into two separate js files instead of printing them right into HTML and Analytics still get the data, but the extention does not detect GA as installed on my pages.

  18. Thomas says:

    @Reinis – Since the JavaScript is linking the code into the files, the code does not show up in the page source code. This type of include will not work with the extension as it doesn’t look in other files.

  19. Reinis says:

    With my comment I wanted to point put, that GA actually is installed, and in this case the extension does not work as it states it would. And maybe in future versions a fix to this case could be included.
    Anyway, thanks for the good and useful work!

  20. Chris says:

    Great plugin Thomas, do you have one that works for Yahoo Analytics?

  21. Thomas says:

    @Chris – If you show me 5 sites with Yahoo Analytics, I can see what I can do.

    @Reinis – Sorry I can’t detect in other files. Only the source of the page you are currently on. If it’s not in that code, I’m unable to see it.

  22. Nodens2k says:

    Hi Thomas, congrats for a great idea! 🙂

    I manage some sites where the detection fails:

    http://rcache.sf.net/
    http://addressing.sf.net/
    http://fura.sf.net/

    I guess the problem has to do with the fact that I put the initData/trackPageview calls in the document “onload” event. I do this because it speeds up page loading, so I guess I am not the only one out there. Is there any possibility to fix it?

    Cheers

    • Thomas says:

      @ Nodens2k The extension looks for two different variables that are present in the new and old Google Analytics code. The code you are providing has neither. I’m not sure how you have yours setup so I’m unable to detect it. Did you set yours up according to Google instructions?

  23. Nodens2k says:

    Hi again Thomas,

    Ok, so the problem is that I use “url” as the variable name for “gaJsHost”, isn’t it?

    I can fix this in my pages.

    Thanks a lot! 🙂

  24. Ivan says:

    Thanks Thomas, nice add-on. I would only suggest to make the “off” icon a bit more transparent, so it’ll easier to see if the page has tracking code installed or not. Also would be cool if the plugin can detect the version of the code (ga.js or urchin.js).

  25. Will says:

    Just wanted to mention that Google has a new Analytics script in beta now (asynchronous tracking) that is not detectable by the current version of the GA? add-on. Information on the script and code is located here:

    http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/asyncTracking.html

  26. Hideki says:

    Hi Thomas,

    Thank you very much for your great work.

    I’m wondering if it is a good idea/option for GA? that GA? let me know if a tracking code is missiing on my site.
    After setting on what site to inspect, GA? alerts me the code is not installed on the current page I browse. It helps us to get more accurate data.

    I hope you like my idea.

    Thanks in advance,

  27. fred says:

    Hello,

    I have just tried the new asynchronous analytics tracking code and it seems not to be detected by the extension.

  28. Craig says:

    Hello,
    Just want to send a quick note about how useful I’ve found your extension.
    Recently, with Google changing the default analytics code to asynchronous tracking its not been finding it. Is this because your extension doesn’t look in the head tag?
    So far, Great App. if this could be sorted, it would be fantastic!
    Great work.

  29. Thomas says:

    Yes I’m way behind on updating this extension. Sorry about that. A new version has been submitted to Mozilla. Hopefully it’ll be live soon.

  30. Steven says:

    Hi,
    This is a great tool you have developed. I have installed and use it all the time over the past few months.
    It is one of those tools that you forget about because it works so well and then it is taken for granted.

    I have noticed that the last two analytics code snippets that I have entered into my clients websites are not showing with your tool. These are two sites within the last week. One that I setup two weeks ago is showing fine. I have tried adding the code to the header and also in the body, neither one seems to work.
    Are there any other known issue that you are aware of?
    One of the sites is http://www.spamisthenewblack.info
    (I know it looks like a spammy link but it is testing site)
    Thanks for your excellent work.

    • Thomas says:

      I went in and re-updated the extension to fix a few inconsistencies. Hopefully it works better now. Version 1.0.3 is currently awaiting Mozilla approval.

      • Steven says:

        I apologize, I thought that my version was up to date, but it did not get pushed through. When I did a “search for updates” in my addons, it updated your program to version 1.0.2 and now everything works just fine.
        Thanks again for such a great tool!

  31. scotepi says:

    It would be nice if you could display the tracking # in the tool tip or to the right of the icon.

  32. Luca says:

    Hi! Your tool is great but it doesn’t work in my site made with iWeb (www.millerpictures.it). In Google Analytics everyting works fine, so I don’t know why your tool says that GA is not installed. Waiting for your answer. Thank you so much. Bye.

    • Thomas says:

      That’s because your Google Analytics code isn’t in the source code, it must be in an external file that is included into the source code.

      • Luca says:

        Thanks for the answer. So do I have to do something or is everything ok? I mean, in my Google Analytics panel everything works fine. The fact that your code doesn’t recognize my site is a problem or can I leave everything like now? Is normal that your code doesn’t recognize iWeb sites or I can install better the Analytics code in my site? Thanks for your answer.

        • Thomas says:

          If Google Analytics is tracking data, then I’d say leave it alone.

          • Luca says:

            You’re right.
            Just for curiosity (and for helping you improving this great tool), this “error” happens on all iWeb sites or only on mine?
            Thanks again.

          • Thomas says:

            That all depends on how people integrate Google Analytics. I’m not familiar enough with enough iWeb sites to say one way or another.

  33. Matt says:

    Great tool – I probably refer to it at least once a day. Noticed it’s not firefox 4-ready when I installed the newest beta. Any plans to make this extension work with the new firefox – full release should be dropping any day now?

  34. Strovo says:

    Will it be already for Firefox 4?

  35. YA Winston Smith says:

    PLEASE take your valued time to write a Fox 4 system, and add a BLOCKER option to it!

  36. Gecko says:

    The add-on is marked as Not Compatible with Firefox 4 but still works ! I’m able to make it work just by bypassing the compatibility check, and by showing the Add-Ons Toolbar in FF4. Don’t know why it’s marked as not compatible

  37. Thomas says:

    GA? Now works with Firefox 4 and 5. Have fun.

  38. Lucas says:

    Thank for this post. This is exactly the kind of plugin I needed because I’m having issues with GA on a new site.

  39. Nicky says:

    I’m using Firefox 5 and can’t see the icon in my toolbar, I have restarted after installing, any idea why I can’t see the tool? I’ve got all the toolbars switched on and it’s not in any of them. Thanks!

  40. Gecko says:

    Works like a charm on Firefox 6 😉

  41. Brad says:

    I installed this (AWESOME tool by the way and thanks for making it available) but I do not see any button for it on my browser. I am using the current version of FF (10.0.2) and I do hope its compatible. Thanks!

  42. Nikola says:

    Using FF 18. Installed GA tool but the icon is not on showing up? Please advise

  43. ranga says:

    Do you have this for other webanalytics tools also ? 🙂

    Does this work on FF 21.0

  44. mrzimm says:

    Love this extension… any chance you would make it for chrome?

  45. Hi… is GA going to be available for Firefox 4?

    Regards
    Warren

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