Support #24359
openPlugin Request - Independent Anayltics
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Description
related to https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/24224
Can we install Independent Analytics (https://wordpress.org/plugins/independent-analytics/) to compensate for the newly discovered limitations of JetPack Statistics?
The plugin gets 5 stars and is active on over 100,000 sites. It is actively maintained and well documented (https://independentwp.com/knowledgebase/dashboard/getting-started/).
“Independent Analytics – Google Analytics Alternative for WordPress” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors: Ben Sibley and Andrew Mead
It works on Multisite - "Yes, Independent Analytics is fully compatible with WordPress Multisite, supporting network activation to track individual stats for every sub-site on the network. It works natively, allowing sub-sites to have their own dashboards and providing a centralized approach to tracking."
Files
Updated by Boone Gorges 28 days ago
Thanks for doing the research on this. But I think that this plugin is likely to run into the same problems as the old Statpress. It stores visitor/hit data in database tables, and these tables grow enormously over time, causing problems with website performance, with backup, with maintenance workflows, etc. Aside from database overhead, these sorts of plugins wreak havoc on our caching system: either (a) they're built in such a way that cached requests don't register in the statistics, making them not very useful indicators of visits, or (b) they require the non-cached site to be loaded (potentially via some sort of async js bit) every time the page is loaded, which is essentially the same thing from a performance point of view as turning caching off on the site.
I think that any recommended solution is going to have to integrate with a third-party service. Copying Ray and Jeremy here in case they have more thoughts.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 27 days ago
I've done a quick look at the available third-party hosted website analytics options out there and I think Clicky is decent.
Clicky has a free plan that allows for up to 3000 pageviews per day, which is much better than Jetpack Stats's 1000 pageviews per month. Plugin is by a 3rd-party developer though: https://wordpress.org/plugins/clicky-analytics/.
A good alternative is Simple Analytics. No cap on pageviews, but their pricing differentiator is retention; they only offer one month of history on their free plan, which might not be good enough for some users. Also analytics must be viewed from their site as there is no embedded integration.
Other options include:- PostHog - Free plan allows for 1,000,000 events per month and 1-year history retention. WordPress plugins are 3rd-party; there are two plugins available on wp.org. Here's one of them: https://wordpress.org/plugins/integrate-posthog-web-analytics/. UI integration with WordPress is minimal as you simply enter PostHog's API key into a settings page. PostHog's analytics must be viewed on their website.
- Umami - Similar to PostHog, WordPress plugin is 3rd-party - https://wordpress.org/plugins/integrate-umami/. Analytics must be viewed from their site. However, the dev plans on adding an admin widget in the future. Free plan allows for 100,000 events per month, also has six-month history retention.
- Amplitude - 10,000 tracked users (not pageviews) per month on their free plan - https://amplitude.com/pricing.
- AFS Analytics - 20,000 pageviews per month and current-year history retention on their free plan - https://www.afsanalytics.com/pricing.
We can try a couple of these on cdev to see which ones will work well from a user's perspective.
Updated by Boone Gorges 26 days ago
- Target version set to 2.7.0
Thanks for doing this research, Ray!
I've installed clicky-analytics in the 2.7.x branch so that it could be deployed to cdev. Scott, are you able to test it there to see what you think? https://github.com/cuny-academic-commons/cac/commit/251a023b977d1ec0a70926ad1f22ce8ec85082ce
Updated by scott voth 25 days ago
- File clicky from frontend.mp4 clicky from frontend.mp4 added
- File clicky from dashboard.mp4 clicky from dashboard.mp4 added
- File clicky setup.jpg clicky setup.jpg added
- File clicky settings.jpg clicky settings.jpg added
To recap from today's meeting - Clicky seems to be an okay bare bones analytics tool. Using the plugin, data can be viewed either from the the back-end in the dashboard or from the front-end option in the admin bar. And of course you can sign into to Clicky.com to see a larger rendition of your analytics. Attached are some screenshots.
Updated by Raymond Hoh 24 days ago
Thanks for testing, Scott. There also appears to be another Clicky admin page located at "Dashboard > Clicky Analytics":

Do we like Clicky enough to recommend it as our Jetpack Stats replacement?
If we wanted to test another analytics option that has better WP admin integration, of the other options I listed above, AFS Analytics is the only other one that fits this criteria. However the free, monthly pageview limit for AFS is 20,000 whereas Clicky is 90,000 for a 30-day period.
Updated by scott voth 8 days ago
- File clicky rates.jpg clicky rates.jpg added
I just received the message from Clicky that my premium trial version will end on Thursday. Then I will end up with the free version. I will test the free version to see what changes. Attached is information concerning their price plans.