<!DOCTYPE html><!-- This page is a placeholder for generated extensions api doc. Note: 1) The <head> information in this page is significant, should be uniform across api docs and should be edited only with knowledge of the templating mechanism. 3) All <body>.innerHTML is genereated as an rendering step. If viewed in a browser, it will be re-generated from the template, json schema and authored overview content. 4) The <body>.innerHTML is also generated by an offline step so that this page may easily be indexed by search engines. --><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <link href="css/ApiRefStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link href="css/print.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print"> <script type="text/javascript" src="../../../third_party/jstemplate/jstemplate_compiled.js"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/api_page_generator.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/bootstrap.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/sidebar.js"></script> <title>Tutorial: Google Analytics - Google Chrome Extensions - Google Code</title></head> <body> <div id="gc-container" class="labs"> <div id="devModeWarning"> You are viewing extension docs in chrome via the 'file:' scheme: are you expecting to see local changes when you refresh? 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If you require this parameter, the manifest key <a href="manifest.html#minimum_chrome_version">minimum_chrome_version</a> can ensure that your extension won't be run in an earlier browser version. </dd> <!-- OBJECT PROPERTIES --> <dd> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> </dd> <!-- OBJECT METHODS --> <dd> <div></div> </dd> <!-- OBJECT EVENT FIELDS --> <dd> <div></div> </dd> <!-- FUNCTION PARAMETERS --> <dd> <div></div> </dd> </div> <!-- /VALUE --> <div id="functionParametersTemplate"> <h5>Parameters</h5> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> </div> </div> <!-- /SUBTEMPLATES --> <a id="top"></a> <div id="skipto"> <a href="#gc-pagecontent">Skip to page content</a> <a href="#gc-toc">Skip to main navigation</a> </div> <!-- API HEADER --> <table id="header" width="100%" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="middle"><a href="http://code.google.com/"><img src="images/code_labs_logo.gif" height="43" width="161" alt="Google Code Labs" style="border:0; margin:0;"></a></td> <td 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Extensions (<a href="http://code.google.com/labs/">Labs</a>)</h1> <ul id="home" class="gc-topnav-tabs"> <li id="home_link"> <a href="index.html" title="Google Chrome Extensions home page">Home</a> </li> <li id="docs_link"> <a href="docs.html" title="Official Google Chrome Extensions documentation">Docs</a> </li> <li id="faq_link"> <a href="faq.html" title="Answers to frequently asked questions about Google Chrome Extensions">FAQ</a> </li> <li id="samples_link"> <a href="samples.html" title="Sample extensions (with source code)">Samples</a> </li> <li id="group_link"> <a href="http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-extensions" title="Google Chrome Extensions developer forum">Group</a> </li> </ul> </div> <!-- end gc-topnav --> <div class="g-section g-tpl-170"> <!-- SIDENAV --> <div class="g-unit g-first" id="gc-toc"> <ul> <li><a href="getstarted.html">Getting Started</a></li> <li><a href="overview.html">Overview</a></li> <li><a href="whats_new.html">What's New?</a></li> <li><h2><a href="devguide.html">Developer's Guide</a></h2> <ul> <li>Browser UI <ul> <li><a href="browserAction.html">Browser Actions</a></li> <li><a href="contextMenus.html">Context Menus</a></li> <li><a href="notifications.html">Desktop Notifications</a></li> <li><a href="omnibox.html">Omnibox</a></li> <li><a href="options.html">Options Pages</a></li> <li><a href="override.html">Override Pages</a></li> <li><a href="pageAction.html">Page Actions</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Browser Interaction <ul> <li><a href="bookmarks.html">Bookmarks</a></li> <li><a href="cookies.html">Cookies</a></li> <li><a href="events.html">Events</a></li> <li><a href="history.html">History</a></li> <li><a href="management.html">Management</a></li> <li><a href="tabs.html">Tabs</a></li> <li><a href="windows.html">Windows</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Implementation <ul> <li><a href="a11y.html">Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="background_pages.html">Background Pages</a></li> <li><a href="content_scripts.html">Content 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href="api_other.html">Other APIs</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><h2><a href="samples.html">Samples</a></h2></li> <div class="line"> </div> <li><h2>More</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/webstore/docs/index.html">Chrome Web Store</a></li> <li><a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/apps/docs/developers_guide.html">Hosted Apps</a></li> <li><a href="themes.html">Themes</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> <script> initToggles(); </script> <div class="g-unit" id="gc-pagecontent"> <div id="pageTitle"> <h1 class="page_title">Tutorial: Google Analytics</h1> </div> <!-- TABLE OF CONTENTS --> <div id="toc"> <h2>Contents</h2> <ol> <li> <a href="#toc-requirements">Requirements</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li> <a href="#toc-installing">Installing the tracking code</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li> <a href="#toc-tracking-pageviews">Tracking page views</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li> <a href="#toc-debugging">Monitoring analytics requests</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li> <a href="#toc-tracking-events">Tracking events</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li><li> <a href="#toc-samplecode">Sample code</a> <ol> <li style="display: none; "> <a>h3Name</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li style="display: none; "> <a href="#apiReference">API reference</a> <ol> <li> <a href="#properties">Properties</a> <ol> <li> <a href="#property-anchor">propertyName</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li> <a>Methods</a> <ol> <li> <a href="#method-anchor">methodName</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li> <a>Events</a> <ol> <li> <a href="#event-anchor">eventName</a> </li> </ol> </li> <li> <a href="#types">Types</a> <ol> <li> <a href="#id-anchor">id</a> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> </div> <!-- /TABLE OF CONTENTS --> <!-- Standard content lead-in for experimental API pages --> <p id="classSummary" style="display: none; "> For information on how to use experimental APIs, see the <a href="experimental.html">chrome.experimental.* APIs</a> page. </p> <!-- STATIC CONTENT PLACEHOLDER --> <div id="static"><div id="pageData-name" class="pageData">Tutorial: Google Analytics</div> <div id="pageData-showTOC" class="pageData">true</div> <p>This tutorial demonstrates using Google Analytics to track the usage of your extension.</p> <h2 id="toc-requirements">Requirements</h2> <p> This tutorial expects that you have some familiarity writing extensions for Google Chrome. If you need information on how to write an extension, please read the <a href="gettingstarted.html">Getting Started tutorial</a>. </p> <p> You will also need a <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics">Google Analytics account</a> set up to track your extension. Note that when setting up the account, you can use any value in the Website's URL field, as your extension will not have an URL of its own. </p> <p style="text-align: center"> <img src="images/tut_analytics/screenshot01.png" style="width:400px;height:82px;" alt="The analytics setup with info for a chrome extension filled out."> </p> <p> Also note that Google Analytics requires version <strong>4.0.302.2</strong> of Google Chrome to work correctly. Users with an earlier version of Google Chrome will not show up on your Google Analytics reports. View <a href="faq.html#faq-dev-14">this FAQ entry</a> to learn how to check which version of Google Chrome is deployed to which platform. </p> <h2 id="toc-installing">Installing the tracking code</h2> <p> The standard Google Analytics tracking code snippet fetches a file named <code>ga.js</code> from an SSL protected URL if the current page was loaded using the <code>https://</code> protocol. <strong>It is strongly advised to use the SSL protected ga.js in an extension</strong>, but Google Chrome extension pages are hosted under <code>chrome-extension://</code> URLs, so the tracking snippet must be modified slightly to pull <code>ga.js</code> directly from <code>https://ssl.google-analytics.com/ga.js</code> instead of the default location. </p> <p> Below is a modified snippet for the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/asyncTracking.html">asynchronous tracking API</a> (the modified line is bolded): </p> <pre>(function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; <strong>ga.src = 'https://ssl.google-analytics.com/ga.js';</strong> var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </pre> <p> Here is a background page which loads the asynchronous tracking code and tracks a single page view: </p> <pre><!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> ... </head> <body> <script> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-X']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = 'https://ssl.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> ... </body> </html> </pre> <p> Keep in mind that the string <code>UA-XXXXXXXX-X</code> should be replaced with your own Google Analytics account number. </p> <h2 id="toc-tracking-pageviews">Tracking page views</h2> <p> The <code>_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);</code> code will track a single page view. This code may be used on any page in your extension. When placed on a background page, it will register a view once per browser session. When placed on a popup, it will register a view once every time the popup is opened. </p> <p> By looking at the page view data for each page in your extension, you can get an idea of how many times your users interact with your extension per browser session: </p> <p style="text-align: center"> <img src="images/tut_analytics/screenshot02.png" style="width:300px;height:119px;" alt="Analytics view of the top content for a site."> </p> <h2 id="toc-debugging">Monitoring analytics requests</h2> <p> To ensure that tracking data from your extension is being sent to Google Analytics, you can inspect the pages of your extension in the Developer Tools window (see the <a href="tut_debugging.html">debugging tutorial</a> for more information). As the following figure shows, you should see requests for a file named <strong>__utm.gif</strong> if everything is set up correctly. </p> <p style="text-align: center"> <img src="images/tut_analytics/screenshot04.png" style="width:683px;height:418px;" alt="Developer Tools window showing the __utm.gif request"> </p> <h2 id="toc-tracking-events">Tracking events</h2> <p> By configuring event tracking, you can determine which parts of your extension your users interact with the most. For example, if you have three buttons users may click: </p> <pre> <button>Button 1</button> <button>Button 2</button> <button>Button 3</button> </pre> <p> Write a function that sends click events to Google Analytics: </p> <pre> function trackButton(button_id) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'button' + button_id, 'clicked']); }; </pre> <p> And call it when each button is pressed: </p> <pre> <button onclick="trackButton(1);">Button 1</button> <button onclick="trackButton(2);">Button 2</button> <button onclick="trackButton(3);">Button 3</button> </pre> <p> The Google Analytics event tracking overview page will give you metrics regarding how many times each individual button is clicked: </p> <p style="text-align: center"> <img src="images/tut_analytics/screenshot03.png" style="width:300px;height:482px;" alt="Analytics view of the event tracking data for a site."> </p> <p> By using this approach, you can see which parts of your extension are under-or-overutilized. This information can help guide decisions about UI redesigns or additional functionality to implement. </p> <p> For more information about using the event tracking API, see the Google Analytics <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/eventTrackerOverview.html">developer documentation</a>. </p> <h2 id="toc-samplecode">Sample code</h2> <p> A sample extension that uses these techniques is available in the Chromium source tree: </p> <blockquote> <a href="http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/chrome/common/extensions/docs/examples/tutorials/analytics/">.../examples/tutorials/analytics/</a> </blockquote> <p></p> </div> <!-- API PAGE --> <div class="apiPage" style="display: none; "> <a name="apiReference"></a> <h2>API reference: chrome.apiname </h2> <!-- PROPERTIES --> <div class="apiGroup"> <a name="properties"></a> <h3 id="properties">Properties</h3> <div> <a></a> <h4>getLastError</h4> <div class="summary"> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> <span>chrome.extension</span><span>lastError</span> </div> <div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!-- METHODS --> <div id="methodsTemplate" class="apiGroup"> <a></a> <h3>Methods</h3> <!-- iterates over all functions --> <div class="apiItem"> <a></a> <!-- method-anchor --> <h4>method name</h4> <div class="summary"><span>void</span> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> <span>chrome.module.methodName</span>(<span><span>, </span><span></span> <var><span></span></var></span>)</div> <div class="description"> <p class="todo">Undocumented.</p> <p> A description from the json schema def of the function goes here. </p> <!-- PARAMETERS --> <h4>Parameters</h4> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> <!-- RETURNS --> <h4>Returns</h4> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> <!-- CALLBACK --> <div> <div> <h4>Callback function</h4> <p> The callback <em>parameter</em> should specify a function that looks like this: </p> <p> If you specify the <em>callback</em> parameter, it should specify a function that looks like this: </p> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> <pre>function(<span>Type param1, Type param2</span>) <span class="subdued">{...}</span>;</pre> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> </div> </div> <!-- MIN_VERSION --> <p> This function was added in version <b><span></span></b>. If you require this function, the manifest key <a href="manifest.html#minimum_chrome_version">minimum_chrome_version</a> can ensure that your extension won't be run in an earlier browser version. </p> </div> <!-- /description --> </div> <!-- /apiItem --> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!-- EVENTS --> <div id="eventsTemplate" class="apiGroup"> <a></a> <h3>Events</h3> <!-- iterates over all events --> <div class="apiItem"> <a></a> <h4>event name</h4> <div class="summary"> <!-- Note: intentionally longer 80 columns --> <span class="subdued">chrome.bookmarks</span><span>onEvent</span><span class="subdued">.addListener</span>(function(<span>Type param1, Type param2</span>) <span class="subdued">{...}</span>); </div> <div class="description"> <p class="todo">Undocumented.</p> <p> A description from the json schema def of the event goes here. </p> <!-- PARAMETERS --> <div> <h4>Parameters</h4> <dl> <div> <div> </div> </div> </dl> </div> </div> <!-- /decription --> </div> <!-- /apiItem --> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> <!-- TYPES --> <div class="apiGroup"> <a name="types"></a> <h3 id="types">Types</h3> <!-- iterates over all types --> <div class="apiItem"> <a></a> <h4>type name</h4> <div> </div> </div> <!-- /apiItem --> </div> <!-- /apiGroup --> </div> <!-- /apiPage --> </div> <!-- /gc-pagecontent --> </div> <!-- /g-section --> </div> <!-- /codesiteContent --> <div id="gc-footer" --=""> <div class="text"> <p> Except as otherwise <a href="http://code.google.com/policies.html#restrictions">noted</a>, the content of this page is licensed under the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License</a>, and code samples are licensed under the <a rel="license" href="http://code.google.com/google_bsd_license.html">BSD License</a>. </p> <p> ©2011 Google </p> <!-- begin analytics --> <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> // chrome doc tracking try { var engdocs = _gat._getTracker("YT-10763712-2"); engdocs._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} // code.google.com site-wide tracking try { _uacct="UA-18071-1"; _uanchor=1; _uff=0; urchinTracker(); } catch(e) {/* urchinTracker not available. */} </script> <!-- end analytics --> </div> </div> <!-- /gc-footer --> </div> <!-- /gc-container --> </body></html>