Title: CellarWeb Server Side Analytics
Author: Rick Hellewell
Published: <strong>March 24, 2022</strong>
Last modified: April 6, 2023

---

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![](https://ps.w.org/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev
=2699197)

This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.

![](https://ps.w.org/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev
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# CellarWeb Server Side Analytics

 By [Rick Hellewell](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rhellewellgmailcom/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/cellarweb-server-side-analytics.1.02.zip)

 * [Details](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/#installation)
 * [Development](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/)

## Description

Google Analytics (GA) allows you to see what your visitors are doing on your site.
The common installation is to run some JavaScript code in the client’s browser that
reports back to GA. The problem with that is many ad-blockers will block that client-
side (browser) action, resulting in incomplete GA data.

The Server Side Analytics plugin does all the work on your server. So GA is used
on all site visits – even visitors using ad blocking. That gives you more accurate
GA data.

Your site visitor’s IP address is anonymized (the last ‘octet’ is removed), so only
the visitor’s city is known. The plugin only uses the client-side WordPress session
ID, so complies with basic GDPR privacy, as long as your site has an acknowledged
cookie policy. There is nothing additionally stored on the client side, so visitor
privacy for this plugin and the generated analytics is assured.

All you need is a GA account – start here: https://www.google.com/analytics/ . Note
that you will need to set up a “UA” type account. Help starts here: https://support.
google.com/analytics/answer/9306384?hl=en Make sure you set up a “Universal Analytics”
account – which will result in a UA-xxxxxxx-1 value to use in the plugin.

If you use Google Analytics, then you should be aware of their privacy policy, which
could apply to your use of GA; see it here https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/
us.html . You may also need a cookie policy and acknowledgement displayed on your
site.

We suggest that you consult with your legal advisor for specific methods and messages
needed for GDPR compliance on your site. We provide no warranty or guarantee of 
GDPR compliance. We are not providing any legal advice. We are not responsible in
any way for your use of our suggested GDPR solution. Your mileage may vary. Objects
in mirror are closer than you expect. All aspirin is alike. Professional driver 
on a closed course. Your mileage may vary.

### Privacy

This plugin does not save any personal information on your server. It will store
cookies on your visitor’s browsers. If you have enabled Google Analytics, it will
also store a randomly-generated ID value as a cookie; there is no personal information
associated with that cookie. The plugin does not share information with others.

## Screenshots

 * [[
 * Shows the Settings page.

## Installation

This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.

 1. Download the zip file, uncompress, then upload to `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
    Or install via the Add Plugin page.
 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
 3. Change settings in Settings, ‘Server Side Analytics’ to your requirements.

 * Note: do a “Save” on the Server Side Analytics page once after an upgrade to 
   ensure all is well; your settings will be preserved.

## FAQ

### Do I have to do anything special to enable this?

 * Set up a Google Analytics account and property. Use the Advanced options link
   to set up ‘Create a Universal Analytics property’. Make a note of the Tracking
   ID (the “UA” value). Here’s where to start: https://www.google.com/analytics/.
    - On the plugin settings screen, enter your Google Analytics (GA) ID. Make sure
      it is a “UA-XXXXXXXX-X” format. It is not validated, so make sure it is correct.
    - Then Save the settings.
    - Go to your GA analytics page, and select Real-Time.
    - Go to any page of your site in another tab.
    - Wait about 15 seconds for the page to show up in the Realtime screen of GA.

### What data is sent to GA ?

Assuming that you enabled this feature by entering your GA User ID on the Settings
page, the plugin will send some basic information to your GA account: page name/
URL, an anonymous IP address (last octect is zeroed), and a unique client ID value(
to identify all the pages that person visits; the PHP Session value is used), and
the referring page.

This should be all the info for basic analytics. And the data will be sent for all
visitors, including those with ad blockers.

### Do you send any Personally Identifiable Information?

Nope. Just the values detailed above.

### Do you store any cookies in the visitor’s browser?

Nope.

### Why can’t I use the GA JavaScript code? +

Well, you could. But many ad blockers block that code, in which case the analytics
will not be processed. Our plugin does all the work on the server side, so the browser
doesn’t see any tracking data in our GA process.

### I got it all working, but it seems like there is duplicate data on my GA screen. Why?

It’s probable that you have another plugin or process that is sending the GA data.
You should only have one. Disable one of the processes (even ours) so that only 
one set of GA data is sent.

### What if something doesn’t work?

First thing to do is to make sure you have entered the correct “UA” number. If that
is incorrect, you won’t see any stats on the Realtime page when you access a page
on your site.

If you still have problems, contact us on the plugin Support page.

### I got an idea for a new feature!

Use the Support page to send us new ideas.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“CellarWeb Server Side Analytics” is open source software. The following people 
have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ Rick Hellewell ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rhellewellgmailcom/)

[Translate “CellarWeb Server Side Analytics” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.01 (26 Mar 2022)

 * Adjusted required PHP version to 7.2
 * Fixed missing fuction error.

#### 1.00 (24 Mar 2022) – Initial Release

## Meta

 *  Version **1.02**
 *  Last updated **3 years ago**
 *  Active installations **10+**
 *  WordPress version ** 4.9.6 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **6.2.9**
 *  PHP version ** 7.2 or higher **
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/)
 * Tags
 * [GDPR](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/gdpr/)[google analytics](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/google-analytics/)
   [privacy](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/privacy/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://xho.wordpress.org/plugins/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ Rick Hellewell ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rhellewellgmailcom/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cellarweb-server-side-analytics/)

## Donate

Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?

 [ Donate to this plugin ](https://www.cellarweb.com)