10. Beehive

Tracking IDs are assigned to properties created within a Google Analytics account. If you have not yet created a property in Google Analytics for your site or network, you should do so before proceeding. See the Create a Property section of this guide if you need help creating a property.

If you have created a property, but need help locating the Tracking ID, scroll down a bit to the Locating a Tracking ID section below.

Once that property has been created, and if you’re certain you don’t want tracking statistics to appear on the dashboard of your site or network, then click the Add Google Analytics tracking ID link at the bottom of the Welcome to Beehive Pro screen.

On the next screen, enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID into the field provided and click Save Code.

That’s it. Google Analytics will begin collecting and organizing your tracking data. Remember, those stats can only be viewed in Google Analytics.

Tracking IDs are stored within the Property menu of a Google Analytics account, located on the Admin page.

Login to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the Admin page.

In the Property column, locate and click Tracking Info. In the menu that appears, click Tracking Code, to reveal the Tracking ID.

Copy and save the ID in Beehive and you’re all set. Google Analytics will begin collecting and organizing your tracking data. Remember, those stats will only be available in the Google Analytics.

If you wish to re-configure Beehive to display analytics stats on your dashboards, see the Settings section of this guide.

Beehive adds a Statistics tab to the Admin menu. Click the tab to access the Google Analytics Statistics page.

Sites that have not connected Beehive to Google Analytics will see an notification to that effect and a link to the Settings module, where new connections can be created.

Visitors

The Visitors panel displays traffic and activity data across multiple metrics, and using the available filters, will display comparative data over selected time frames.

The data for for each metric during the currently selected time frame is displayed along the bottom of the panel. Click any metric to view a chart detailing that metric’s activity over time.

These metrics are defined as:

• Sessions – The number of unique user sessions during the selected time frame. A session is defined as a group of user interactions with your website that take place within a given time frame.
• Users – The number of unique individual users who interacted with a site during the selected time frame.
• Pageviews – The number of pages that were fully loaded into a browser at the request of users. A user who views five pages in one session will result in a single session and five pageviews.
• Pages/Session – The average number of pages users viewed during a single session.
• Average Time – The average amount of time users spent interacting with a site during a single session.
• Bounce rate – A bounce occurs when a user leaves a site shortly after arriving without interacting with any elements on the page. The bounce rate is the number of these events as a percentage of all sessions during the selected time frame.

Time Frame Filter

Use the time frame filter to display data for a variety of periods, including custom data ranges.

Changing the time frame will refresh the data for every chart on the Statistics page, so all charts display data for the same period.

Compare to last period

Select the Compare to last period option, and then click a metric to see a comparison of the current data for that period and the data for the time frame preceding the current time frame.

For example, the lighter-colored line in the image below shows a site’s pageview data for the last 30 days, while the bolder line shows the same metric for the 30 days immediately preceding the last 30 days.

Mediums, Search Engines and Top pages

Beehive displays key Search Engine Optimization data in three circle charts directly below the Visitors data.

These charts show traffic data in the following categories:

• Medium – The various sources for site traffic: organic, direct, referral, and so on.
• Social Networks – Traffic that was referred to a site from a social network.
• Search Engines – A ranking of search engines based on the amount of traffic derived from those sources.

Top Countries

The Top Countries chart uses color coding to show, geographically, where traffic is coming from to a site and the number of visitors from each country during the selected time frame.

Top Pages

A list of a site’s most visited pages and the number of visitors who viewed the pages during the selected time period, as well as the average amount of time users spent on that page and the percent change since the previous period.

The list contains links to the listed pages. Click any link to view that page.

The Beehive Statistics widget provides access to site traffic statistics directly from the dashboard of any site with Beehive activated and connected to Google Analytics.

For sites that are not connected to Google Analytics, Beehive will display a notification to that effect. Click the link provided or go to the Settings module to connect Beehive to Google Analytics.

Widget Tools and Tabs

Use the tools and tabs at the top of the widget to access the desired statistical data or view.

The tools include:

• See all stats – Click to open the Statistics page where a detailed report of site traffic data can be found.
• Refresh data – Click to pull in fresh data from Google Analytics.
• Time frame filter – Click the drop-down menu to apply a custom time frame and display data for the selected period only. The selected time frame will apply to all metrics viewed until the time frame is changed.

The tabs include:

• General stats – Each panel within the General Stats tab can be clicked to see a more detailed display of that data.
• Audience – The Audience tab displays data related to users behavior while on a site: numbers of unique users, sessions, pageview and page per session.
• Top Pages and Views – A list of a site’s most visited pages, along with the number of visitors, the average time users spend on those pages and whether the pages are trending up or down.
• Traffic – This tab displays the leading sources of a site’s traffic geographically, by search engine, medium and social network.

Click Enable APIs and Services to access the Google library of APIs.

Enable the Google Analytics API

Use the search tool to locate the Google Analytics API or scroll to the bottom of the page where it’s located and click Google Analytics API.

Cick Enable.

If you are prompted to create credentials, ignore the request and exit the prompt. Google requires OAuth 2.0 credentials for API connections, but it is better to add all the required APIs before creating those credentials.

Enable Google People API

Locate the Enable APIs & Services button. If you don’t see the button, click APIs & Services on the left side of the screen. Click Enable APIs & Services to access the Google API Library.

Type “people” into the search tool to quickly locate The People API, then select it and click Enable to add it to the project.

Enable Reporting API

Finally, add the Google Analytics Reporting API in the same way. Click Google APIs on the left and then Enable APIs and Services to return to the API Library.

Search for “reporting”, select and Enable the Reporting API.

Once the three required APIs are added to the project, it’s time to create the OAuth Client ID.

Google requires informed user consent for most of its data collection APIs. In the case of Beehive, Google requires an OAuth 2.0 Client ID which, in turn, requires that users grant consent to the data collection via a consent screen. First, we will configure the constent screen, then the Client ID.

There are many routes through the OAuth credential screens, but the following path is the most direct.

First, navigate to your Google API Project Dashboard by clicking Google APIs in the upper left corner. Once there, click the Credentials tab.

In the popup that appears, click the Create Credentials drop-down menu and click the OAuth client ID link.

Configure the Consent Screen

Google requires users consent to having their data collected via a popup consent screen, and requires Admins to provide information that will appear on that screen.

Click Configure Consent screen to proceed.

Depending on the user data being collected and its intended use, some Admins may be required to provide more information than others. Beehive Admins are required to identify the type of data being collected, the application’s name, an email address for support requests and an authorized domain.

This is an example of what a configured Beehive consent screen looks like.

The following guidance will help you complete the required consent screen fields.

Application Type – Select Public, if you want to allow any Google account to connect to Beehive. You’d want this option to enable clients or subsite admins to connect with their Google accounts using this same API. Select Internal if you want to limit access to only users within your organization, or if you are using a GSuite account for this API.

Application Name – This name that will appear on consent screens indicating who is requesting users’ data. Google requires that the name accurately reflect your application and be consistent with the application name users see elsewhere. You can include your site or company name with the application name, but be careful not to use a name that suggests your application is from Google or any entity other than your own.

Support email – By default, the Google account you signed in with will appear as the support email. Later, you can create a user with an email address specifically for support requests.

Scopes for Google APIs – We do not recommend adding scopes to your Beehive API project. If you require additional scopes, see the Scopes and Verification section below before adding them. Otherwise, no action is needed in this section.

Authorized domains – Type your domain name into this field and hit return. Google requires that authorized domains be top-level domains only, such as example.edu, mysite.com, etc. Subdomains, such as analytics.example.com, cannot be an authorized domain; however, once an authorized domain is added, Admins can use any of its subdomains or pages elsewhere, as needed. Enter your domain into the field provided, and if it is accepted, the domain name will appear above the field.

When ready, click Save to preserve the information and exit the page.

In the popup that appears, click the Create Credentials drop-down menu, and select the OAuth client ID link.

Create Client ID

Complete the Create OAuth Client ID form as instructed below and click Create.

Application type – Select Web application and a series of settings relevant to web applications will appear.

Name – Here you are actually naming the credentials associated with this project. The name can be anything that works for you.

Authorized Javascript origins – All the javascript required for Beehive to function is contained in the app, so Admins can ignore this field.

Authorized redirect URLs– You must add the URL of the site being connected twice, once with a slash (/) at the end and once without a slash (/) at the end. Other URLs may also be added. See the note below for important information regarding redirect URLs.

When you are ready, click Create and Google will generate your credentials.

Your OAuth 2.0 Client ID will be created and displayed, while the Secret Key is still a couple of clicks away. Click Done to proceed.

Locating Your Client Secret and Client ID

The Credentials screen contains a list of the Client IDs for all your Google API projects. Each Client ID will have an associated Client Secret, which can be viewed by clicking the name of the project or the Edit icon.

When you open the Client ID page, the Secret Key may not appear immediately. If not, simply refresh the page, and the key should appear beneath the Client ID.

The Client ID for this project cannot be changed, but users can reset the Client Secret as necessary by clicking Reset Secret.

Return to the Hive

Return to your site and copy/paste the Client ID and Client Secret into their respective fields in Beehive and click Authorize.

You will be asked to log in to the API project and grant permission for Google Analytics to collect data from this site. Login with the Google account used to create the project.

Click Allow in the pop up to confirm the connection between Beehive and Google Analytics.

At this point, if you’ve followed the guidance in this section, you have created a Google Analytics account and added a property (website or network of sites). You

At this point, you have created an API project and given permission for Beehive to pass data to that project. Now, you must choose the profile within that project with which this site’s data to be a site is connected to Google Analytics with a robust data collection and reporting profile. It may takes several minutes for data to begin appearing in your Dashboard. In the meantime, there are a few more steps required to complete the Beehive configuration.

Setup Your Account

Now that Beehive is connected, just a few housekeeping tasks and you’re done. First, you will establish which roles will able to view the Google Analytics data and reports that appear on your dashboard and in Beehive.

From the drop-down menu select the View, formerly profile, associated with this site. Below that, ensure the Automatically Output my Google Analytics Tracking Code is enabled. In the list below that, select the user roles allowed to access analytics data and reports.

When the Finishing Up screen closes, the integration will be complete.

Congratulations! You have successfully integrated Google Analytics into your site with Beehive.

If you followed our advice and connected the network using the Google Analytics API and did so from Network Admin, every subsite can now connect using the simple Connect with Google method.

Begin by navigating to any subsite.

You should see a notification that the site is not yet connected to Google Analytics. Click Connect Account.

From this point on, follow the process discussed in Connect with Google section.

Tracking Settings is where the credentials that connect Beehive to Google Analytics are managed.

Account

To display your Google Analytics statistics on your site dashboards you will need to connect with one of the two API methods:

• Connect with Google – a shared API with multiple users
• Set up API project (Recommended) – creates a custom API connection for a specific site or network of sites.

If you are unfamiliar with Google APIs, we recommend reading the To Share of Not to Share section above before proceeding.

• Connect with Google – To connect Beehive to Google Analytics using the shared API, click Connect with Google and enter your Access Code in the field provided. If you do not have an access code, see the Connect with Google section of this guide.
• Set up API project (Recommended) – To connect Beehive to Google Analytics using a custom API project you created in the Google Developers Console, click Set up API project and enter the Client ID and Client Secret into the fields provided. If you have not yet created an API project or don’t have the required credentials, see the Set up API project section of this guide.

Remember to click Save Changes before leaving the Settings module or your changes may not be preserved.

Resetting the connection

Resetting the connection between Beehive and Google Analytics will remove the statistics data from the dashboard of every site being tracked. The data will not be lost, however, and can still be accessed in Google Analytics.

To reset the connection, click the tool icon and then select Log out or Switch Profile, both of which will disconnect Beehive from Google Analytics.

Tracking Statistics

If you only want to share site data with Google Analytics but do not want to display it on your dashboards, you can connect simply by entering a Tracking ID into the field provided. If you need help locating your Tracking ID, see the Locating a Tracking ID section of this guide.

Remember to click Save Changes before leaving the Settings module or your changes may not be preserved.

The features in the General Settings allow users to leverage additional functionality from their Beehive-Google Analytics connection.

Admin pages tracking

By default, only activity on frontend pages of your site is tracked. However, by enabling this Admin Page Tracking feature, activity in the wp-admin is also tracked.

IP Anonymization

Google does collect IP addesses in order to report geolocation data, but those address are never reported and are stored in an anonymous state. When enabled, IP Anonymization modifies collected IP addresses so they cannot be used by Google and allows you to ensure your audience that you are not leaving it up to Google to protect their data.

Multisite Super Admins have an additional option that, when selected, forces all subsites to anonymize IP addresses, as well.

Display Advertising

When enabled, this feature adds Google advertising cookies to your site or network so you can do things like:

• Create Remarketing Audiences based on specific behavior, demographic, and interest data, and share those lists with Google Ads

• Use demographic and interest data in your Analytics reports

• Create Segments based on demographic and interest data

Keep in mind that you may need to update your privacy policy if you wish to enabled this feature.

Permissions

Here you can determine who can see the data and reports compiled by Google Analytics. On multisite networks, the roles enabled will apply to every site in the network unless the Allow site admins to overwrite this setting is enabled.

Capabilities

Capabilites are an extension of the Roles feature and allows SuperAdmins to delegate control over subsites in highly specific ways.

Access the WordPress list of commands and apply those commands in the field provided to craft custom roles with capabilities defined by you.

Here you can determine who can see the data and reports compiled by Google Analytics. On multisite networks, the roles enabled will apply to every site in the network unless the Allow site admins to overwrite this setting is enabled.

Capabilities

Capabilites are an extension of the Roles feature and allows SuperAdmins to delegate control over subsites in highly specific ways.

Access the WordPress list of commands and apply those commands in the field provided to craft custom roles with capabilities defined by you.