dojox.analytics.Urchin¶
| Author: | Peter Higgins |
|---|---|
| since: | 1.2+ |
NOTE: Changes to the ga.js script deprecate the need and stability of this module. Use Google’s own new asynchronous ga.js instead of this module. Will be removed without replacement in 2.0
This class is used to delay loading of the popular Google Analytics Tracker, formerly known as Urchin. The synchronous nature of <script> tags causes page rendering to stall until loading of remote files has completed, and this module alleviates that.
Usage¶
To use, require the Urchin module into your page, and create a new instance:
dojo.require("dojox.analytics.Urchin");
dojo.ready(function(){
new dojox.analytics.Urchin({ acct:"UA-12345-67" });
});
The most important attribute (parameter) would be the acct value, which should be the ID Google provided during signup.
You can define your account number as a dojoConfig parameter urchin. Simply include the key and a value however you set dojoConfig, either before dojo.js is loaded:
<script type="text/javascript">
var dojoConfig = { urchin: "UA-12345-67" };
</script>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/dojo/1.7/dojo/dojo.js"></script>
or directly on the data-dojo-config attribute of your dojo.js script tag:
<script src="js/dojo/dojo.js" data-dojo-config="urchin: UA-12345-67"></script>
Being a Class constructor, you can also use Urchin with a data-dojo-type. Assuming you have dojo.require‘d the Urchin module, and have parseOnLoad:true (or manually run the parser), you simply need to add a tag somewhere in your page:
<div data-dojo-type="dojox.analytics.Urchin" data-dojo-props="acct:'UA-12345-67'"></div>
Ajax-API¶
The urchin tracker allows you to add additional tracking to Ajax/long-lived pages with dynamic content. When you wish to send a new tracker request, call trackPageView with some identifier, and Google will track it as a separate hit:
var tracker = new dojox.ananlytics.Urchin({ acct:"UA-12345-67" });
// later:
tracker.trackPageView("/some-newURL");
You can do this as often as you like during the lifetime of a single page view.
NOTE: The initial page view is tracked as part of the GAonLoad event fired, so there is no need to do it manually. You will not, however, be able to call trackPageView() until after GAonLoad has fired.
var tracker = new dojox.ananlytics.Urchin({ acct:"UA-12345-67" });
dojo.connect(tracker, "GAonLoad", function(){
tracker.trackPageView("/some-otherURL");
});
This is provided only as a convenience, and to have a reliable way of being alerted when Google Analytics is ready.
You can also do this as a shorthand, too. If you want to prevent the automatic tracking, and only track a custom-ajax page onload:
new dojox.analytics.Urchin({ acct:"UA-12345-67",
GAonLoad: function(){
this.trackPageView("/special/pageload")
}
});
Optional Parameters¶
In Dojo 1.3 and before, these parameters existed. In Dojo 1.4, they have been removed for a more robust solution. Disregard this following information if you are using Dojo 1.4 or higher.
There is only one optional parameter: loadInterval. This defines the time in ms to repoll for the availability of the Google tracker. Set to a higher number for less processing, and a lower number for more frequent checks. Default is 420 in Dojo 1.2, and 42 in Dojo versions 1.3 and higher.
The reduction in default interval time is the result of implementing a decaying timer, to ensure the analytics tracker was loaded as quickly as possible, without continually running in the event the tracker is never resolved. These options are defined by the decay, timeout, and loadInterval parameters. timeout defines the time in ms the loadInterval can become before quitting, and the decay defines a float to increment the loadInterval by. The default decay is 0.5, incrementing the interval by 50% on each iteration. eg:
100, 150, 225, 345 ...
When the timeout is reached, the tracker fails. GAonLoad will not fire, so ensure you do not call a reference to the tracker until after GAonLoad fires.