Title: Referrer Analytics Author: Ben Marshall Published: July 13, 2020 Last modified: September 10, 2020 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/referrer-analytics/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=2345764) 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/referrer-analytics/assets/icon.svg?rev=2345764) # Referrer Analytics By [Ben Marshall](https://profiles.wordpress.org/bmarshall511/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/referrer-analytics.2.0.1.zip) * [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/#description) * [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/#reviews) * [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/#installation) * [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/referrer-analytics/) ## Description A powerful site referrer analytics plugin. Get insights into types of referring traffic, automated [GA campaign URLs](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033863), and useful tracking data for advanced reporting, conversation tracking, and 3rd- party integration. #### On-site Reporting & Statistics A powerful tool that allows owners to gain valuable insights into referring traffic. View on-site reporting and statistics with interactive visual graphs and detailed logging including: * GDPR & [CCPA compliant](https://www.benmarshall.me/ccpa-compliance/) * Date & time users were referred * IP addresses of referred users & their [geolocation](https://benmarshall.me/html5-geolocation/) * Types of referring traffic: _organic, bots, referral, etc._ * Human-readable referrers (ex. Google, Facebook, etc.) * Referred destination URLs & top landing pages from referrers * Toplists of referrers, types of referrers, popular landing pages & more * Helpful recommendations to block known malicious referrers #### Automated Google Analytics Integration Automatically track [Google Analytics campaign data](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033863) via automated URLs from referring sources — no need to manually generate campaign URLs! Here’s how it works: 1. User visits the site from a referring URL like Google 2. It retrieves & parses the referrers info 3. Smart redirect with UTM parameters added (i.e. `utm_source`, `utm_medium` and ` utm_campaign`) When cookies are enabled, last known UTM values and referrer info is stored and can be accessed for advanced reporting, conversion tracking, etc. ## Screenshots * [[ * Referrer Analytics statistics & charts * [[ * Referrer Analytics statistics & charts * [[ * Referrer Analytics log * [[ * Referrer Analytics settings screen ## Installation 1. Upload the entire referrer-analytics folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory. 2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen (Plugins > Installed Plugins). 3. Visit the plugin setting to configure as needed (Settings > Referrer Analytics). For more information, see the [plugin’s website](https://benmarshall.me/referrer-analytics). ## FAQ ### What is a “self-referral”? A “self-referral” is traffic coming to the site that has been referred by the same site. Referrer Analytics will typically ignore this type of traffic except when ran on certain hosts such as Pantheon.io. Learn more about “self-referrals” in [Pantheon’s documentation](https://pantheon.io/docs/pantheon_stripped). ### What aren’t my user referrers being logged? Referrer Analytics relies on `$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER]`. Due to increasing privacy settings, there’s a handful of edge cases where this variable isn’t available. These include: * “direct” visitors (typed a URL in the browser or used a bookmark) * Followed a link from outside the browser (from an email or mobile app) * Referred from http to https, browsers hid the referrer for security * Browser modified to not send referrer (browser extensions) * Using a proxy server that removes referrer headers * Clicked a link that has an HTML5 [`rel=noreferrer` attribute](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/links.html#link-type-noreferrer) * Uses JavaScript to link to your site (`window.open` or `location.href`) * [`meta refresh`](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2985579/does-http-equiv-refresh-keep-referrer-info-and-metadata/24283850#24283850) redirects * Request was made by a robot You can choose to have a URL parameter fallback if one exists such as `utm_source` if the `$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER]` is unavailable. Note that some CMS like WordPress, automatcially add `rel=noreferrer` to external links. You can control this from the plugin settings page. ### What referrer cookies are available When plugin cookies are enabled, referrer-specific cookies are set and can be used for advanced tracking and reporting (ex. pass UTM values to hidden form inputs). The following cookies are available: * `referrer-analytics-referrer_name` * `referrer-analytics-referrer_type` * `referrer-analytics-referrer_host` * `referrer-analytics-referrer_scheme` * `referrer-analytics-referrer_url` * `referrer-analytics-referrer_destination` ### What Google Analytics cookies are available? You can access [Google Analytics UTM values](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033863?hl=en) via cookies when plugin cookies are enabled. This can be useful with certain hosts like [Pantheon](https://pantheon.io/docs/pantheon_stripped), that strip this information on the backend. They also persist during the user’s session allowing advanced tracking and reporting (ex. pass UTM values to hidden form inputs). The following cookies are available: * `referrer-analytics-utm_source` * `referrer-analytics-utm_medium` * `referrer-analytics-utm_campaign` * `referrer-analytics-utm_term` * `referrer-analytics-utm_content` ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “Referrer Analytics” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Ben Marshall ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/bmarshall511/) [Translate “Referrer Analytics” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/referrer-analytics) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/referrer-analytics/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/referrer-analytics/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/referrer-analytics/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/referrer-analytics/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### v2.0.1 * IP addresses are now anyonymized to comply with privacy legislation (GDPR, CCPA, etc.). [#3](https://github.com/bmarshall511/referrer-analytics/issues/3) #### v2.0.0 * Optimized JS & resource loading * Enhanced statistics dashboard * Re-write of the code base #### v1.7.2 * Fixed overflow issue with top lists * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts #### v1.7.1 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Fixed the line charts direction * Various UI enhancements #### v1.7.0 * Various performance enhancements * Various UI enhancements * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts #### v1.6.1 * Fix for cached CSS files #### v1.6.0 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Added “(UTM Source)” to referrers that use the “URL Referrer Fallback” * Added more charts to the Referrer Analytics dashboard * Added a “inferred” attribute to known referrers that are defined by the `utm_source` #### v1.5.0 * Fixed sorting issue on the log table * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Added more charts #### v1.4.1 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Changed ‘backlink’ default to ‘referral’ * Enhanced the log table #### v1.4.0 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Added ability to have a fallback referrer if `$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']` is unavailable * Added the ability to prevent WP from automatcially adding `rel="noreferrer"` tags to external links * Fixed issue with some plugin form fields not saving #### v1.3.1 * Fixed PHP warning header output issue on the log page after a log is deleted for some hosts * Fixed duplicate comma seperated IP addresses on some hosts like Pantheon * Removed log files & now storing referred traffic in the database #### v1.3.0 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Various admin UI improvements #### v1.2.0 * Fixed PHP notice for `Undefined index: redirect` * Updated the cookie name convention * Changed the helper function `referrer_analytics_parsed_log` to `referrer_analytics_parse_log` * Added more insight charts * Minor bug fixes * Added URL field to Defined Referrer Hosts * Added UTM cookies #### v1.1.0 * Added additional pre-defined referrer hosts * Added paging to the Referrer Log * Log now get’s synced with updated referrer & known hosts ## Meta * Version **2.0.1** * Last updated **6 years ago** * Active installations **40+** * WordPress version ** 5.2 or higher ** * Tested up to **5.5.18** * PHP version ** 7.2 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/) * Tags * [analytics](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/analytics/)[google analytics](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/google-analytics/) [referrer](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/referrer/)[statistics](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/statistics/) * [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/referrer-analytics/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/referrer-analytics/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/referrer-analytics/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Ben Marshall ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/bmarshall511/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/referrer-analytics/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://benmarshall.me/donate/?utm_source=referrer_analytics&utm_medium=wordpress_repo&utm_campaign=donate)