X
Back to main site

Google Analytics Dashboard Widget

The "Google Analytics" widget retrieves the Google Analytics data of the site associated with your stack using the Reporting API and displays the common metrics data (such as Pageviews, New Users) and user behaviors (such as average time on a page) on your Dashboard.

This step-by-step guide explains how to create the Google Analytics Dashboard Widget for your Dashboard.

The steps to be performed are as follows:

  1. Create Google Service Account Key

    In order to use this extension, you will need your Google Service account key. Google Service accounts let you fetch (or automate fetching of) your site's Google Analytics data.
    In case you don’t have a Service Account, read the instructions given here to create one. Make sure you create a Service account that is not assigned any role.
    Now that you have a Service Account, create a new Service account key as per the instructions outlined here. You need to select JSON when setting the key type.

    1. Set key type as JSON.png

    Open the JSON file in a JSON editor, and note down the client_email value.

    2. Service Key JSON file.png

    You will need this email address in Step 3 while configuring your Google Analytics account. You will also need the complete JSON code in Step 4 while configuring the Lambda function of your extension in Contentstack

  2. Enable Google Analytics Reporting API

    To enable the Google Analytics API, perform the steps given below:

    1. Navigate to your project’s API Dashboard page in Google Cloud Platform.
    2. Click on the ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES button on the top.
      3. Click ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES.png

    3. In the search bar of the API Library page, type and select Google Analytics Reporting API and click on the ENABLE button.

      Enable GA Reporting API.png
    4. Next, we need to add a user and get the View ID.

  3. Add User and Get View ID from Google Analytics

    A - Add New User and Assign Permission

    After logging in to your Google Analytics account, perform the steps given below:

    1. Click on Admin at the bottom on the left navigation panel and click on User Management.
      5. Click User Management.png
    2. In the Account Permissions page that opens, click on + (Plus icon) at top-right corner and select Add new users.
      6. Add new user.png
    3. Enter the client email address that you retrieved in Step 1 within the JSON file and select the Read & Analyze checkbox under Permissions.
      7. Add permissions to user.png
    4. Click Add.

    B - Retrieve the View ID

    Navigate to the Admin page. Under the View section, click View Settings.

    9. Click View Settings.png


    You will see the View details. Copy the value given under View ID.

    10. Get View ID.png

  4. Download Lambda Function

    Download the Lambda function from GitHub. It contains all the required files.
    Then, navigate to your lambda function folder through a Terminal and install npm:

    npm install

    This downloads the required node modules within your lambda function.

    Open the service_account.json file within your lambda function folder and replace the existing content with the JSON content of the Service Key file that you extracted in Step 1. After that, zip your project file.

    Note: If you are using Linux, use the zip -r index.zip * command in your root folder to zip the file.

  5. Deploy Lambda Function

    When creating your Lambda function in AWS Lambda, upload your project zip file. Select 8.10.0 as the Node.js version.
    Under the Configuration section of your lambda function, add an API Gateway trigger. You will get an API Gateway URL, like this, https://abcde1234.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.....
    Store this URL, as you will need this while configuring the extension in the next step.
    For additional security, you can configure an API Key for the API Gateway trigger and use this API Key when configuring your lambda function

  6. Add "Google Analytics" Widget to Your Stack Dashboard

    1. Go to Settings and click on Extensions. Click on the + Add Extension button on the top-right corner and select Create new.
      11. Create New Extension.png
    2. On the Select Extension Type page, select Dashboard Widget. You will be directed to the Create New Dashboard page where you need to enter details in the fields as given below:
      1. Title: Provide a suitable title. For example, Website Analytics.
      2. Default width: Select Half Width.
      3. Hosting method: Select Hosted by Contentstack. As soon as you do this, you will see the ‘Extension source code’ field below.
      4. External source code: In this field, you need to enter the extension code. Download the source code for the extension from here.
      5. Config parameters: Enter the configuration details for the extension. Here, you need to mention the view ID that you retrieved and the AWS API gateway URL for the lambda function. If you have enabled API key for secured access, you need to mention that too.
        {
    "url": "https://abcde1234.execute-api.
        us-east-1.amazonaws.com/default/
        contentstack-google-analytics-widget",
    "viewid": "111111111",
    "x-api-key": "SSS111Sss1ssSSsssS11s11SS11SS"
}
      6. Enable dashboard widget: Select this option to ensure all stack users are able to view the Google Analytics widget on their respective screens.
    3. Click Save. This will create your custom widget.

  7. Use the Extension

    Once you have added your Dashboard Widget, navigate to the Dashboard by clicking on "Dashboard" link at the top.
    You should be able to see the Google Analytics widget added to your Dashboard

    Google Analytics.jpg

    Note: Make sure that the URL that you provide is live.

    You can view the analytics data of the last 1, 7, 15, 30, 180, or 365 day(s). Default value is 30 days.

On This Page

top-arrow