After installing Independent Analytics, there are a few steps you may need to take to properly track your analytics.
Clear your cache
Independent Analytics adds a tracking script to your site automatically, but if you have a caching plugin installed, your visitors will see copies of your pages from before you installed Independent Analytics.
Your cache needs to be emptied so that visitors see the most recent copies of your pages that include the Independent Analytics tracking script.
You only need to clear your cache once for Independent Analytics to track every future visitor.
Update: there was a minor change to the tracking code in version 1.17, so you will see the notice to clear your cache appear again after updating to 1.17.
How to clear your cache
First, check your Plugins menu for a caching plugin. Popular caching plugins include:
- WP Super Cache
- W3 Total Cache
- WP Rocket
- LiteSpeed Cache
- WP Fastest Cache
- SiteGround Optimizer
Regardless of which plugin you use, there will be an option to “clear” or “empty” the cache.
If your host includes caching, you will also want to empty your site’s cache through your host. And lastly, if you use a CDN like Cloudflare, you will need to empty the CDN cache too. This will ensure that all visitors see new copies of your pages that include the Independent Analytics tracking script.
Log out if you’re testing for views
Independent Analytics doesn’t track logged-in visitors by default, so you won’t see your own views get recorded unless you log out or visit your site in a private browser window.
It is possible to enable tracking of logged-in visitors, and you can block IP addresses as well.
Enable the REST API
For most users, clearing the cache will ensure data tracking works.
However, if data is still not showing up in the dashboard, it’s most likely because your site has disabled the REST API. There are some security and performance plugins that do this, such as All In One WP Security and Perfmatters.
If this is true for your site, please re-enable the REST API. Independent Analytics uses the REST API to record visits, and it can’t function properly without it.
Security tip: It’s possible to disable the REST API entirely except for the route Independent Analytics uses to track views. Read the tutorial.
Still having trouble?
If these solutions don’t help, please contact us, and we will assist you right away.