AnalyticsBadger: Analytics Auditor

No. AnalyticsBadger is an auditor, not a tracking plugin. It checks whatever analytics setup you already have and tells you what is broken. Keep using your current tools.

No. AnalyticsBadger never tracks or collects visitor data, and your visitors never get anything from it. It reads your site's settings. The only code it ever loads on your public pages is the audit probe, and that is served only to you, the logged-in administrator, while an audit runs.

No. WooCommerce is optional. WooCommerce-specific tracking checks are planned for a future release and skip cleanly when WooCommerce is not active.

When you run an audit, AnalyticsBadger briefly opens your own front end in a hidden frame and reads what loads in the browser, then reports back to your dashboard. This probe is served only to you, the logged-in administrator, and only during an audit. It is never shown to real visitors and it never collects or stores visitor data.

No. Activate the plugin and click "Run my first audit". There is no account, API key or Google sign-in. Settings has two optional controls: an expected measurement ID (AnalyticsBadger warns you when a different GA4 ID is in use), and a list of checks you can switch off.

Usually under a minute. AnalyticsBadger opens up to three of your pages in a hidden frame (your homepage, your most recent post, and your blog page or a category archive), waiting at most 12 seconds for each, then runs each enabled check one at a time. The status line under the button shows which page or check is running at that moment.

Each scored check earns credit: a pass earns full credit, a suggestion 90 percent, a warning half, and a failure none. The score is the average, from 0 to 100, with a letter grade (A is 90 or more, B 80, C 70, D 60, F below 60). When a critical failure is confirmed, such as no GA4 tag at all, the score is capped at 39 so a broken setup can never earn a passing grade. Results marked "Not verified" and context notes are shown but not counted. When nothing could be scored, the grade shows N/A instead of a misleading number.

Your GA4 measurement ID starts with G- and is shown in Google Analytics under Admin, Data streams, then your web stream. Add it with the tool you prefer, for example Site Kit by Google, a Google Tag Manager container with a GA4 tag inside it, or a tracking code field in your theme or a header and footer plugin. Then run the audit again. If you use Tag Manager, AnalyticsBadger cannot read the tags inside the container, so it reports a suggestion to confirm the GA4 tag there instead of a failure. Once the tag is live, you can enter the same ID in Settings as the expected measurement ID.

"Not verified" means AnalyticsBadger could not confirm the fact either way, so it is left out of the score instead of being guessed. The browser check runs as you, the logged-in administrator, so it cannot see the tag when your analytics plugin excludes administrators from tracking (AnalyticsBadger reads this setting in MonsterInsights and Analytify). It also cannot confirm a tag when a consent banner denies analytics by default, when a performance plugin delays JavaScript until a visitor interacts with the page, or when the hidden page check could not report back. Test in a private window as a visitor, or allow the REST API and admin-ajax.php in your security plugin, then re-run the audit.

Yes. AnalyticsBadger reads the GA4 or Tag Manager ID from the settings of Site Kit by Google (GA4 and Tag Manager), MonsterInsights, GTM4WP, WooCommerce Google Analytics, Jetpack, Analytify, PixelYourSite, CAOS and Insert Headers and Footers, and confirms in the browser that the tag really loads. It does not change their settings and does not replace them.

Some security plugins and firewalls block the WordPress REST API, which the audit uses to send what it found on your pages back to your dashboard. When that happens, AnalyticsBadger automatically tries a second route, and tells you when a check could not be verified. To let the check complete, allowlist the REST API (/wp-json/) and /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php in your security plugin.