Would a neutral analytics code be allowed

[ot2sen]

Hi JED Team

At redCOMPONENT we have been discussing how to monitor active versions of our extensions.
We´ve looked at adding a simple analytics code at the install resulting screen, in order to get a closer insight in where our extensions are used and the amount of them.

This to be able to know better which types of extensions the users prefer, but mainly to get some insight in where we could do an extended effort in providing a full language package for our users.

Obviously we have no interest in breaking any rules of JED, so we would like to know upfront if you see any issue in doing so?
We talked about notifying the users about this on the download page, with a clear message like:

redCOMPONENT use Google analytics for statistical purposes only in the extension installation screen and not in any other screen of the extension. We do not store any sensitive information. Our only interest in this information is to identify the active versions of our extensions in the market.

Hope you have a moment for some feedback on this. Thanks.

[mattbaylor]

Hi Ole,

Good question. Essentially it's a call-home function to track usage which we haven't allowed (since I've been around at least). It has been popping up more and more as of late so I'll discuss it with the group and we'll try and amend the checklist to expand a bit more. Hopefully I can have a better answer soon.

[ot2sen]

Thanks Matt.

Looking forward to hear the result of your discussion and the options there could be to help developers to have a better base of information for to help their users.

[Vimes]

+1 folks.

Would love to be able to capture this kind of data. I couldn't give a toss about "who" is installing it, but would really like to know how many test installations result in working sites.

[ot2sen]

Hi Matt,

Did the team come to a conclusion on this question?

We have a series of releases lined up for the coming week(s), and it would be good to know whether this would be a valid option to use.

As Vince said, it is not about the 'who' or any details of the individual user, but only to give us a better overview of amount of use and which areas of the world. Helping us help the users

[ot2sen]

I had a request last night about 'how is it done', and it makes sense to add the simple explanation in code here, to allow you folks to see that this is rather neutral in its approach.

In our test example we added some pieces of code to our redSLIDER component, and the result is that extension name, type (update/install), and version, is shown in analytics.

The base code part we added is the following in our component/admin/layouts/install_stats.php

Code: Select all

+<?php
+/**
+ * @package     RedSLIDER
+ * @subpackage  Layouts
+ *
+ * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2014 redCOMPONENT.com. All rights reserved.
+ * @license     GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE
+ */
+
+
+defined('JPATH_REDCORE') or die;
+$componentVersion = $displayData['comp_version'];
+$installType      = $displayData['install_type'];
+$componentName    = $displayData['comp_name'];
+?>
+<script type="text/javascript">
+var _gaq = _gaq || [];
+_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-YY']);
+_gaq.push(['_trackEvent',
+	'<?php echo $installType ?>',
+	'<?php echo JText::_($componentName) ?>',
+	'<?php echo $componentVersion ?>']);
+(function()
+{ var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); }
+)();
+</script>

Then to the component/admin/helpers/helper.php we added the following:

Code: Select all

+
+	/**
+	 * Retrieve component infomation from manifest file
+	 *
+	 * @return  array
+	 */
+	public static function getComponentInfo()
+	{
+		$xmlfile = JPATH_SITE . '/administrator/components/com_redslider/redslider.xml';
+		$version = JText::_('COM_REDSLIDER_FILE_NOT_FOUND');
+		$info = array();
+		$info['version'] = $version;
+
+		if (file_exists($xmlfile))
+		{
+			$data = JApplicationHelper::parseXMLInstallFile($xmlfile);
+			$info['comp_version'] = $data['version'];
+			$info['comp_name'] = $data['name'];
+		}
+
+		return $info;
+	}

and finally for the view we added the following in component/admin/views/welcome/view.html.php

Code: Select all

 defined('_JEXEC') or die;
 
+require_once JPATH_ADMINISTRATOR . '/components/com_redslider/helpers/helper.php';
+
 /**
  * Welcome View
  *
 @@ -36,10 +38,34 @@ class RedsliderViewWelcome extends RedsliderView
 	 */
 	public function display($tpl = null)
 	{
-		$this->redsliderversion = $this->get('Version');
+		$displayData = RedsliderHelperHelper::getComponentInfo();
+		$this->redsliderversion = $displayData['comp_version'];
 
 		$this->installationType = JFactory::getApplication()->input->getString('type', '');
 
+		if ($this->installationType == 'update')
+		{
+			$displayData['install_type'] = 'Update';
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			$displayData['install_type'] = 'Install';
+		}
+
+		$this->installStatistics($displayData);
+
 		parent::display($tpl);
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Render a GA script to track amount of installation
+	 *
+	 * @param   array  $displayData  The display data
+	 *
+	 * @return  void
+	 */
+	public function installStatistics($displayData)
+	{
+		echo RLayoutHelper::render('install_stats', $displayData);
+	}
 }

Hope this helps

[ot2sen]

Hi Matt,

Did the team come up with a conclusion on this question?
Would be nice to know. Thanks.

[jk1]

Imho, something like this would be beneficial not only for extension developers, but also for Joomla itself. At present nobody seems to have reliable data about the number of active installations. As a result, people believe in absolutely faulty statistics published by some data collectors. There are others, but http://trends.builtwith.com/shop/open-source is one of many examples, where the published usage data are statistical nonsense due to a lack of reliable signals for what they are trying to count.

[ot2sen]

Hi JED Team,

Would it be too much to kindly ask for some feedback on this request?
Think we have demonstrated a good amount of patience now

Any news on the team discussion you folks had on this request some months ago?