readme.txt

=== Plausible Analytics ===
Contributors: plausible, mehul0810
Donate link: https://plausible.io/
Tags: analytics, google analytics, web analytics, stats, privacy, privacy friendly
Requires at least: 4.8
Tested up to: 5.7
Requires PHP: 5.6
Stable tag: 1.2.0
License: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) license
License URI: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

Plausible Analytics is a simple, open-source, lightweight and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics.

== Description ==

Plausible Analytics is a simple, open-source, lightweight and privacy-friendly web analytics alternative to Google Analytics.

Plausible Analytics doesn’t use cookies and is fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA and PECR. Made and hosted in the EU 🇪🇺.

Take a look at [the live demo](https://plausible.io/plausible.io).

**You need a subscription to Plausible Analytics to track your stats. There's a free 30-day trial with unlimited usage and no credit card required.**

We choose the subscription business model rather than surveillance capitalism. We're operating a sustainable project funded solely by the fees that our subscribers pay us. And we donate 5% of our revenue. 

[Visit our website](https://plausible.io/) for full details.

## Why use Plausible?

Plausible Analytics is built for privacy-conscious site owners. You get valuable and actionable stats to help you improve your efforts while your visitors keep having a nice and enjoyable experience.

Here's what makes Plausible a great Google Analytics alternative and why we're trusted by 2,000+ subscribers to deliver their website and business insights: 

### Simple analytics at a glance

Plausible is simple analytics. It is easy to understand and it cuts through the noise. Check your site traffic and get all the essential insights on one page in one minute. There are no layers of menus, there is no need for you to build custom reports, custom dashboards or PowerPoint documents.

### Lightweight script that keeps your site speed fast

Plausible is lightweight analytics. Our script is 45 times smaller than Google Analytics. Your page weight will be cut down, your site will load faster and you'll reduce your carbon footprint for a greener and more sustainable web. A site with 10,000 monthly visitors can save 4.5 kg of CO2 emissions per year by switching.

### No need for cookie banners or GDPR consent

Plausible is privacy-friendly analytics. All the site measurement is carried out absolutely anonymously. Cookies are not used and no personal data is collected. There are no persistent identifiers. No cross-site or cross-device tracking either. Your site data is not used for any other purposes.

### Track events, goal conversions and campaigns

Plausible is useful. Segment the data by any metric you click on. Answer the important questions about your visitors, content and referral sources. Analyze paid campaigns and dark traffic using UTM parameters. Track outbound link clicks and 404 error pages. Create custom events, see how they convert over time and identify trends that matter.

### Open and share your web analytics dashboard

Plausible is shareable. Your stats are private by default but you can choose to be transparent and make them public so anyone with your custom link can view them. You can also share your stats privately by generating a secure link. This link is impossible to guess but you can add password protection for extra security.

### Transparent and fully open source software

Plausible is open source analytics. Our source code is available and accessible on GitHub so anyone can read it, inspect it and review it to verify that our actions match with our words. We welcome feedback and have a public roadmap. If you're happy to manage your own infrastructure, you can self-host Plausible too. 

## Features

* Our product is updated several times per week and with this plugin you always have access to all the latest features
* Automatically includes tracking code in the header of your site
* Simple plugin settings page with easy options
* Disables tracking of admin-level users by default 
* Tracks external link clicks and 404 error pages by default 
* Serve the script as a first-party connection from your domain name
* Integrate with Google Search Console so you can see search queries people use to find your site in Google's search results
* Keep an eye on your traffic with weekly and/or monthly reports email and Slack reports
* Get traffic spike notifications via email or Slack so you don't miss being on the Hacker News
* Tag your paid ads, emails and social media posts with UTM tags and analyze your ecommerce and marketing campaigns from click to conversion
* Filter the dashboard by any metric that you click on to get further insights. Mix and match filters too

For more information: [How to setup Plausible Analytics WordPress plugin](https://plausible.io/wordpress-analytics-plugin).

== Installation ==

= Minimum Requirements =

* WordPress 4.8 or greater
* PHP version 5.6 or greater
* MySQL version 5.5 or greater

= Automatic installation =

Automatic installation is the easiest option as WordPress handles the file transfers itself and you don't need to leave your web browser. To do an automatic install of Plausible Analytics, log in to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to the Plugins menu and click "Add New".

In the search field type "Plausible Analytics" and click Search Plugins. Once you have found the plugin you can view details about it such as the point release, rating and description. Most importantly of course, you can install it by simply clicking "Install Now".

= Manual installation =

The manual installation method involves downloading our plugin and uploading it to your server via your favorite FTP application. The WordPress codex contains [instructions on how to do this here](https://codex.wordpress.org/Managing_Plugins#Manual_Plugin_Installation).

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

For more information, visit the [Plausible Analytics website](https://plausible.io/). And for answers to all the frequently asked questions, [check out our documentation](https://plausible.io/docs).

= Why should I stop using Google Analytics on my website? =

We may be biased but we don’t recommend you use Google Analytics on your WordPress site because of these reasons:

It’s owned by Google, the largest ad-tech company in the world
It’s a bloated script that affects your site speed
It’s overkill for the majority of site owners
It’s a liability considering GDPR, CCPA and other privacy regulations
It uses cookies so you must obtain consent to store cookies
It’s blocked by many plugins and browsers so the data is not very accurate
It requires an extensive privacy policy
It’s abused by referral spam that skews the data
It’s a proprietary product so you need to put your trust in Google
It worsens the user experience due to the necessity for the annoying prompts

Read more: https://plausible.io/blog/best-wordpress-analytics-plugins

= Why is Plausible not free like Google Analytics?  =

Google Analytics is free because Google has built their company and their wealth by collecting and analyzing huge amounts of personal information from web users and using these personal and behavioral insights to sell advertisements.

With Plausible, you 100% own and control all of your website data. This data is not being shared with or sold to any third-parties. Since we don't make money from targeted advertisement, we must charge a subscription fee.

Revenue from subscriptions is used to pay our rent, further develop Plausible and allow us to commit to Plausible and open source full time. It also enables us to give back 5% of our gross revenue to the environmental causes and open source projects that we rely on.

= Is there a demo available? = 

Yes, you can check out our demo at https://plausible.io/plausible.io

= How can I contribute to Plausible? = 

Check out our GitHub repository where all the development of Plausible Analytics and of our WordPress plugin are done in the open. 

Main repo: https://github.com/plausible/analytics
Plugin repo: https://github.com/plausible/wordpress

You can also blog and in other ways share with the world what you like about Plausible, what you use it for and how it helps you solve your challenges. Our growth can be attributed to people who love to use Plausible and who decide to share their Plausible experience with the world.

You can also contribute to Plausible by translating our plugin. Take a look at https://translate.wordpress.org 

= How can I contact you? = 

You can read more about us: https://plausible.io/about
Contact us: https://plausible.io/contact

== Screenshots ==

1. Plausible.io Analytics Dashboard
2. Plausible Analytics WordPress Plugin Settings Page

== Upgrade Notice ==

Please make sure you make a backup of your database before updating any version to ensure that none of your data is lost.

== Changelog ==

= 1.2.0 =
- Stats within WP dashboard [#17](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/17)
- Allows middle-click and ctrl+click outbound clicks to properly open as user intended? [#15](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/15)

= 1.1.0 =
- add support for self-hosted plausible analytics script [#2](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/2)
- add support for custom events tracking [#3](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/3)
- add support for outbound link click tracking [#4](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/4)
- add support for 404 error pages tracking [#6](https://github.com/plausible/wordpress/issues/6)

= 1.0.1 =
- Fixed the broken link for "Report a bug" button
- Improved the description of the important settings and linked them to some Plausible docs for better explanation.

= 1.0.0 =
- Initial plugin release.