The plugin does two things the copy and paste tag cannot do on its own: it puts the tracking tag on every page without you editing a theme, and on a WooCommerce shop it sends each order from your server, so an order still reaches Trace when the browser never gets to the thank you page.
You do not need the plugin. Pasting the tag into your header works, and is covered in Install Trace on WordPress. Use the plugin if you run WooCommerce, or if you would rather not touch theme code.
Install it
The plugin is on wordpress.org as Trace Analytics.
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins, Add New.
- Search for Trace Analytics, then Install Now and Activate.
- Go to Settings, Trace.
- Paste your tracking key from your Trace install page, and Save.
That is the whole setup. The tag goes on every public page from the moment the key is saved, and nothing at all appears before that, so a half finished site stays clean.
What it sends
The tag records visits as it does anywhere else. On WooCommerce, the plugin also sends each paid order from your server, carrying four things: the order number, the total, the currency and the time. It never sends a customer’s name, email, address or anything else from the order.
Both routes can run at once. If the browser records an order and your server sends the same one, Trace counts it once, so you do not have to choose.
Settings
- Tracking key. From your Trace install page. Without it the plugin does nothing.
- Send orders from the server. On by default on a WooCommerce shop. Turn it off if you would rather Trace only counted what the browser sees.
- Trace address. Leave this alone unless we have asked you to change it.
If orders are missing
Check the key first: the plugin sends nothing without one. Then check that the orders you expect are actually paid, because the plugin only sends an order once it is paid, not while it is pending or on hold. A cancelled or failed order is never sent.
Removing the plugin removes its settings and leaves your site as it was. It does not delete anything Trace has already recorded.