I have an implementation or maybe configuration problem which I am not able to solve.
We have implemented the matomo tag manager script as per description into the website. I have configured a page view tag in the tag manager and published it.
This was done weeks ago and we still do not see any data in the Matomo Dashboard Interface. The implementation screen is also still visible. When I check the debug mode in the tag manager and the dev console I can’t see any error messages, the pageview is firing. The script implementation does not show any error. But still no data.
We have multiple different Matomo URLs for the client. For the URL which is implemented on the website I have put the same URL in the URL field for the pageview.
I have a suspicion that there must be a configuration problem as we can’t see any dev errors.
Does anyone have an idea where to look for a mistake or what to check in order to make this basic setup work?
One thing to check is that the SiteID is correct in the Matomo Variable.
You will find this within Tag Manager > Variables and edit the ‘Matomo Configuration’.
On this page, locate the Matomo idsite field and make sure this matches the SiteID of the site you are tracking. You can check the SiteID from Administration(cog icon) > Websites > Manage.
If the container was exported/imported from another website to this one, the SiteID of the previous site is also copied and needs to be manually changed.
The siteID in the Matomo Configuration matches the one under Administration.
I am not sure about the last part of your response: “If the container was exported/imported from another website to this one, the SiteID of the previous site is also copied and needs to be manually changed.”
The client has different Matomo URLs and in this setup a replica of all the websites. E.g. www.xy.com and www.xx.com have a long list of containers with IDs (1-32) but the IDs are the same in both Matomo URL setups. In this example the website we want to track has the same siteID under both Matomo URLs. Do they need to be different?
And if so where do I change it?
The SiteID will be unique for each website you have setup in Matomo.
When you edit the ‘Matomo Configuration’ variable, if the Matomo idsite matches the SiteID of the website you are trying to track, then that will be correct.
It is possible to export (download a .json file) a copy of a container from one website in Matomo and then import this into another site. Basically it’s an easy way to copy your tags/triggers from one website over to another. I often see cases where this has happened but the Matomo idsite has been retained from the previous site during the export and needs to be manually changed once imported. If this was the case, you would just edit the ‘Matomo Configuration’ variable and update the Matomo idsite field manually.
It sounds like you have everything set ok. If you can drop us an email with your website URL we can then investigate this further for you. - https://matomo.org/support/
We have implemented the matomo tag manager script as per description into the website. I have configured a page view tag in the tag manager and published it. This was done weeks ago and we still do not see any data in the Matomo Dashboard Interface.
Sometimes an alternative to the official guide can be helpful so with humility I am going to give my own notes for How to Implement a Pageview in Matomo Tag Manager I will put asterisks next to a couple special instructions for the case where a user may already have deployed an existing (but failed) configuration.
Make a new container. MTM >> Container >> make a new container, save [*If you already have a container, do this anyway. You can always remove an unneeded container. Multiple containers run fine and won’t interfere.]
Get the script at Dashboard >> Tag Manager >> (container name) >> Install code. Take that javascript, including the (script) and (/script), and put it into your webpages. [* Do you need this if you already put in one MTM script into your HTML? Yes! You need to add this script each time you make a container. Please note that the easiest number of containers to maintain in the long run is one container.] It has to be on every page you are monitoring. If you have a site header, put it there, since the header is everywhere on your site.
MTM >> Variable >> New variable (the type of variable should be “Matomo configuration”)
The Matomo interface will show you a list of values. You can accept the default values or check/uncheck. I like to enable heartbeat tracker for example.
Remove the default Javascript tracker from your website. If you don’t, it will cause double the number of pageviews (redundant pageviews). If you don’t know, the default JS tracker is the 8 or so lines of code that you might have added to your HTML on the first day you used Matomo.
You don’t need both! You can have both if you are careful that one is not redundantly tracking what the other is. The main thing as a beginner is don’t track pageviews in both. As a beginner, easiest solution for ensuring that is to remove one of them. Also that makes maintenance easier in the future, a year from now when you, or someone on your team is wondering what to troubleshoot or configure.
