Bug in analytics+ GTM settings

Hi @ontario777,

Thanks for reaching out, and thanks for sharing your insights into what was occurring in your case. We did check the impact of pausing tags previously (although mainly in relation to reporting), and I’ll do so again to check the expected behavior within Site Kit. I would expect that we’re limited to what that Tag Manager API provides for, and whether the API does output details of a paused tag.

I’ll let you know as soon as I have this tested! Thanks for highlighting this.

Hey James,

Thank you for the reply. Please also test the data saved as parameters in WP database, because after the tag deletion and till re-connect GTM the issue was actual.

Hi @ontario777,

Thanks for your patience on this. I’ve tested the same and I can confirm that if a tag is paused it will still be recognized within Site Kit, with the plugin also discovering the UA property ID. I would expect that this is normal behavior, given the plugin uses the Tag Manager API, which I suspect doesn’t flag a paused ID. In addition, a paused tag is usually temporary, with remove the tag a more permanent solution. Note also that users can select a different Analytics account to the one which is recognized by Site Kit during Analytics select (including a paused one). You’re not confined to Site Kit using this paused tag.

I will also pass on your query to the team, to check and confirm whether the plugin can determine a paused tag. Note also that the information on this isn’t stored in your connected WordPress database, the plugin pulls the the information from a users Tag Manager account and relays this to the Site Kit service.

I’ll report back to you here once I have an update from the team on this. Thank you!

Hi @ontario777,

I’ve spoken to the team to discuss how Site Kit recognizes an Analytics snippet, even if it’s paused. This is expected behavior. Site Kit notifies a user that an Analytics snippet is detected, it just doesn’t state whether it’s paused or not (with pausing controlled at Analytics level). The plugin also doesn’t force a user to use that existing Analytics property that is listed, it’s just a notification that an Analytics property was found.

Let me know if you have any further questions on this.

Hi @jamesosborne,

Thank you for clarification.

I guess it would be a good idea to add tooltip symbol on the end of this notification string, referring to help, described this kind of behavior .

No problem, @ontario777, I was happy to pass on your suggestion. If you feel that an indicator based on a paused tag is important to you, feel free to open a GitHub issue on the plugins repository. That way the wider team can review once more. I will state that there may be changes on paused tags further down the line with both GA4 and also with the new Google Tag. For that reason I can’t be sure any notification indicator based on a paused tag will be prioritized or approved.

It may also not be possible to determine a paused tag if the Tag Manager API doesn’t allow for that when preforming a check for an existing tag.

If you prefer that we create a GitHub issue on your behalf for the team to discuss, let me know. Thank you and have a great weekend.

Thank you, may be one day I will. For now working hard for bugfixes on WPML plugin…

I understand. And great plugin, WPML! Best of luck.

Yep… Not mine plugin, but found a bug there ))