Unable to connect to Analytics

Many thanks for sharing the recording, very useful to see. Based on this, we can rule out a browser or tag manager related issue. I also went ahead and created a GitHub issue so we can determine more on this and gather the insights and troubleshooting checks performed. See below for more information:
https://github.com/google/site-kit-wp/issues/6978

As I suspect what’s happening with you is hosting related, there are a couple of checks that can help determine this. Please share the following in order to do so:

1. Do you see any browser console errors on the continuous loading screen when checking once more from an incognito browser session, or alternatively from another device (which would rule out the issue being local to your machine or software)?
2. Do you see any invalid XRS responses on the continuous loading screen? If so please share them using the same form previously used, and not publicly here in the forums.?
3. It looks like you’re using Digital Ocean for hosting. ?Do you recall making any Web Application Firewall configurations or changing any default settings?

If you’re not sure of any of the above, or if you have any questions, let me know. I appreciate all the efforts in sharing details so far, and I’m sure we’ll determine the cause in the end.

Hi

Thanks for this latest update. I have submitted another video for you with the results. The errors seem to be confirming what eventually appears in that the permissions are not correct. The XHR appears to show 403s.

Just as a test I installed the alternative plugin Monsterinsights and was immediately able to connect I assume because the code was already manually installed. I am aware that otherwise I would have needed to add the Analytics to the plugin for that to add to the Head of the site. But the point is that there was no issue in connecting and as normal all the code appeared. You won’t see it now as I have removed it as I did not want to create any conflict between that plugin and Site Kit.

Appreciate this latest recording @adrian33000, we’re getting closer! Based on your console errors and XHR response, it looks like the issue may be the creation of the UA property. We’ve encountered this before whereby the issue was related to a block at host level. Luckily I think there may be a workaround in your case.

Firstly, as what you inserted manually was a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property, the plugin was trying to create a Universal Analytics (UA) property in your case (based on reviewing one of the recordings you created). If you select a Google Analytics account that already has both a UA property and a GA4 property there won’t be a need for Site Kit to create a property, and I expect you will be able to proceed. Unfortunately you’ve hit the API limit for the moment from reviewing your recordings, but please do try the following after an hour (when the API quote will refresh).

1. Visit analytics.google.com
2. Select the same Google Analytics account which you wish to connect
3. Create a Universal Analytics property (you already have a GA4 property created). Here’s a recording I made of how to do so.
4. Visit your site once more, before then connecting Site Kit to both the manually create UA and GA4 property.

Let me know if you have any questions with the above.

I have just sent another video as I do not seem to be able to do what you indicated to Create a Universal Analytics property. The create a new property is in Grey and cannot open to do this.

Thanks for sharing these further details. From doing so I was able to see the problem. You don’t have full admin to that specific Google Analytics account, meaning you are unable to create a new property. This means this is the cause of Site Kit not completing set up also, with the plugin unable to create a Universal Type analytics account on your behalf.

Do you know the Google account which may have set up this Google Analytics property? I ask as you’ll need to be granted full access to the account, or else you can select a different Google Analytics account, which should allow you to proceed with Site Kit set up.

Thanks for this latest information. As I think I mentioned previously I did not set up the original account and understood I had been given full permissions. Maybe not, although this does confuse me. When setting up Analytics Google does 2 checks, the first I assume is a general one that allows connection of the Site Kit plugin and then connections to Console, Tag Manager etc. but then for Analytics it states that a further authorization is required specifically for Analytics and I have to connect for a second time through my Google Account. I would have thought if my permissions were insufficient that should result in my not being able to proceed further with an attempt to configure Analytics. The fact that the plugin requires a second specific check on the Google account but then appears to allow me to proceed but then fails is a fault that needs to be rectified.

Furthermore, reviewing the inspector result, where the “insufficient permissions” displays immediately after activation, the fact that this does not stop the process is not a good situation. What it seems to create is what is known as an “infinite loop” where the cycle continues ad infinitum instead of stopping when the error occurs.

If indeed the situation is as you have now indicated it seems to me this plugin needs some work to immediately so that if permission does not exist you are told at that point and cannot even try to connect Analytics. Then, in the event of an error occurring, this is displayed and the process stops.

I am consulting with the owner of the site and the GA account and will report my findings.

Thanks for the update @adrian33000. Based on the very useful recordings you sent I can see how users such as yourself can end up in this scenario. I’ve set time aside this week to discuss this with the team, to see if there are possibilities of the plugin detecting such Analytics permissions not specific to existing Analytics properties (more so with limitations one creating one type of Analytics, Universal Analytics or Google Analyitcs 4).

Furthermore, reviewing the inspector result, where the “insufficient permissions” displays immediately after activation, the fact that this does not stop the process is not a good situation.

Unfortunately the insufficient permissions notice it’s as much as comes back from the Google Analytics API, which Site Kit uses. What you’re encountering is based on your Google account having access to an existing Google Analytics 4 property, but not being able to create a Universal Analytics property, both of which are required during Analytics setup within Site Kit. As it happens this will be changing soon, when Universal Analytics is being depreciated.

I am consulting with the owner of the site and the GA account and will report my findings.

Great! Do let me know how you get on with talking to the Google Analytics account owner. You just greater permissions within the account, or they can create a Universal Analytics property within the same account, and ensure you have access. Note also that they could set up the plugin using their own Google account – and their own WordPress administrator login. Using their own Google account they won’t run into the same issue, as the plugin will be able to create a Universal Analytics account with their Google profile.

Let me know if you have any questions with the above.

@adrian33000 Just to let you know that I’ve created a new GitHub issue based on your experience, after discussing this with the team yesterday. See below:
https://github.com/google/site-kit-wp/issues/6994

What you’re encountering can’t be resolved within Site Kit itself, given it’s an Analytics permission related issue, but we can hopefully improve the messaging or experience for users who encounter this issue. Many thanks for reporting this.

Note also that I’m happy to assist further with your issue specifically if you have any further questions. Hopefully the account/website owner does either grant you greater permissions within Analytics or create a UA property within the same Analytics account, either of which will allow you to complete set up. Alternatively they could set up Site Kit first (with their own WordPress administrator account), with the plugin being able to create a UA property on their behalf. You can then login with your own WordPress administrator account and view the Site Kit dashboard which includes Analytics reporting.

Let me know if you have any questions with the above.

Hi James

Thanks for the update on this.

I am still waiting for some details from the site owner. What I have been asking is whether they did provide full Admin rights, which is being ignored or whether they did not provide in which case the attempt to configure Analytics should have been stopped at the point where a second login to Google is requested to authorize analytics access and configuration.

Going back to this point “Furthermore, reviewing the inspector result, where the “insufficient permissions” displays immediately after activation, the fact that this does not stop the process is not a good situation.” What I was trying to point out was that on an initial attempt or after a reset an immediate error is displayed in inspector but that fails to stop the process and the plugin seems to enter an infinite loop and I was seeing the line going across the page ad infinitum until I hit Cancel. This then meant that I had to wait an hour before making a further attempt by just trying to “complete the setup” at which point the error message appears immediately saying the permissions were not adequate. That does appear to be a plugin bug as really the error should appear straightaway on the plugin not just in the console and the process should stop when the error exists. Hope that makes sense!

I will report back as soon as I hear anything from the site/GA owner.

Thanks for the update @adrian33000, and completely agree with regards the hour you have to wait based on the Analytics quota errors. It’s certainly not ideal. If the related GitHub issue is resolved this will mean you shouldn’t be able to proceed with set up if it’s not possible for your Google account to create a UA property, rather than the plugin incorrectly suggesting you can, before attempting to complete setup (resulting in the hour wait based on the quota error).

Do let me know how you get on anyway with gaining access to the Google Analytics account, or with set up complete from the account owners side.

As we didn’t receive a response I’ll mark this as resolved. Feel free to open a new support topic if you continue to encounter issues, or reopen this topic and we’d be happy to assist.

Hi James

I am sorry not to have responded as I very much appreciate the time and effort spent on this problem. Unfortunately, despite repeated requests I have not had any response from the site owner. I had asked to check the permissions given and to either upgrade them to full admin if not previously provided or, if that was not an option that the individual with permissions accessed the WP Dashboard and completed the configuration of Site Kit. Either way we would know what had gone wrong and why.

I suspect that as I added the code manually and they are seeing statistics they do not want to be bothered which for me is somewhat annoying as I would have liked to see a definitive conclusion, as I am sure you would also.

So, my apologies. Nothing I can do I regret to say without a response from the client. My suspicion is that the 2nd Google permission check is the error and should have stopped the process at that point. but maybe you can set up a test to verify this.

If I do ever get a response you can be sure I will update you here.

Kind regards
Adrian

Sorry to hear that Adrian. And certainly we will be doing more testing on this given I’ve created a GitHub issue related to improving the messaging where possible. In your case it’s an issue with your permissions at Analytics level, with you not having permissions to create a UA property, which is what Site Kit is trying to do on your behalf.

Note as that you can reset Site Kit and then set up Site Kit yourself if you wish, using your own Google account. This will of course mean any other administrators who did set up the plugin previously will need access to the Analytics property you select, and it will also mean you won’t see Analytics data from the previously connected Analytics account.

Best of luck regardless, and be sure to reach out if you have any further queries.