Upgrade to GA4

Hey Isabella,

Thanks for again reaching out.

You should use Option 1 where you create a new GA 4 property. Once you create a new GA 4 property, you have to create a data stream for your web. This can be found in Admin >> Property >> Data stream.

Copy the measurement id from data stream and past it into your current universal analytics property. Admin >> Property >> Tracking info >> Tracking code >> Connected site tags.

This will allow you for dual set up which Google is recommending currently. This will allow you to keep the data flowing in both the properties so that you do not lose out on any data collection. Once you are sure, you can completely migrate to GA 4.

Hope this answers your queries.

Hi!

Thank you so much for your instructions! I will follow your advice.

When I click “create a new Google analytics 4 property” it seems I can’t click the “enable data collection using your existing tags”. Should this be enabled? Is this perhaps something I can enable later?

I am using GTM to track different events.

Also, I have Enhanced Ecommerce for Woocommerce store version 2.3.4, do I need to update the plugin before I create my new GA 4 property?

Thanks again for your help!

Hi,

1. Yes, you need to enable the collection using existing tags. By that in a few days time you have a fare understanding on how your data is being passed from existing universal analytics property.

2. If you are using GTM then there might be a few data collection issues in GA 4 as with GA4, Google has launched 2 new GA 4 implementation tags. 1. GA 4 configuration tag 2. GA 4 measurement events.

3. We are beta testing our plugin’s compatibility with GA 4 and it seems since our plugin is fully compliant with gtag.js implementation, the data collected in GA 4 is accurate. However, we are planning 2 releases in next month or so to make it fully compliant with GA 4 as well.

I would appreciate if you could be part of our beta testing of GA4 and we will help you set up GA4 for your business. (We would need GA access for this and you know I can’t ask you for any accesses here, it is better if you reach out to us directly.)

Till then I assure you we are working very aggressively for all you guys for this GA 4 migration/dual setup.

4. For now you don’t need to update our plugin. Just wait for a few days and you will get an update which may solve a few problems you are facing with respect to GA4.

Hope this helps.

Hello!

Thank you once again for all of your answers!

Ok so I need to enable “enable data collection using your existing tags”, problem is that I have this warning “Can’t enable data collection using existing tags” when I try to create the property, so I can’t check this box. Do you have any idea why this could be?

I have clicked on the link “Learn why”:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9744165?hl=en&utm_id=ad#use_existing_tags

If you look at the bottom there is information about what to do if you’re unable to enable data collection via Setup assistant. However, I’m not sure which option applies to me.

From the link:
“The instructions are different depending upon how tagging is implemented for your Universal Analytics property.

If your website is hosted on a CMS or website builder (WordPress, Shopify, etc.), read the CMS guide. -> mine is hosted on WordPress

If you use Google Tag Manager for your existing Universal Analytics property, read the Google Tag Manager guide.

If you use gtag.js for your existing Universal Analytics property, read the gtag.js guide. -> I assume I should use this one, since your plugin is gtag.js??

If you use analytics.js for your existing Universal Analytics property, read the gtag.js guide for existing analytics.js sites.”

So the question is how can I enable data collection, if I can’t check the checkbox when creating a property?

Thank you for the offer about beta testing, I will look into it and contact you if this is something we want to do.

Best regards

Hello again!

You can ignore my message up above and answer this one instead:

So I just created the new GA4 property, even though I could not check the box “enable data collection using your existing tags”.

After that I followed your instructions and created a data stream for the web. However somehow I must’ve accidentally created two streams or maybe it is supposed to be like that? Should I remove the one I’m not using, I can’t find a way to delete it?

Anyways, after that I copied the measurement ID of one of the data streams and pasted it into my universal analytics property – connected site tags.

So a few questions remain here:
– Should I have 2 data streams, if not how do I delete the one I’m not using?
– In the GA4 property, under web stream details – additional settings – connected site tags: Should I connect something here as well?
– In order to get data from my GTM tags, I must go to my GTM container and add a new tag with GA4 configuration, enter the measurement ID, and trigger on all pages?
– Do I need to worry about the fact that I could not check the box “enable data collection using your existing tags” when I first created my GA4 property?

Please answer as soon as possible, thank you so much for your help ??

Also I should add that I updated your plugin before I did all of this.

Also, shouldn’t I use Google tag manager to create a GA4 tag?

As I understand it, the way I have it set up now, the only thing that will happen is that data from my Universal analytics property will be sent to my GA 4 property.
But I do not yet start collecting data for my GA4 property with the new tracking. Shouldn’t I do this in order to take advantage of the new technology?