Plausible Analytics

feature
#1

Plausible Analytics propose a privacy-by-default open-source analytics platform.

I did not test it yet but I suppose it could work with a theme component like Script to enable Matomo analytics on Discourse.

So I’m curious about two things:

  1. if anyone here uses this (especially in combination with Discourse) – I know I could ask on Plausible Discourse as well, but a simple search yields no answer there…
  2. If the Discourse @team is willing to accomodate site settings to allow for alternatives to Google Analytics (same goes for authentication, BTW): for the rest of us who do not accept to use Google, there are a few alternatives that would sit right there where Google is taking a lot of room in the Site Settings.

I understand there are constraints of market and such, but once in a while, it’s good to enable alternatives simply by allowing their presence as first-class citizens (oh, how this expression is already problematic…)

Thank you! :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#2

This looks like a really interesting solution.

Can also self-host, too! Getting started | Plausible docs Business model looks pretty familiar :wink:

As a person who values the Internet to be more privacy-friendly, I’d love to see something like this as an option in Discourse core. I don’t know if Plausible Analytics would be the right choice for that, and @codinghorror is the one to make that call if we add this as a feature.

That being said, a theme component is always an option to start with.

2 Likes
#3

Since all it needs is a single line script

<script async defer data-domain="domain.com"
 src="https://plausible.io/js/plausible.js"</script>

it makes a lot of sense to be the simplest theme component ever.

4 Likes
#4

If I get some spare cycles in the next couple of weeks, I’d like to take a crack at setting this up and writing the theme component. @hellekin I’ll let you know what happens!

3 Likes
#6

Ooh. That does look cool! I think it might be possible to add some nginx magic to app.yml to have the existing Discourse nginx be the reverse proxy.

I too will see if I can spend some time on this in the next couple weeks.

1 Like
#7

What I really appreciate in the Plausible approach, beyond the AGPL license, is the minimalist approach. Where Matomo is trying to reproduce its proprietary competitor, Plausible recognized that it stands on a whole different playground where the incentive of surveillance and maximizing data capture is not relevant. From there Plausible can cut down the crap and deliver a lean version of what useful analytics can do with a minimum of resources.

It reminds me a bit of Nginx vs. Apache, where the former came to the world with 80% of what Apache could do, and because of this choice, rapidly became a game changer. The comparison ends here, but it’s important to realize, especially among the younger generation of developers, that aiming for less is often a great decision. (tip: Books by Basecamp)

2 Likes
#8

Hey Folks, I’m bumping this up as a +1! Wondering if there’s anything I can do to help this move along.

#9

@falco was correct – supporting Plausible Analytics on Discourse is suuuuuuper easy.

5 Likes
#10