How to use Matomo with WordPress

This article describes how to integrate WordPress with the open-source Matomo (formerly Piwik) analytics platform.Table of Contents

Using Matomo with WordPress

Method #1: Use a WordPress plugin

Installing WP-Matomo

Configuring WP-Matomo

Method #2: Edit the theme

More Information

Using Matomo with WordPress

Matomo gathers detailed statistics about visitor traffic to your site. You can integrate Matomo with WordPress using either of the following methods:

• Installing and configuring a WordPress plugin.
• Editing the WordPress theme directly.

The following sections describe how to do both of these methods.

Before you can use Matomo with WordPress, you must first install the Matomo application files. There are two ways to do this:

• If your hosting account includes Softaculous, you can use it to install Matomo.
• If your hosting account does not include Softaculous, or if you want to install the newest version, you can install Matomo manually.

Method #1: Use a WordPress plugin

There are several plugins available for WordPress that provide Matomo integration, but Matomo’s own site recommends WP-Matomo. This section describes how to install and configure this plugin.

Installing WP-Matomo

To install the WP-Matomo plugin on your WordPress site, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.
2. In the left-hand pane, click Plugins.
3. Click Add New.
4. In the Search Plugins text box, type wp-matomo, and then press Enter.
5. Locate WP-Matomo Integration (WP-Piwik), and then click Install Now.
6. After WordPress finishes installing the plugin, click Activate.

Configuring WP-Matomo

After you install the WP-Matomo plugin, you must configure it to work with your Matomo installation. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.
2. In the left-hand pane, click Settings, and then click WP-Piwik. The WP-Piwik Settings page appears.
3. On the Connect to Matomo tab, in the Matomo Mode list box, select Self-hosted (HTTP API, default).
4. In the Matomo URL text box, type the URL where you installed Matomo (for example, https://example.com/matomo).
5. In the Auth token text box, type your Matomo authentication token.To obtain your Matomo authentication token, follow these steps:
   1. Log in to Matomo.
   2. On the top right of the page, click the Administration (  ) icon.
   3. In the left sidebar, click Personal, and then click Security.
   4. Under Auth tokens, click CREATE NEW TOKEN.
   5. Type your password again to confirm your identity.
   6. In the Description text box type a description for the token, such as WordPress, and then click CREATE NEW TOKEN.
   7. Under Token successfully generated, copy the long alphanumeric string. This is your Matomo authentication token.
6. Confirm the Auto config check box is selected.
7. Click Save Changes. You should receive a WP-Matomo is successfully connected to Matomo message. If you do not, check the values you provided in steps 3 to 6, and then try again.
8. Click the Enable Tracking tab.
9. In the Add tracking code list box, select Default tracking.
10. Click Save Changes.
11. To view Matomo statistics for your site, in the left-hand pane, click Dashboard, and then click WP-Piwik. The Piwik Statistics page appears with visitor statistics, site search statistics, and more.

Method #2: Edit the theme

Plugins are convenient, but they also carry processing overhead with them that can affect site performance. If you prefer not to use a plugin, you can edit the WordPress theme directly to enable Matomo.

One disadvantage of editing the theme directly is that if the theme is updated, the Matomo modifications are overwritten. To avoid this scenario, you should use a child theme instead of editing the base parent theme. For detailed information about how to set up a child theme in WordPress, please visit http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes.

To enable Matomo by editing the theme, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Matomo account as the administrator:
   • On the top right of the page, click the Administration (  ) icon.
   • In the left sidebar, click Websites, and then click Tracking Code.
   • Under JavaScript Tracking Code, copy the entire text in the tracking code box, including the starting <!—Matomo—> tag and the ending <!—End Matomo Code—> tag.
2. Log in to WordPress as the administrator.
3. Under Dashboard, click Appearance, and then click Theme Editor. The Edit Themes page appears.
4. Under Theme Files, click Theme Footer (footer.php).
5. Locate the ending </body> tag. Just above the </body> tag, paste the tracking code snippet that you obtained in step 1.
6. Click Update File. Matomo is now enabled for all pages on your WordPress site. To view site statistics, log in to your Matomo account.

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