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Configure Analytics + Pixels

Configure the Analytics + Pixels module

For the marketing overview of this module, see /modules/analytics-pixels. This page covers the practical setup — Quickstart, common workflows, settings reference, and the developer surface (REST + WP-CLI).

For the deep-dive end-to-end flow on the modern analytics stack (GA4 + Meta CAPI + Consent Mode v2 together), see /docs/tutorials/configure-ga4-meta-capi-consent-mode-v2.

Quickstart (10 minutes — GA4 + basic Meta Pixel)

1. Activate the module

WP Admin → Asteris → Modules → toggle Analytics + Pixels to ON.

The Analytics + Pixels submenu appears with sub-panels for each provider.

2. Wire up GA4

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Google → GA4

You need your Measurement ID (looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX).

If you don’t have GA4 set up yet:

  1. Go to Google Analytics
  2. Admin → Create Property → name it after your site
  3. Data Streams → Add stream → Web → enter your site URL
  4. Copy the Measurement ID from the stream details

Paste the Measurement ID into Asteris. Save.

Asteris immediately starts firing GA4 page-views from every page on your site.

3. Verify GA4 in Real-Time

Open Google Analytics → Reports → Real-Time. In a separate browser (or incognito), visit your site. Within 30 seconds, the page-view should appear in Real-Time.

If nothing shows up:

  1. Check the Measurement ID — easy typo
  2. Check for ad-blockers — turn off uBlock / AdGuard in the test browser; GA4 events are blocked by most ad-blockers
  3. Check for another GA4 plugin — MonsterInsights, Site Kit, GA4 plugin (the standalone one) all fire GA4. Two plugins firing for the same Measurement ID double-counts. Pick one.

4. (Optional) Wire up Google Tag Manager

If you use GTM to manage tags beyond GA4:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Google → GTM

  • Container ID — GTM-XXXXXXX

Save. Asteris adds the GTM container script to <head> and the noscript fallback to <body>.

💡 If you have GTM, you typically don’t need to configure GA4 directly in Asteris — GTM handles GA4. But Asteris’s direct GA4 wiring is a fallback that runs even if GTM fails to load (defense in depth).

5. Add Meta Pixel (Facebook + Instagram)

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Meta

  • Pixel ID — your Meta Pixel ID (16-digit number, from Meta Events Manager)
  • Save

Asteris fires the Pixel base on every page-view + standard events on common WordPress actions (form submissions, etc.).

Verify with Meta’s Pixel Helper Chrome extension. Visit your site with Pixel Helper open — it should detect your Pixel and show events firing.

6. Enable Conversions API (CAPI)

Browser-side Pixel alone misses 20-40% of events because of ad-blockers + iOS privacy. CAPI sends server-side from your WordPress install, deduplicated against the browser Pixel:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Meta → Conversions API

  • Access Token — generate in Meta Events Manager → your Pixel → Settings → Conversions API → Generate access token
  • Test events code — optional; useful while testing (Meta shows test events in a separate UI tab)
  • Save

Asteris now sends every event TWICE — once from the browser (Pixel) and once from the server (CAPI). Meta’s deduplication uses the event_id field; Asteris generates matching IDs automatically.

⚠️ MonsterInsights doesn’t support CAPI in any tier. PixelYourSite Pro does. This is one of the killer features of the Asteris module.

7. Enable Consent Mode v2 (EU / EEA / UK)

If you serve EU users, you need Google Consent Mode v2 for GA4 + Ads compliance:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Consent → Google Consent Mode v2

Asteris auto-detects your CMP (consent management platform):

  • Cookiebot — auto-wires; no manual config
  • OneTrust — auto-wires
  • Iubenda — auto-wires
  • CookieYes — auto-wires
  • Complianz — auto-wires
  • Custom / no CMP — see step 8

If you have a supported CMP, the toggle is the only action. Save.

If you don’t have a supported CMP, or you use a custom consent solution:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Consent → Manual JS API

Asteris exposes a JS API your CMP / cookie banner calls:

// On consent grant for analytics:
window.asterisConsent.grant('analytics_storage');
window.asterisConsent.grant('ad_storage');
window.asterisConsent.grant('ad_user_data');
window.asterisConsent.grant('ad_personalization');


// On consent revoke:
window.asterisConsent.revoke('analytics_storage');
// etc.

Wire these into your consent banner’s accept / decline / change handlers. Asteris’s Consent Mode v2 implementation respects the state.

9. Verify Pixel Helper + GA4 + Meta both fire

Open your site in a private window with both:

  • Meta Pixel Helper (Chrome extension)
  • GA Debugger (Chrome extension) OR open Chrome DevTools → Network tab → filter google-analytics

Reload the homepage. You should see:

  • Pixel Helper — your Pixel + PageView event firing
  • DevTools — request to google-analytics.com/g/collect?... with your tid=G-XXXXXXXXXX
  • (If Meta CAPI enabled) — your server-side log shows the CAPI POST to graph.facebook.com

If anything’s missing, debug per-provider — most issues are typos in IDs or ad-blockers blocking the test browser.

10. Note your baseline

Take a screenshot of your GA4 Real-Time + Meta Events Manager + Ads dashboard. You’ll want a baseline before adding more pixels (TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Clarity) so you can verify each new addition doesn’t break the existing ones.

That’s the baseline. Workflows below cover the additional providers + advanced configurations.

Common workflows

Add Google Ads conversions

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Google → Google Ads

  • Conversion ID — AW-XXXXXXXXX (from Google Ads → Tools → Conversions → click a conversion → Tag Setup)
  • Conversion label — the per-conversion label (different per conversion action)

Asteris fires the conversion linker on every page + the conversion event on configured WP actions (purchase, form submission, etc.).

For a typical content site, configure conversions on:

  • Form submissions — via the Forms module integration
  • Specific page views — pricing, demo, thank-you pages
  • Custom events — via the developer hooks

Add TikTok Pixel + Events API

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → TikTok

  • Pixel ID — from TikTok Events Manager
  • Access Token — from Pixel settings → Events API
  • Save

TikTok’s Events API is the server-side equivalent of Meta CAPI. Same event_id deduplication mechanism. Asteris fires both browser + server-side.

Add Pinterest, LinkedIn, Microsoft Clarity

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Other

  • Pinterest Tag — Tag ID + conversion API token
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag — Partner ID
  • Microsoft Clarity — Project ID

Clarity gives heatmaps + session recordings — useful for UX work. The other two are conversion-tracking only.

Configure custom event recipes

Pre-built event configurations that fire to all your enabled providers simultaneously:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Events

Common recipes:

  • File download — any link to .pdf, .doc, .zip, configurable extensions
  • Scroll depth — 25% / 50% / 75% / 100%
  • Video play / pause — for embedded videos (YouTube, Vimeo, native HTML5)
  • Outbound link click — any link to an external domain
  • Form submission — auto-fires when Asteris Forms submission completes
  • Time on page — 30s / 1 min / 5 min thresholds

Toggle the recipes you want. Each fires to every enabled provider (GA4, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn) with consistent event names.

Test events without affecting production data

Most providers have a “test mode” that fires events to a separate test view:

Meta: Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Meta → Test events code — paste the test code from Meta Events Manager → Test events tab. All events from your IP are routed to test mode for 24 hours.

TikTok: Same pattern — test events code in Asteris → TikTok.

GA4: Less elegant — GA4 doesn’t have a separate test stream. Instead, use GA4’s Debug View (Reports → Configure → DebugView) which shows events with debug_mode: true. Asteris fires debug_mode: true when the current user has the ASTERIS_GA4_DEBUG cookie (set by clicking Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Google → GA4 → Enable Debug for your session).

Migrate from MonsterInsights

Full walkthrough at /migrate/from-monsterinsights. Short version:

  1. Note your MonsterInsights GA4 Measurement ID (Settings → General → UA Code field)
  2. Install Asteris + activate Analytics + Pixels module
  3. Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Google → GA4 — paste the SAME Measurement ID
  4. Verify GA4 Real-Time — events should be visible from Asteris
  5. MonsterInsights → Settings → General → Tracking Code → Disabled (stops MonsterInsights firing)
  6. Verify Real-Time still shows events (now from Asteris only — no duplicates)
  7. Wait 24-48 hours to confirm clean data
  8. Deactivate MonsterInsights (keep installed for 30 days as insurance, then delete)

💡 GA4 history is safe. It lives in Google, not the plugin. Switching plugins doesn’t lose any history.

Set up Meta CAPI deduplication (verify it’s working)

When both Meta Pixel (browser) and Conversions API (server) fire for the same event, Meta deduplicates via event_id. Verify:

  1. Trigger a tracked event (e.g., submit a form on your site)
  2. In Meta Events Manager → your Pixel → Events tab → find the event
  3. Check the event’s Connection Method field:
    • ✓ Browser + Server → deduplication working
    • ⚠️ Browser only or Server only → only one path fired
  4. If only one path, check Asteris’s CAPI debug log: Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Meta → Debug → Recent CAPI calls

The event_id is generated by Asteris’s pixel-side JS and passed to the server-side CAPI call via a hidden field on the same request. If the IDs match in both calls, Meta dedupes.

If you’re in a strict GDPR jurisdiction and need NO tracking until consent:

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Consent → Strict mode

Toggle Block all pixels until consent to ON.

Now:

  • No GA4 events fire until window.asterisConsent.grant('analytics_storage') is called
  • No Meta Pixel fires until window.asterisConsent.grant('ad_storage') is called
  • No other pixels fire until their respective consent categories are granted

Consent Mode v2 (Google’s softer model) STILL respects the state but allows consent-mode-aware pixel fires (cookieless pings to Google that don’t store identifiers). Strict mode is harder: nothing fires at all without explicit consent.

Use strict mode if:

  • Your CMP isn’t Consent Mode v2 compatible
  • Your DPO requires zero-tracking-until-consent
  • You’re in a jurisdiction (e.g., parts of Germany) that interprets ePrivacy more strictly than Google’s Consent Mode allows

Audit cookies your site is setting

Asteris → Analytics + Pixels → Consent → Cookie audit

Asteris scans your site and lists:

  • Cookies set by Asteris (none in cookieless Consent Mode v2; some when ad pixels grant consent)
  • Cookies set by other plugins (WooCommerce, page builders, etc.)
  • Cookies set by third parties (CDN, embedded YouTube, etc.)

Useful for compliance documentation — populate your privacy policy / cookie notice with the actual list.

Settings reference

Google stack

  • GA4 Measurement ID — page-view + auto-events
  • GTM Container ID — adds GTM script + noscript fallback
  • Google Ads Conversion ID + Label
  • Google Consent Mode v2 — auto-wires with CMP; manual JS API for custom

Meta (Facebook / Instagram)

  • Pixel ID
  • Conversions API access token
  • Limited Data Use mode (California)
  • Test events code for Events Manager test view

TikTok

  • Pixel ID
  • Events API access token

Other ad platforms

  • Pinterest Tag + Conversion API
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag
  • Twitter / X Pixel

Analytics + behaviour

  • Microsoft Clarity Project ID — heatmaps + session recordings

Custom event recipes

  • File download / scroll depth / video play / outbound link / form submission / time on page
  • Per-recipe enable/disable
  • Per-recipe destination (which providers receive)
  • Consent Mode v2 — auto-wires with CMP
  • Manual JS API — window.asterisConsent.grant() / .revoke()
  • Strict mode — no tracking until consent
  • Cookie audit — site-wide cookie inventory

REST API

# Config
GET    /wp-json/asteris/v1/analytics/config
PUT    /wp-json/asteris/v1/analytics/config


# Cookies audit
GET    /wp-json/asteris/v1/analytics/cookies


# Test event
POST   /wp-json/asteris/v1/analytics/test-event
       body: { platform: "ga4|meta|tiktok|...", event: "page_view|purchase|...", data: {...} }


# CAPI debug log
GET    /wp-json/asteris/v1/analytics/meta/capi-debug-log

All capability-checked (manage_options).

WP-CLI

Terminal window
# Config
wp asteris analytics config get
wp asteris analytics config set --key=ga4_measurement_id --value=G-XXXXXXXXXX


# Test events
wp asteris analytics test-event --platform=ga4 --event=page_view
wp asteris analytics test-event --platform=meta --event=PageView


# Cookie audit
wp asteris analytics cookies                            # outputs cookies set on the homepage
wp asteris analytics cookies --url=<url>                # specific URL


# CAPI debug
wp asteris analytics meta capi-log                      # recent server-side calls
wp asteris analytics meta capi-log --tail               # follow mode (debugging)

See also