Add Google Analytics 4 to EmDash

This guide adds the Google Analytics 4 tag (gtag.js) to every public page of your EmDash site. You don’t edit your theme or redeploy.

You need: the Header & Footer Code plugin installed, an EmDash Admin account, and a GA4 property.

Note

Using Google Tag Manager? Add GA4 inside GTM instead and follow Add Google Tag Manager to EmDash. If you install both, page views are counted twice.

1. Get your measurement ID

In Google Analytics, open Admin → Data streams, choose your web stream (or create one for your site’s URL), and copy the Measurement ID. It looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX.

2. Add the snippet in EmDash

1. In the EmDash admin, open Header & Footer Code and choose New snippet.

2. Paste the tag into Code, replacing both G-XXXXXXXXXX with your measurement ID:

   <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
   <script>
     window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
     function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
     gtag('js', new Date());
     gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
   </script>

3. Under Settings, use these values:

   Setting	Value
   Name	Google Analytics 4
   Placement	Head
   Priority	10
   Enabled	On

4. Leave Targeting empty so the tag runs on every page.

5. Save. The tag is live within about a second.

3. Check that it works

• View the page source of your home page (not the DOM inspector) and search for your G- ID. If it’s not there, see Troubleshooting.
• In Google Analytics, open Reports → Realtime and visit your site in another tab. Your visit should show up within a minute.
• If your pages are served from an edge HTML cache, purge it first. See Caching.

Options

• Keep staff out of your data: the plugin never outputs snippets on /_emdash/ admin pages, so admin browsing isn’t tracked. To leave out other pages, add them to Exclude paths.
• Track only some sections: add include paths such as /blog and /blog/*. See Targeting pages.
• Consent: in regions that need consent before analytics cookies are set, load a consent banner and Google consent mode defaults first. See Add a cookie consent banner.

Common problems

Symptom	Fix
No data in Realtime	Check the ID in both places, the snippet is On, and the layout renders <EmDashHead />.
Page views counted twice	GA4 is also installed through GTM or the theme. Keep one.
Works on some pages only	Clear Include paths, or check Page kind is All pages.