Tracking Downloads for core platforms

[kingo55]

I think it's really important to track downloads in GA so you know:

1. Which sites are driving new members
2. Which platforms are downloading the links
3. Which landing pages work best at convincing users to engaged / download the game

It's easy to track in GA with some simple JS/jQuery. Of course we're using "click" events on download links as a proxy for "downloads" - this is usually good enough:

$('a[href*="OpenRA/releases/download"]').click(function(){
    ga('send', 'event', 'download', $('ul.downloadplatform a.active > img').attr('title'), $(this).attr('href'));
});

This, for example, will show up under the Behaviour > Events > Top Events report in GA. I've tagged it to show the following data:

Category: download
Action: {{ Platform name }}
Label: {{ Download link }}

It's also handy to add this as a goal. I'd be happy to setup the goal in GA for you guys - even a dashboard for some useful reports you can keep an eye on week to week. If you're after a more detailed analytics setup, I'd be happy to develop more.

[pchote]

We actually already track these using the Github releases API. See e.g. https://api.github.com/repos/OpenRA/OpenRA/releases/4433699 for the current release (assets->[N]->download_count).

[kingo55]

@pchote - cool... didn't know Github offered that. However they look completely different.

Github's tracking is for simple yet reliable download counting but tracking downloads in GA will help you make informed decisions for managing the site. i.e.

• Which landing pages have a higher download rate? -> Improve pages with low download rates
• Did downloads increase after the site changes? -> If not, roll back, if yes, keep developing the site in that direction.
• Which traffic sources are driving downloads? -> Maximise these traffic sources (and find more like them)

Inspecting network requests from other games' sites like Battlefield, you can see them tracking stuff like this for outbound clicks (but they don't offer downloads from the site).

[Mailaender]

I assume it doesn't hurt and we could simply grant you access to the Google Analytics profile so you can do some more advanced analysis. My guess is that we get a lot of clicks during new releases (mostly returning players who want to update) and via social media. Please join http://www.openra.net/community/ especially the IRC channel so we can talk about details.

[Mailaender]

We actually already track these using the Github releases API.

http://www.somsubhra.com/github-release-stats/?username=OpenRA&repository=OpenRA provides a nice GUI for it.