Cookieless Privacy-Focused Google Analytics vs Machete

Cookieless Privacy-Focused Google Analytics adds the GA tracking script to your site while configuring it in such a way that no cookies or other data are stored in the end user’s browser. With this plugin, it should not be necessary to ask for user consent in order to be compliant with GDPR and other EU legislation. Being able to use Google Analytics without having to display a cookie consent dialog was the primary motivation behind the plugin. IP address anonymization via anonymizeIp is enabled by the plugin, too, of course. How It Works Google Analytics requires a client ID, a unique string that identifies the user’s browser and persists between page hits. Without this plugin, the client ID is generated by the Google Analytics script when a site is first visited and stored in a cookie. This plugin basically does two things: Disable all Google Analytics cookies by setting storage to none Generate an alternative client ID on the fly whenever a page is loaded Client ID Generation While Google Analytics works even without a client ID, many of its features require an ID that does not change between page hits or visits. This plugin generates the client ID on the fly in JavaScript while a page is loaded. The generated client ID does not contain any personally identifiable information. This is achieved by: Hashing the components that make up the client ID. Switching to a new ID every few days (configurable). The following components are used to build the client ID (the string that is then hashed): Client IP address as seen by the webserver Domain of the website where the plugin is installed Browser user agent Browser language Validity period (a number that changes every n days to force a new client ID and prevent long-term tracking) Usage Install the plugin and add your Google Analytics tracking code (UA-xxxxxx-y). That’s it. Configurable Settings Google Analytics tracking code Validity period of the client ID in days (default: 4) Enable the analytics script for WordPress admins (users that have the capability manage_options)? (default: no)

Machete is a simple suite of tools that solves common WordPress annoyances using as few resources as possible. Machete doesn’t cover every single use case, but there is a huge amount of sites that would require less plugins if they used Machete. All Machete tools have two things in common: they solve problems faced by many web developers and they do it using as few server resources as possible. So far, Machete includes the following tools: WordPress Optimization WordPress places a lot of code inside the tag just to keep backward compatibility or to enable optional features. You can disable most of it and save some time from each page request while making your installation safer. Cookies & GDPR Warning We know you hate cookie warning bars. Well, this is the least hateable cookie bar you’ll find. It is really light, doesn’t affect your PageSpeed score and plays well with static cache plugins. Analytics and custom code You don’t need a zillion plugins to perform easy tasks like inserting a verification meta tag (Google Search Console, Bing, Pinterest), a json-ld snippet or a custom stylesheet (Google Fonts, Print Styles, accessibility tweaks…). The Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager tracking codes are PageSpeed optimized, GPDR friendly. Maintenance mode The maintenance mode that ships with WordPress is just a basic lock-down that is activated whenever you do a major update. With machete Maintenance Mode you can hide your unfinished page from visitors and search engines, give your clients a secure temporary access and lock your site without affecting your SEO. Post & Page cloner Adds a “duplicate” link to post, page and most post types lists. Also adds “copy to new draft” function to the post editor. Social Sharing Buttons Social sharing done the Machete way. The icons are made as a custom webfont embedded in a minified CSS file that only weighs 5.8KB. The sharing actions use each platform’s native share URL. WooCommerce Utils WooCommerce was designed to work for every possible use case, but that often leads to unexpected behavior. These simple fixes can improve the WooCommerce user experience by making it behave as clients expect.