6 ms·

Boba.js: a JavaScript library for Google Analytics

37 points by athaeryn 12y ago

bshimmin 12y ago
What a beautiful illustration and web site for 104 lines of (admittedly quite useful) JavaScript!
antjanus 12y ago
This is pretty awesome. GA isn't the easiest thing to work with, nor the most semantical. Boba seems to add some sense into the entire ordeal. Cool stuff! :)
- gk1 12y ago
  Have you tried using Google Tag Manager? It does most of this through a simple UI, which means less work/frustration for developers.
  - Grum 12y ago
    I was thinking the same...
  - iamchrisle 12y ago
    Google Tag Manager is great! Pros: - It's good at dealing with older browsers - It's async (non blocking) - Simple to implement - No dependencies Cons: - UI is simple but workflow is a little confusing at first - Not "plug-and-play". Still requires a little working knowledge about Google Analytics.
    - gk1 12y ago
      > ...workflow is a little confusing at first - Not "plug-and-play". Agreed. It took me some time to get used to it, but after that I've come to really like it and recommend it to many companies. (Occasionally I even do the setup as a short-term consulting job.) > Still requires a little working knowledge about Google Analytics. Definitely. A tool is only helpful if you know the thing you're using it on.
james33 12y ago
It is too bad it requires jQuery, looks useful otherwise.
- athaeryn 12y ago
  I've considered removing the dependency, but I'm not quite sure how I want to go about it. It's something I'd like to do, certainly, but as we use jQuery on pretty much all of our projects there wasn't too much motivation to ditch it. Feel free to open an issue—or even better, send a pull request—on GitHub. :)
- bckmn 12y ago
  See my comment above on my non-jQuery version. Very lightweight (<3kb).
bckmn 12y ago
I actually wrote a slick version of this a few months ago. No jQuery dependency, fully configurable: https://github.com/jbckmn/gatrack.js https://github.com/jbckmn/gatrack.js
- ybv 12y ago
  This is pretty sweet, actually.
timboslice 12y ago
Awesome abstraction. Loving the "watch" feature
basicallydan 12y ago
Looks great! Why "Boba" though? Just a fan of the bounty hunter?
- athaeryn 12y ago
  Thanks! A fan, and since he tracks things in space it seemed like enough of a connection. :)

37 points by athaeryn 12y ago

What a beautiful illustration and web site for 104 lines of (admittedly quite useful) JavaScript!

This is pretty awesome. GA isn't the easiest thing to work with, nor the most semantical. Boba seems to add some sense into the entire ordeal. Cool stuff! :)

gk1 12y ago
Have you tried using Google Tag Manager? It does most of this through a simple UI, which means less work/frustration for developers.
- Grum 12y ago
  I was thinking the same...
- iamchrisle 12y ago
  Google Tag Manager is great! Pros: - It's good at dealing with older browsers - It's async (non blocking) - Simple to implement - No dependencies Cons: - UI is simple but workflow is a little confusing at first - Not "plug-and-play". Still requires a little working knowledge about Google Analytics.
  - gk1 12y ago
    > ...workflow is a little confusing at first - Not "plug-and-play". Agreed. It took me some time to get used to it, but after that I've come to really like it and recommend it to many companies. (Occasionally I even do the setup as a short-term consulting job.) > Still requires a little working knowledge about Google Analytics. Definitely. A tool is only helpful if you know the thing you're using it on.

james33 12y ago

It is too bad it requires jQuery, looks useful otherwise.

athaeryn 12y ago
I've considered removing the dependency, but I'm not quite sure how I want to go about it. It's something I'd like to do, certainly, but as we use jQuery on pretty much all of our projects there wasn't too much motivation to ditch it. Feel free to open an issue—or even better, send a pull request—on GitHub. :)
bckmn 12y ago
See my comment above on my non-jQuery version. Very lightweight (<3kb).

bckmn 12y ago

I actually wrote a slick version of this a few months ago. No jQuery dependency, fully configurable: https://github.com/jbckmn/gatrack.js https://github.com/jbckmn/gatrack.js

ybv 12y ago
This is pretty sweet, actually.

timboslice 12y ago

Awesome abstraction. Loving the "watch" feature

basicallydan 12y ago

Looks great! Why "Boba" though? Just a fan of the bounty hunter?

athaeryn 12y ago
Thanks! A fan, and since he tracks things in space it seemed like enough of a connection. :)