Your CiviPlus website includes two separate modules for connecting your site to Google's tracking and marketing tools: the Google Analytics module and the Google Tag Manager module. They look similar but do different jobs. This guide explains the difference between them, helps you choose which one to use, and walks you through setting up each.
What's the difference?
The Google Analytics module adds the Google Analytics tracking code directly to your website. You enter your Analytics ID once in CiviPlus, and the module configures everything for you — including which pages and user roles to track, link/download tracking, and IP anonymisation. Everything is managed inside your site's admin.
The Google Tag Manager module adds a Google Tag Manager container to your website. Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free "hub" for all of your tracking and marketing tags. Once the container is on your site, you add and manage your tags — Google Analytics, Google Ads conversion tracking, the Meta (Facebook) pixel, custom scripts, and more — from the Tag Manager website, without ever changing your CiviPlus site again.
In short:
Google Analytics module = a direct connection to one tool (Google Analytics).
Google Tag Manager module = a container that lets you manage many tools from one place.
Quick comparison
| Google Analytics module | Google Tag Manager module |
What it adds to your site | The Google Analytics tracking code | A Google Tag Manager container |
What it connects to | Google Analytics only | Any tag you add in GTM (Analytics, Ads, Meta pixel, custom code…) |
Where you manage tags | Inside CiviPlus | In the Tag Manager website (tagmanager.google.com) |
ID format |
|
|
Best for | Just need Google Analytics, set up in one place | Several marketing/tracking tools, or letting marketers manage tags without site access |
Which one should I use?
Use the Google Analytics module if all you need is Google Analytics and you'd like to set it up and forget it. It's the simplest option.
Use the Google Tag Manager module if you need more than one tracking or marketing tool, if you want your marketing team to be able to add and change tags without touching the website, or if you need more advanced event tracking. In this case you'd usually add Google Analytics inside Google Tag Manager rather than using the Analytics module as well.
⚠️ Don't track Google Analytics through both at once. If you add your Analytics ID to the Google Analytics module and also set Analytics up inside Google Tag Manager (i.e. You also create a Google Analytics tag inside your Google Tag Manager setup), every visit will be counted twice. Pick one home for Google Analytics.
Setting up the Google Analytics module
In the admin menu, go to Configuration → System → Google Analytics (
/admin/config/system/googleanalytics).In the Web Property ID(s) box, paste your Google Analytics ID. For GA4 this looks like
G-XXXXXXX. (You'll find it in your Google Analytics account under Admin → Data Streams → your web stream.)Use the Tracking scope tabs to fine-tune what gets tracked, if you need to:
Domains — single domain (the default) is right for most sites.
Pages — which pages to track or exclude (admin pages are excluded by default).
Roles / Users — exclude logged-in staff so your own visits don't skew the data.
Privacy — anonymise IP addresses and respect "Do Not Track".
Click Save configuration.
That's it — Google Analytics will start collecting data on your site's visitors.
Setting up the Google Tag Manager module
Before you start, you'll need a Google Tag Manager account and a Container ID (it looks like GTM-XXXXXXX). You can create one for free at tagmanager.google.com — the container ID is shown at the top of your container's workspace.
In the admin menu, go to Configuration → System → Google Tag Manager (
/admin/config/system/google_tag). This page lists your containers.Click + Add container.
Give the container a Label (a name for your own reference, e.g. "Main site"), and enter your Container ID (
GTM-XXXXXXX).Under Insertion conditions, choose which pages, user roles and page types the container loads on. The defaults are sensible — the snippet loads on all pages except admin and other back-end paths, and for all roles.
Click Save.
Your container is now live on the site. From here on, you add and manage your individual tags (including Google Analytics, Google Ads, the Meta pixel, and so on) from the Google Tag Manager website — no further changes are needed in CiviPlus.
Checking that it's working
Google Analytics module: open your site in a browser, then look at Reports → Realtime in Google Analytics — you should see yourself as an active user. (Remember to view the site as an anonymous/logged-out visitor if you've excluded staff roles from tracking.)
Google Tag Manager module: use the Preview button in Tag Manager to connect to your site and confirm the container and your tags are firing.