Set up tracking – measure without cookies
After activation the plugin records page views in the frontend without setting a cookie for it. Logged-in editors are left out by default. This article shows which switches control the tracking and how two visitors are told apart.
How a visitor is recognized without a cookie
From the truncated IP address (IPv4 to /24, IPv6 to /48), the user agent and a salt, the plugin forms a SHA-256 value. The salt is derived from a server secret and the current date and therefore changes daily — the same identifier can no longer be assigned to the same person on the following day. The session ID is created in the browser and is stored in sessionStorage under the key kwpa_sid, not in a cookie.
Checking and configuring the tracking
- In the WordPress menu, open “Kakapo Analytics” and in the sidebar under “Administration” go to “First steps”.
- Under “Step 1 — Choose profile”, select one of the five profiles: Blog / Content, Online shop, Agency / Freelancer, SaaS / App or Custom.
- Under “Step 2 — Choose features”, click “Apply recommendation”. The button switches on the recommended modules that are still missing, plus the two main switches if needed — nothing is switched off.
- Switch to “Administration → Settings” and check the switches “Tracking active”, “Exclude logged-in users” and “Behavior events” in the “Tracking” card.
- If needed, add rules in the “Exclusions” card under “Excluded addresses” and “Blocked IP addresses”; the “Enter own IP” button takes over your current address.
- Open the website in a private or logged-out window and return to “First steps” — the items “Record first visit” and “See first metric” check real data.
The 17 modules in the “Tracking” card
- Live visitors, click tracking, rage clicks, dead clicks, scroll depth
- Origin & referrals, page analysis, heat map analysis, visitor paths
- Session Recordings, form events, goals & conversions, link tracking
- UTM analysis, A/B tests, feedback widget, button scanner
- Off by default are: Session Recordings, A/B tests and the feedback widget
- Above all modules sit the two switches “Tracking active” and “Behavior events”
- A switched-off module deletes nothing — only nothing new is added
If “Allow opt-out” is switched on, a visitor can opt out of measurement via a link; ?kwpa_optin=1 reverses this. The marker is stored in localStorage and therefore applies per device and browser. The opt-out affects the tracker, session recording, feedback widget, link tracking and A/B delivery.
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