Tracking file downloads from a website
THE AHA STACK MASTERCLASS
Now open with 50% off launch discount!
I had the need to track file downloads on a website.
I initially looked into using URL shorteners that provided stats, as I assumed that was my only option without a backend (was building a static site) but nothing really excited me.
Then I saw Plausible can track file downloads.
It’s pretty simple, too, you just have to swap the default script and list which file extensions you want to track, in my case pdf and epub. PDF files would be tracked by default but epub no, so I needed to add both.
From
<script
defer
data-domain="yourdomain.com"
src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"
></script>
to
<script
defer
file-types="pdf,epub"
data-domain="yourdomain.com"
src="https://plausible.io/js/script.file-downloads.js"
></script>
And then add a goal named “File Download” in the website settings.
Super easy, works like a charm.
I wrote 20 books to help you become a better developer:
- Astro Handbook
- HTML Handbook
- Next.js Pages Router Handbook
- Alpine.js Handbook
- HTMX Handbook
- TypeScript Handbook
- React Handbook
- SQL Handbook
- Git Cheat Sheet
- Laravel Handbook
- Express Handbook
- Swift Handbook
- Go Handbook
- PHP Handbook
- Python Handbook
- Linux Commands Handbook
- C Handbook
- JavaScript Handbook
- CSS Handbook
- Node.js Handbook