Troubleshooting

This page helps you find out why visits are missing, why your numbers are lower than you expected, or why a dashboard will not open. Start with the status in the dashboard: it usually names the cause.

Where to look first #

Open Settings, Installation for the site. Owners and Admins can see it. The top of the page shows one of these lines:

Under the status, one line sums up the last day: how many hits were recorded, filtered as bots, left out by exclusion rules, dropped because of the plan, invalid, or dropped because storage is full. If your test visit shows up there as filtered or left out, you have your answer. If nothing reached the server in the last day, the line is not shown: the tag is not sending.

If the last hit came from a hostname that is not the domain of the site, the page says so. That is normal for a test on your own machine or a staging copy. Otherwise another site may carry this key.

No visits arriving #

The same page has a list called "Nothing arriving? Things to check". These are the checks, most likely cause first. On screen, the one about the plan appears only when the plan is what stops collection:

1. The tag is in the page source of your live site.
2. The key in the tag is this site's current key. A key that was rotated stops working.
3. A strict Content Security Policy is not blocking the script or its requests.
4. The browser you test with has Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track switched off, and localStorage.clearsaga_ignore is not set.
5. You are not testing from an automated or headless browser. Those are filtered out as bots.
6. No exclusion rule matches your visit: your IP address, the path, the hostname or your country.
7. The workspace is within its allowance and its plan is active.
8. A content blocker is not removing the script.
9. Add data-debug="true" to the tag: the browser console then shows every rejected request with its status.

How to do each check:

• The tag. Open your live site, view the source of the page and search for your site key. If it is missing, the tag was never published, or it sits in a template this page does not use.
• The key. Compare the key in the page source with the one under Settings, Installation, character by character. When the key has the wrong shape, the script says so in the console of the browser, even without the debug option.
• Content Security Policy. If your site sends such a policy, the console shows a blocked script or a blocked request. Allow https://clearsaga.com for scripts and for connections.
• Privacy signals. Some browsers switch Global Privacy Control on by default. The script sends nothing for those visitors, and the server drops such a hit as well. Test with a browser where both signals are off.
• Your own opt-out. If you once left your own visits out in this browser, the script is silent here. Excluding visits shows how to undo it.
• Exclusion rules. The list in the dashboard shows how many rules the site has, with a link to them.
• Blockers. Switch off the content blocker for your site, or test in a browser without one.

The debug option #

Add data-debug="true" to the tag, or switch on Debug logging under Settings, Installation, Tracking options. The script then writes to the console of the browser, and every line starts with [clearsaga]. It reports:

• A hit the server refused, with the status of the answer. The status 401 means the key in the tag is not the current key of any site.
• An event it ignored, because the name is empty or reserved.
• A second tag with the same key on one page.
• A marked section whose name it cannot use.

The switch in the dashboard is the easy route, with one limit. The script hears about it from the server a moment after the page loads, and only when the tag carries the current key of a site. When you suspect the key or a second copy of the tag, put the attribute on the tag itself: a tag with a wrong or rotated key never hears of the switch, and a second copy reports itself only when its own tag carries the attribute.

A hit that is filtered as a bot, left out by an exclusion rule or dropped because of the plan gets the same answer as a hit that is stored. The console cannot tell them apart. Use the summary of the last day under Settings, Installation for those.

Switch the option off again when you are done.

Visits stopped after the site key was changed #

Rotating the key under Settings, Installation makes a new key and retires the old one. Every page that still carries the old tag normally stops recording within 60 seconds. Copy the new tag and replace the old one everywhere it was pasted, including a tag manager. Managing a site explains when rotating a key makes sense.

Numbers lower than another tool #

Two tools rarely agree, and Clear Saga leaves out several kinds of traffic on purpose:

• Bots. Crawlers, scripts, automated browsers and hits from hosting networks are filtered, always. See bot filtering.
• Visitors who object. A browser with Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track switched on is not counted at all.
• Opt-outs and exclusion rules. Your own browsers and everything your rules match are left out. See excluding visits.
• Blockers. A visitor whose content blocker removes the script is invisible to it.

Dashboards locked #

• The monthly allowance was reached. The dashboards of the workspace lock for the rest of the month. Visits are still counted, and the dashboards open again on the first day of the next month or when a larger plan is chosen.
• The trial ended or the plan was cancelled. The dashboards lock, and visits are still recorded for 14 days. After that, hits are refused until a plan is chosen.

Plans, usage and limits explains the allowance, the safety ceiling and the trial in full.

Next: Script options, Bot filtering, Plans, usage and limits