Analytics & Reporting

1. Feature Overview

The Analytics & Reporting module gives you a clear picture of how your publishing platform is performing. It answers questions like:

• How many people are reading your content?
• Which articles are most popular?
• How are subscriptions growing?
• Where is your traffic coming from?
• How well are paywalls converting readers to subscribers?
• How are your social media posts performing?
• How are institutional subscribers using their access?

The module has three main areas you will use:

All analytics pages show data visually using charts, metric cards, and tables so you can quickly understand trends without reading raw numbers.

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2. Who Should Use This Feature

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3. Before You Begin

Prerequisites

Before analytics data will appear in the Admin Console, the following must be in place:

Required

1. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) must be configured

   • GA4 provides traffic data (page views, visitors, sessions), content performance data (time on page, scroll depth), traffic source breakdown, and device/geographic data.
   • Without GA4, these sections will show placeholder or empty data.
   • GA4 setup is done in Settings > Integrations (see Section 5).

2. Reader Portal must be live

   • The Reader Portal fires tracking events to GA4 when readers view articles, scroll, hit paywalls, subscribe, and interact with content.
   • If the Reader Portal is not deployed or GA4 tracking code is not installed on it, reader behavior data will not flow into your analytics.

3. You must have the right permissions

   • To view analytics: You need the Analytics Read permission.
   • To export reports: You need the Analytics Export permission.
   • To view social analytics: You need the Social Analytics Read permission.
   • To view the executive social summary: You need the Social Executive Read permission.
   • If you see an "Access Restricted" screen with a lock icon when opening Analytics, contact your administrator to request access.

Optional but Recommended

4. Subscription plans should be configured — For subscription metrics (MRR, churn, plan breakdown) to be meaningful, you need active subscription plans with real subscribers.

5. Social media accounts should be connected — For social analytics to show data, at least one social account (Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter) must be connected in Settings > Integrations > Social Media.

6. Institutional subscriptions should be set up — For institutional usage reporting, institutions must be created and have active subscriptions with assigned seats.

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4. Key Terms in Simple Language

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5. Step-by-Step Setup Guide

5.1 Configure Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

GA4 is the primary source of traffic and reader behavior data. You must configure it before most analytics features will show real data.

What you need before starting:

• A GA4 property set up in Google Analytics (your technical team will have created this).
• The Measurement ID (format: G-XXXXXXXXXX) — found in GA4 under Admin > Data Streams.
• The Property ID (a 9+ digit number) — found in GA4 under Admin > Property Settings.
• A Service Account Key (a JSON file) — your technical team creates this in Google Cloud Console to allow the Admin Console to pull data from GA4.

Steps:

1. In the Admin Console, click Settings in the sidebar.
2. Click Integrations.
3. Find the Analytics section on the page.
4. Click Configure on the Google Analytics 4 card.
5. A modal titled "Configure Google Analytics 4" will open.
6. Enter the following:
   • Measurement ID — Paste your Measurement ID (e.g., G-ABC1234567).
   • Property ID — Paste your Property ID (e.g., 123456789).
   • Service Account Key (JSON) — Paste the full contents of the JSON key file your technical team provided. It starts with {"type": "service_account", ...}.
7. Click Save.
8. The integration card should now show a connected/active status.

Important: The Measurement ID must start with G- followed by at least 10 alphanumeric characters. The Property ID must be a number with 9 or more digits. If either format is wrong, the connection will fail silently.

5.2 Verify GA4 Tracking on the Reader Portal

After GA4 is configured in the Admin Console, your technical team also needs to ensure:

• The GA4 tracking script (gtag.js) is installed on the Reader Portal.
• The cookie consent banner is functioning (analytics data only flows after consent is granted by readers).
• Custom events (article views, scroll depth, paywall views, subscription events) are firing correctly.

You can verify this by:

1. Opening the Reader Portal in a browser.
2. Opening the browser's Developer Tools (press F12 or right-click > Inspect).
3. Going to the Network tab and filtering for google-analytics or gtag.
4. Navigating to an article — you should see network requests being sent to Google Analytics.

This step is for QA/technical verification. Most users will not need to do this.

5.3 Permissions Setup

If team members cannot see the Analytics page, an administrator needs to assign the correct permissions.

The relevant permissions are:

These permissions are assigned through roles:

To change a user's role, go to Settings > Users and update their role assignment.

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6. How to Verify It Worked

After completing setup, here is how to confirm analytics is functioning:

Quick Verification Checklist

If Data Is Missing

• If all metrics show zero or placeholder data, GA4 may not be configured correctly. Go to Settings > Integrations and re-check your GA4 configuration.
• If traffic data is missing but subscription data shows, GA4 may be down or misconfigured, but the platform database is working. Traffic and content data come from GA4; subscription data comes from the platform database.
• If you see "Access Restricted" with a lock icon, you do not have the analytics:read permission. Contact your administrator.

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7. Using the Dashboard

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1Key metric cards — total articles, subscribers, traffic, and revenue at a glance

2Trend charts — visualize content and subscription growth over time

3Date range selector — filter all dashboard data by period

The Dashboard is the first page you see when you log into the Admin Console. It provides a quick daily snapshot.

How to Access

Click Dashboard in the sidebar, or it loads automatically when you log in.

What You See

Welcome Section

• A personalized greeting: "Welcome back, [Your Name]"
• Subtitle: "Here's what's happening with Hyphen today."

Primary Stats (4 cards across the top)

Content & Moderation Status (6 smaller cards)

Three-Column Section

Social Overview Widget

Quick links:

• Compose Post — Opens the social post creation page
• Social Analytics — Opens the Social Analytics page

Recently Published

A grid showing the last 6 published articles with:

• Article title
• Author name
• View count, comment count, and share count
• Click any article to open its detail page
• "View all" link to see all published articles

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8. Using the Analytics Overview Page

The Analytics Overview page is the most detailed analytics view in the platform. It provides traffic, subscription, content, device, and geographic data in one place.

How to Access

Click Analytics in the sidebar.

Page Header and Controls

At the top of the page you will see:

• Page title: "Analytics Overview"
• Description: "Track traffic, engagement, and subscription metrics"
• Breadcrumb: Analytics

Action buttons (top right):

Date Range Picker

The date range picker controls the time period for all charts and metrics on the page. When you change it, the entire page reloads with data for the new period.

Preset options:

How to use:

1. Click the date range button (it shows the currently selected range).
2. A dropdown appears with the preset buttons.
3. Click a preset (e.g., 7d) to select it immediately.
4. Or click Custom, then enter a Start Date and End Date, then the data will update.

Key Metrics Cards (top row)

Four metric cards appear at the top, showing the most important numbers:

How to read the comparison:

• A green upward arrow with a percentage (e.g., "+12.5%") means the metric improved compared to the previous equivalent period.
• A red downward arrow means the metric decreased.
• The comparison period matches your selected date range. If you selected "Last 30 days," the comparison is against the 30 days before that.

Traffic Chart

Below the metric cards, a large line chart takes up two-thirds of the width.

What it shows: A time-series visualization of traffic trends over your selected date range.

Metric toggles: Above the chart, you can toggle which lines are visible:

• Page Views — total page loads
• Unique Visitors — distinct visitors
• Sessions — browsing sessions

Click a toggle to show or hide that metric's line on the chart. You can show all three at once or just one.

How to read it:

• The X-axis shows dates.
• The Y-axis shows the count.
• Hover over any point on the line to see the exact value and date in a tooltip.
• Below the chart, summary stats show the totals for each metric.

Traffic Sources Card

To the right of the Traffic Chart, a card titled "Traffic Sources" shows where your visitors come from.

Sources displayed:

Each source shows a horizontal progress bar and a percentage. The percentages add up to 100%.

Subscription Metrics Section

Below the traffic section, a card shows subscription health:

Top-level metrics (4 small cards):

By Plan breakdown: Below the metrics, a list shows how subscribers are distributed across your subscription plans (e.g., "Basic: 45%", "Premium: 30%", "Annual: 25%") with horizontal progress bars.

Subscriber Trend: A mini sparkline chart shows the subscriber count trend over time.

Additional stats at the bottom:

Top Content Section

Next to subscription metrics, a table titled "Top Content" shows your best-performing articles.

Columns:

Click any article row to navigate to that article's detail page in the content management section.

Device Breakdown Card

Shows what devices your visitors use:

Each device shows a circular icon, the device name, and the percentage of traffic. Use this to understand whether your audience primarily reads on desktop or mobile, which can inform design and layout decisions.

Top Countries Card

Shows the geographic distribution of your traffic:

• Lists the top 5 countries by traffic percentage.
• Each country shows a flag emoji, country name, and percentage.
• A globe icon appears in the card header.

Example:

"Need More Detailed Analytics?" Banner

At the bottom of the page, a banner offers a link to open the full Google Analytics dashboard for deeper analysis:

• Text: "Need more detailed analytics?"
• Subtitle: "Access the full Google Analytics dashboard for in-depth analysis"
• Button: "Open Google Analytics" — opens Google Analytics in a new browser tab.

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9. Using Social Media Analytics

The Social Analytics page provides detailed performance data for your connected social media accounts.

How to Access

Click Social in the sidebar, then click Analytics. Or from the Dashboard, click the Social Analytics quick action.

Page Controls

• Date Range: Select a period (7, 14, 30, or 90 days) to filter all data.
• Refresh: Reload the latest data.
• Export: Download social analytics as CSV.

Tabs

The page has multiple tabs:

Performance Tab

First row of metrics (4 cards):

• Total Impressions — How many times your posts were displayed
• Total Reach — How many unique people saw your posts
• Total Engagements — Total likes, comments, shares, clicks
• Avg. Engagement Rate — Engagements as a percentage of impressions

Second row (4 cards):

• Posts Published — Number of posts published in the period
• Total Likes — Sum of all likes
• Total Comments — Sum of all comments
• Total Clicks — Sum of all link clicks

Charts and tables:

• Performance Over Time — Line chart showing trends over the selected period
• Platform Comparison — Side-by-side comparison of Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter performance
• Follower Growth Chart — Shows how your follower counts changed over time, with one line per connected account
• Content Type Breakdown — Table showing which content types (Text Only, Link Share, Image, Video, Mixed Media) perform best
• Best Times Heatmap — A 7-day by 24-hour heatmap showing when your audience is most engaged. Darker colors = higher engagement. Use this to schedule posts at optimal times.
• Top Posts Table — Your best-performing posts ranked by engagement, showing the post content, platform, impressions, reach, engagements, and engagement rate
• Hashtag Performance — Table showing which hashtags drive the most engagement

Attribution Tab

Shows how social media drives traffic to your website:

• Social Attribution Funnel — Impressions > Link Clicks > Click Rate
• Platform Traffic Breakdown — Which platforms send the most traffic
• Campaign Attribution Table — If you use campaign tracking, shows which campaigns drive results

Executive Tab

A high-level summary designed for leadership (requires the Social Executive Read permission):

• Period Selector — Choose 7, 14, 30, or 90 days
• Account Selector — View all accounts or a specific one
• KPI Cards with goal progress rings showing progress toward targets
• Period Comparison — Current period vs. previous period
• Top Campaigns — Best-performing campaigns

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10. Exporting Reports

You can download analytics data as files for use in spreadsheets, presentations, or external reporting tools.

From the Analytics Overview Page

1. Go to Analytics in the sidebar.
2. Set the date range you want to export.
3. Click the Export button (download icon) in the top-right.
4. A CSV file will automatically download to your computer.
5. The filename will be: analytics-report-YYYY-MM-DD.csv

What the export includes:

• Traffic Sources (Source, Medium, Sessions, Active Users, Bounce Rate)
• Subscription data (Email, Plan, Status, Created At, Canceled At)

Note: If GA4 is not configured, the traffic sections in the export will show "GA4 not configured" instead of data.

From the Social Analytics Page

1. Go to Social > Analytics.
2. Set the desired date range.
3. Click the Export button.
4. Choose CSV or JSON format.

What the social export includes:

• Period summary metrics
• Platform breakdown
• Individual post metrics

Export Permissions

Only users with the Analytics Export permission can see and use the Export button. If you do not see it, contact your administrator.

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11. Understanding Where Your Data Comes From

Analytics data in the Admin Console comes from two main sources. Understanding this helps you troubleshoot when data looks unexpected.

Data Source Map

Reader Portal Events That Feed Analytics

When a reader uses the Reader Portal, these events are automatically tracked (if GA4 and cookie consent are configured):

Important: These events only fire if the reader has accepted cookie consent on the Reader Portal. If consent is denied, GA4 will not receive data from that reader's session.

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12. Worked Examples

Example 1: Checking Which Articles Performed Best This Week

Scenario: The editorial team wants to see which articles got the most attention in the past 7 days to inform next week's editorial planning.

Steps:

1. Click Analytics in the sidebar.
2. In the top-right, click the date range picker.
3. Click 7d to select the last 7 days.
4. Wait for the page to reload with updated data.
5. Scroll down to the "Top Content" section.
6. Review the table:
   • Rank 1 is your most-viewed article.
   • Check the Page Views column for total views.
   • Check Time on Page to see which articles held attention longest.
   • Check Shares and Comments to see which articles sparked the most engagement.
7. Click on any article title to go to its content detail page for more information.

What to look for:

• Articles with high views AND high time-on-page are genuinely engaging.
• Articles with high views but low time-on-page may have clickbait titles but disappointing content.
• Articles with low views but high shares may be niche but highly valued by their audience.

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Example 2: Reviewing Subscription and Revenue Growth Over a Quarter

Scenario: The product team needs to report on subscription growth and revenue for the last quarter.

Steps:

1. Click Analytics in the sidebar.
2. Click the date range picker and select 90d (last 90 days).
3. Review the Key Metrics Cards at the top:
   • Note the Page Views and Unique Visitors to understand overall traffic trends.
   • Check the comparison arrows — are they up or down compared to the prior 90 days?
4. Scroll down to the Subscription Metrics section:
   • Total Subscribers — Current subscriber count.
   • New Subscribers — How many new subscribers were gained in the last 90 days.
   • Churn Rate — What percentage canceled.
   • MRR — Current monthly recurring revenue.
5. Look at the By Plan breakdown to see which plans are most popular.
6. Check the subscriber trend sparkline for growth direction.
7. Note the Conversion Rate, ARPU, and LTV at the bottom.
8. To share this data, click the Export button to download a CSV report.

What to look for:

• MRR should ideally be growing month over month.
• If churn rate is rising, investigate why subscribers are leaving.
• If conversion rate is low, the paywall or pricing may need adjustment.

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Example 3: Checking Whether a Paywall or Campaign Is Converting Well

Scenario: Marketing launched a new campaign last week with a special paywall offer. They want to know if it is driving subscriptions.

Steps:

1. Click Analytics in the sidebar.
2. Set the date range to 7d.
3. Look at the Page Views and Unique Visitors cards — has traffic increased?
4. Check Traffic Sources — Is the campaign's channel (e.g., Email, Social, Paid) showing a higher percentage than usual?
5. Scroll to Subscription Metrics:
   • Are New Subscribers higher than the previous period?
   • Has the Conversion Rate improved?
6. For social campaign effectiveness, go to Social > Analytics:
   • Check the Attribution Tab to see how much traffic social posts drove.
   • Look at the Top Posts Table to see which campaign posts performed best.
7. Compare the current period numbers with the previous period (shown as % change on metric cards).

What to look for:

• A successful campaign shows increased traffic from the campaign channel AND improved subscription conversion.
• If traffic is up but conversions are flat, the landing page or paywall offer may need improvement.
• If the campaign channel shows low traffic, the campaign distribution may not be reaching enough people.

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Example 4: Reviewing Institutional Usage for a Customer Account

Scenario: The sales team has a renewal meeting with an institutional client and needs to show how their staff has been using the platform.

Steps:

1. The institutional usage data is available through the Admin Console's analytics API.
2. Ask your administrator or product team for an institutional usage report, which includes:
   • Total Users vs. Active Users for the institution
   • Content Accessed — Number of articles read by the institution's users
   • Recent Logins — Login activity over the selected period
   • Utilization Rate — Percentage of assigned seats being actively used (active users / total seats)
3. Key metrics to present to the client:
   • High utilization rate (above 70%) shows the subscription is well-used and worth renewing.
   • Low utilization rate (below 30%) may mean the institution needs onboarding support or awareness campaigns.
   • Content accessed count shows the value delivered.

What to look for:

• If utilization is declining, reach out proactively before the renewal conversation.
• If certain departments use it heavily and others do not, suggest targeted onboarding.

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Example 5: Troubleshooting Why Analytics Data Is Missing or Incomplete

Scenario: An editor opens the Analytics page and sees zeros everywhere, or some sections show data while others are blank.

Diagnostic Steps:

Step 1: Check if GA4 is configured

1. Go to Settings > Integrations.
2. Find the Google Analytics 4 card.
3. If it shows "Not configured" or "Inactive":
   • Click Configure and verify the Measurement ID, Property ID, and Service Account Key are entered correctly.
   • The Measurement ID must start with G- (e.g., G-ABC1234567).
   • The Property ID must be a 9+ digit number.
   • The Service Account Key must be valid JSON starting with {"type": "service_account".

Step 2: Check if some data shows but not all

• If subscription metrics show data but traffic metrics are zero:
  • Subscription data comes from the platform database (works without GA4).
  • Traffic data requires GA4. Check Step 1.
• If traffic data shows but paywall funnel is empty:
  • The Reader Portal may not be firing paywall tracking events. Ask your technical team to verify.

Step 3: Check your permissions

1. If you see a lock icon and "Access Restricted" message, you do not have the Analytics Read permission.
2. Contact your administrator to get the appropriate role.

Step 4: Check the date range

1. Make sure the date range is set to a period that has data.
2. If you just launched the platform, try 7d first.
3. If the platform is new, it takes 24-48 hours for GA4 data to start appearing.

Step 5: Check if the Reader Portal is live

• If the Reader Portal is not deployed or not receiving traffic, GA4 will have no data to report.
• Try visiting the Reader Portal yourself and then check GA4 directly (using the "Open Google Analytics" link at the bottom of the Analytics page).

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Example 6: Finding the Best Time to Post on Social Media

Scenario: The social media team wants to optimize their posting schedule.

Steps:

1. Go to Social > Analytics.
2. Set the period to 90 days for a reliable sample.
3. Click the Performance tab if not already selected.
4. Scroll down to the Best Times Heatmap.
5. The heatmap shows a grid: days of the week (rows) by hours of the day (columns).
6. Darker cells indicate higher engagement rates at that time.
7. Identify the 3-5 darkest cells — these are your optimal posting windows.
8. Also check the Content Type Breakdown table to see which content types (Image, Video, Link Share, etc.) perform best.
9. Combine insights: Post your best content type during your best time slots.

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Example 7: Understanding Where Your Readers Come From

Scenario: The marketing team wants to understand traffic attribution to allocate budget.

Steps:

1. Go to Analytics in the sidebar.
2. Set the date range to 30d.
3. Look at the Traffic Sources card:
   • If Organic Search is dominant (>40%), your SEO strategy is working well.
   • If Direct is high, you have strong brand recognition (people type your URL).
   • If Social is growing, your social media efforts are driving traffic.
   • If Email is significant, your newsletter campaigns are effective.
   • If Paid is low despite active ad campaigns, check your UTM parameter setup.
4. Scroll down to Top Countries to see geographic distribution.
5. Check Device Breakdown to understand if your audience is mostly mobile or desktop.
6. Export the data for a marketing budget review meeting.

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Example 8: Reviewing Social Media ROI Across Platforms

Scenario: Leadership wants to know which social platform delivers the best return on effort.

Steps:

1. Go to Social > Analytics.
2. Set the period to 30 days.
3. On the Performance tab, find the Platform Comparison card.
4. Compare across platforms:
   • Which platform has the highest Engagement Rate?
   • Which drives the most Impressions and Reach?
5. Switch to the Attribution tab.
6. Check the Platform Traffic Breakdown — which platform sends the most clicks to your website?
7. If you have Executive access, switch to the Executive tab for KPI goal tracking.
8. Export the report to share with leadership.

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13. Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

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