Copying Goals in Google Analytics: Our Firefox Extension

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Ever need 30 profiles, each with the same 4 goals? Me too. Unfortunately, Google Analytics doesn’t include an easy way to manage goals.

So, here’s the Firefox extension I created to speed up the process of copying goals. We’ll just call it “GoalCopy”.

What it does

The Goal Copy extension records all of the values in a Google Analytics Goal Settings form. You can then navigate to another profile where you want to put that copied goal and paste all of those values into the new form. That way, you can get your goals from one profile to another without all the tedium.

When you install it, it will create a new toolbar with 4 sets of copy/paste buttons. Each set will copy and paste a different goal of your choice. The toolbar can be toggled on/off with View -> Toolbars -> GA GoalCopy

How to use it

1. After installation, navigate your Firefox browser to an existing Google Analytics Goal Settings form.

2. Click one of the four Copy Goal buttons on the Goal Copy toolbar.

3. The name of the Paste Goal button will change to show the name of the goal you copied. If the name of your goal was “Subscribe to Newsletter” then the Paste Goal button will display “Paste: Subscribe to Newsletter”

4. Go to another profile and navigate to a Goal Settings form page where you’d like to use your newly copied goal.

5. Click the Paste button to populate the new goal form with the values from copied goal.

6. Remember to scroll down and click “Save Changes” on the form.

That’s it. You now have your new profile ready to collect goal conversion data.

Notes

Buttons are grayed-out when not on a Goal Settings page.

There are 4 Slots to save goals in. Each set of Copy/Paste buttons uses its own slot.

Clicking Copy Goal again overwrites the previously saved goal for that slot.

Goals are saved persistently. Closing your browser does not erase your saved goals.

When clicking from a tab that is still Loading to a Goal Settings tab, the buttons will not re-enable properly from their grayed-out state – just click on a tab that is fully loaded (or blank) and then back to the Goal Settings tab to enable the buttons.

Requires Firefox 2.0.*

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who provided testing and feedback, including Jason Green here at LunaMetrics, Justin Cutroni at EpikOne, Shawn Purtell at ROI Revolution, and Mike Plummer at POP (sorry for not getting it out earlier that day, Mike).

Installation

Open this link in Firefox

Then click Install Now.

Depending on your setup, Firefox may want to download the file instead of installing it directly. Just select “Open With. . .” and choose Firefox from the list of applications.

Alternate Version

If you’re having problems with the toolbar being greyed-out on the ‘Edit Goals’ form page, try this version that never disables the toolbar buttons.

These changes have been incorporated into the latest version and are part of the goalcopy.xpi file.

-John Henson

http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2008/01/21/copying-goals-in-google-analytics-a-firefox-extension/