What is Universal Analytics? What is Google Analytics 4?
Universal Analytics is the version of Google Analytics pre-2020/2021. It's most easily recognised by looking at the property key: a Universal Analytics property starts with "UA-".
Google Analytics 4 is the new version, which has been rolling out since 2020, but has been gaining more steam in 2021 and is the default for new properties. Its property keys do not have a prefix, but are numeric.
A single account in Google Analytics can support both types of properties, so the property key is the best way to identify the type of property. It's still possible to create Universal Analytics properties at the time of writing, but that is hidden behind an advanced options toggle.
Big Brother v1 only supports Universal Analytics. Big Brother v2 only supports Google Analytics v4. See the table below:
Big Brother v3 replaced both v1 and v2 due to authentication changes required by Google.
| Version | Status | Google Analytics | MODX | Available from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0+ | Active development | 4 ("Google Analytics 4") | 2.8+, 3.0.0-alpha3+ | modmore.com, modx.com |
| 2.0 | End of life | 4 ("Google Analytics 4") | 2.8+, 3.0.0-alpha3+ | N/a |
| 1.5+ | End of life | 3 ("Universal Analytics") | 2.7-2.8 | N/a |
| < 1.5 | End of life | 3 ("Universal analytics") | 2.2-2.8 | N/a |
To downgrade to Big Brother v1, you'll need to use the modmore package provider. That's free, but does require signing up if you haven't used any modmore extras before. Learn more here.