Anybody got any shortcuts for GA4?

trying to track landing pages to see which end up driving conversions

[chewy]

I seem to remember this was an easy report in UA (GA3).

In GA4, it seems impossible. There is no dimension called Landing Page. The documents say use "Session start page" which of course does not exist.

I can use Landing Page + Query String and export to filter out the known Advertising stuff - but no "Export" option for Custom Reports (aka Explorations).

Plus when I try to change the date range, there is no option available - despite the docs that say there is an export button in the right hand corner.

Maybe this is a set of noob errors - but it seems to me that this thing is still not ready for prime time. Either that or it has been dumbed down sufficiently to make it nearly impossible to get useful data out of it?

[tangor]

... I suspect the latter. After all, we can't have folks managing their sites with vital information!

/satire

[ClosedForLunch]

Left menu...

Reports > Examine User Behaviour > Pages and screens

Column...

Event count > session_start

[chewy]

All result in zeros. More broadly, form submissions are supposedly tracked automatically, and I can see those are being recorded - but none seem to work as expected. None flow out to "Conversions" despite tagging them as same.

Some will track retroactively, some will only track going forward after the correct configuration.

I'm making progress, but it is hell - and it has been since this pre-alpha based product launched as if it was post-beta.

And their training videos?

I can't imagine they will lead to helping resolve things. Training, like Customer Service, seems to have been taken over by cheery marketing bots masquerading as Google employees.

How about a help site that actually reflects the newest changes of GA4 and actually goes back and revises their older help pages that reflect architecture, naming conventions, features as they change, evolve and are removed?

I know this is a powerful tool - but I also know much of the REAL power is well-hidden or actually removed (and removed intentionally!)

What a shame. But it also comes as no surprise - look up the concept "en*hittification" (coined by smart-guy Corey Doctorow) to see what is directly causing this.

Please, are there any (useful) templates evolving that can help simplify the adoption? The one I tried was supposedly making GA4 to look like GA3, but the thing was substandard and slap-dash put together just as a way to put a stake in the ground. I do not like paying for these kinds of sad jokes.

How about fora that actually get into the messy dark details rather than just being a shill for the Google PR people?

Are there any decent, useful templates or tools emerging that can be substantially helpful?

Skip books - by the time they are published, they are way out of date due to the over-rapid churn of features and functionality.

If not, are there higher-quality authors, bloggers or fora where I might be able to come up to speed a bit faster?