Jekyll Blog: Google Analytics (GA4) and Footer Modification

As a final step, it is worth connecting Google Analytics (GA4) to check whether anyone other than the author reads the blog.

In Jekyll with the Chirpy theme, this is done in three steps:

1. configure Google Analytics (GA4)
2. connect GA4 with Jekyll via _config.yml
3. extend the footer (_includes/footer.html, link to privacy policy)

GA4 Configuration in the Google Panel

Steps in the Google panel:

• go to https://analytics.google.com/ and log in with a Google account
• create a new Property, e.g. en.blog.marcinszewczyk.net, time zone Poland, currency PLN
• choose platform Web, site URL: https://en.blog.marcinszewczyk.net
• name the data stream, e.g. Blog EN
• copy the Measurement ID, format: G-XXXXXXXXXX

The G-XXXXXXXXXX identifier is the only information required by the Chirpy theme.

GA4 Configuration in Jekyll + Chirpy

Editing _config.yml

In _config.yml, add:

# Web Analytics Settings
analytics:
  google: 
    id: "G-XXXXXXXXXX" # fill in your Google Analytics ID

After modifying _config.yml, rebuild locally (bundle exec jekyll serve) or push changes to the repository (GitHub Pages will trigger an automatic build). Then perform a hard refresh in the browser (Ctrl+F5) to clear the browser cache.

That’s it. The Chirpy theme generates the GA4 code automatically.

Privacy Policy Page

After enabling Google Analytics, add a page describing data processing.

Create _pages/privacy.md, for example:

---
title: Privacy Policy
layout: page
permalink: /privacy/
---

The site uses Google Analytics (GA4) for statistical purposes
(page views and general usage information).

Data collected by Google Analytics is processed according to
Google’s policy: [https://policies.google.com/privacy](https://policies.google.com/privacy)

The site does not use data for profiling or marketing purposes.

Add the pages collection in _config.yml (below tabs):

# tabs and pages collections (Chirpy)
collections:
  tabs:
    output: true
    sort_by: order
  pages:
    output: true
    permalink: /:path/

Editing _data/locales/pl.yml and _data/locales/en.yml

Update the language files so the footer can display additional information.

In _data/locales/pl.yml, modify meta:

meta: "Generator: :PLATFORM · Motyw: :THEME · Licencja: :COPYRIGHT · Analityka: :PRIVACY"

In _data/locales/en.yml, modify meta:

meta: "Generator: :PLATFORM · Theme: :THEME · License: :COPYRIGHT · Analytics: :PRIVACY"

Editing _includes/footer.html

Chirpy allows footer customization by copying footer.html from the theme into the local project.

The local version overrides the gem version.

First, check the local path of the Chirpy theme:

bundle info jekyll-theme-chirpy

The path depends on the installed version.

Copy _includes/footer.html from the theme to the project:

copy ^
"E:\Ruby34-x64\lib\ruby\gems\3.4.0\gems\jekyll-theme-chirpy-7.4.1\_includes\footer.html" ^
"_includes\footer.html"

In _includes/footer.html, comment out:

Replace it with:

Above this block, define _privacy and _license:

markdown

The result is a modified footer generated according to the current language (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).

Fig. 1. Blog footer in Polish.

Fig. 2. Blog footer in English.

Testing Data Collection

Finally, test in the Google Analytics panel (Reports → Realtime).

Summary

At this stage, the blog:

• collects statistics (GA4)
• provides an RSS feed (configured earlier)
• remains fully static

It works.