Set up Umami analytics

Umami is a cookie-free, open-source analytics platform. Project Broadsheet integrates it through two configuration fields. Use the hosted service or run your own.

Umami is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics that does not use cookies, does not build visitor profiles, and does not track users across sites. For a small independent publication, it offers the numbers that matter (page views, referrers, countries) without the compliance overhead or ethical cost.

Pick a deployment model

Umami Cloud, the hosted option. Sign up at https://cloud.umami.is. Free for personal sites; starter plans begin around $9/month.

Self-hosted. Umami is fully open-source. Deploy it on Railway, Fly.io, or your own server. There is no ongoing software cost.

Either model gives you a website ID (a UUID) and a script URL. Those are the two values Project Broadsheet needs.

Configure Project Broadsheet

Open src/_data/site.json and populate the umami block:

"umami": {
  "websiteId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "src": "https://cloud.umami.is/script.js"
}

The tracking script is injected into base.njk. Project Broadsheet's base layout, only when both fields are populated. Leaving either empty during local development keeps analytics entirely out of the page.

What to do next

• Configure Cusdis comments to let readers reply to articles.
• Read Umami's documentation to learn what each metric means and how to read the reports.