Has anyone run into issues with Google Analytics 4 adding _gl to URLs that break links to section headers?

[rachel-rigdon-sp]

We have GA4 in our docs using a script in a custom.html partial override per the docs.

We have a script that pushes links to a Khoros product, but when users click the links there, it appends _gl to the links on click and just dumps the user on the base page instead of taking them to the linked section header.

For example,

https://documentation.sailpoint.com/saas/help/workflows/workflow-actions.html#active-directory

becomes:

https://documentation.sailpoint.com/saas/help/workflows/workflow-actions.html#active-directory&_gl=1*4uv422*_gcl_au*MTYzOTY4MTAwNi4xNzI1OTkwOTg3

I'm 99% sure this is a conflict with the script on the Khoros system stopping event propagation before it reaches the document node (and I apologize for posting about it here), but I'm doing my due diligence to confirm if others have run into similar issues with a MkDocs-Material and Google Analytics configuration.

TL;DR: Have y'all run into any issues with GA4 appending gobbledygook that prevents links to section headers?

[kamilkrzyskow]

Hello @rachel-rigdon-sp,
Looking at the example the issue is related to the & separator, which shouldn't be there because this attribute is the first to get added, so instead it should be a ?:
https://documentation.sailpoint.com/saas/help/workflows/workflow-actions.html#active-directory?_gl=1*4uv422*_gcl_au*MTYzOTY4MTAwNi4xNzI1OTkwOTg3

[kamilkrzyskow]

Not related to the issue, or perhaps not an issue at all, but I opened up the page with view-source and there is:
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin=>

crossorigin shouldn't have a = after it, and I checked that's the case with the base.html:

• mkdocs-material/src/templates/base.html

  Line 131 in e29e124

  <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin />

So is that = added in your custom base.html or is it related to the Instant Loading mode 🤔
Again, it's likely a non-issue, just seems off.

[rachel-rigdon-sp]

@kamilkrzyskow Thanks for responding--the separator is helpful info because I'm noticing that if I paste the GA code between the .html and anchor, it takes me to the correct section:
https://documentation.sailpoint.com/saas/help/workflows/workflow-actions.html?_gl=1*nxvt94*_gcl_au*MTYzOTY4MTAwNi4xNzI1OTkwOTg3#active-directory

Do y'all know if there is a way to change the GA script to insert that code immediately after the .html using the correct separator? And if the answer is "that's a question for Khoros and Google" that's totally fine -- I just wanted to check with our esteemed experts here, and the separator info alone has been immensely helpful. 🙌🏻

[rachel-rigdon-sp]

Not related to the issue, or perhaps not an issue at all, but I opened up the page with view-source and there is: <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin=>

crossorigin shouldn't have a = after it, and I checked that's the case with the base.html:

• mkdocs-material/src/templates/base.html

  Line 131 in e29e124

  <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin />

So is that = added in your custom base.html or is it related to the Instant Loading mode 🤔 Again, it's likely a non-issue, just seems off.

Hmm, I can see that in the comments.html, there is a reference to crossorigin="anonymous". We have a partial override of the comments.html to insert our own feedback system. I'm not sure if that would have an impact. :/

I suppose I could try turning instant loading and/or comments off and test links to those pages.

[kamilkrzyskow]

The GA script appends the _gl and it should be responsible for the proper usage of either & or ?, so I would look for a resolution at the source where this parameter is added.

Maybe some custom script adds/removes parameters to the URL and this happens after the GA script "decides" what separator to use.
So initially there is URL/?someValue=123, then GA detects there are params, then your script removes the ?someValue together with the ? separator and then GA adds the &_gl because it didn't check the URL again before adding the new param 🤔

So probably "that's a question for Khoros and Google", as it's hard to guess what could be causing the issue.

[kamilkrzyskow]

crossorigin="anonymous" is fine, I meant the crossorigin= without a value, just odd = at the end.

[rachel-rigdon-sp]

Thank you, as always, for your insight and helping me diagnose this issue, even though I know it isn't a MkDocs-Material thing. 🙏🏻