Backstage Weekly 86 - GA4 support, New Backend going GA
By Jorge Lainfiesta • July 10th, 2023Hi y’all! It’s peak summer in Barcelona and I’m writing this while it’s 33°C (91°F) outside but I’m bringing some cool Backstage updates:
- New feature: Google Analytics 4 in Backstage
- Starting now: the big migration to the New Backend System
- Looking to talk with Backstage Adopters
Use Google Analytics 4 in Backstage
The Google Analytics module for the Analytics plugin lets you track activity in your Backstage instance, which can help understand how developers are using the Dev Portal.
Recently, Google Analytics stopped supporting the v3 of their tag, which means you’ll only be able to collect new data if you’re using GA4 which wasn’t supported in the GA module. However, marrws saved the day by implementing a new GA4 module, [analytics-module-ga4](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/tree/master/plugins/analytics-module-ga4), which was rapidly approved by the maintainers.
The new module is already available on npm/yarn, so you can get started tracking with Google Analytics 4 and keep the juicy analytics coming.
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Migrating towards the New Backend System
The New Backend System was released a few months ago, along with Backstage 1.11. By now, the Backstage team feels confident enough about it to ask the community to migrate their plugins to the new backend.
Last week, awanlin championed the migration of 3 popular plugins to support the New Backend System: Azure DevOps, DevTools, and Linguist. There are more people who are starting to migrate their plugins, including the airbrake plugin which already has an open PR.
If you maintain OSS or private plugins, check out the migration guide and start planning your transition to the New Backend System.
Share your Backstage story
David, CEO at Roadie, is checking in with Backstage adopters in an informal chat to learn about their experience with the framework. So far he’s talked with 12 adopters. The idea is to put together a compilation of the best tips and strategies that can help improve your Backstage adoption rate.
If you want to talk with David about Backstage, please choose a time on his calendar. Thank you!