Migrating from Google Tag Manager

So, you want to move your tags from Google Tag Manager (GTM) to Matomo Tag Manager (MTM)? MTM has many of the same functionalities as GTM, but there are some key differences to keep in mind.

The process of migrating

Migrating from GTM to MTM is currently a manual process because there are enough differences and quite a bit of complexity.

You probably want to start by creating your container in MTM and making sure you have all of the environments you’re used to using. Once that’s done, you can proceed with the following:

• Look through your list of GTM variables and try to create similar ones in MTM. A good place to start becoming more familiar with MTM variables is the Variables user guide.
• Then, look through all of your GTM triggers and try to duplicate them in MTM. You can find details about MTM triggers in the Triggers user guide.
• Once your variables and triggers are in place, you can try to duplicate all of your GTM tags in MTM. Read up on MTM tags in the Tags user guide.
• Copy the MTM install code and insert it near or in place of the GTM snippet in your website’s HTML header. For more information, you can look through the Install a tag manager container FAQ.
• You should should then be ready to preview and debug your tags. You can read about that in the Preview/debug FAQ.
• If everything looks good, you can create a new version and publish it. That process is described in the Versions and publish user guide.

Side by side comparison

Basic migration examples

Example 1: Scroll trigger

Say you have a GTM Scroll Depth trigger that looks something like this:

You could create a similar trigger in MTM by doing the following:

• Click on the Triggers option in the left navigation pane:

  

• Click the button to create a new trigger:

  

• You will be prompted for the trigger type. Select the Srcoll Reach type:

  

• Give the trigger the same or similar name.
• Select the appropriate Scroll Match type:

  

• Fill out any other desired fields and click the button at the bottom of the form to create the new trigger.
• Your trigger will then be available to use in the creation of a new tag.

Example 2: Custom HTML variable

Say you have a GTM variable using the previously mentioned trigger to display some text like this:

You could create a similar tag in MTM by doing the following:

• Select the Tags option from the left navigation pane.

  

• Click the button to create a new tag.

  

• Select the Custom HTML tag type.

  

• Set the name of the tag.
• Populate the Custom HTML field with the desired HTML.
• Select the trigger created in the previous example.

  

• Populate any other values as desired.
• Click the button, at the bottom of the form, to save the tag.

  

Example 3: Custom JavaScript variable

Maybe you have a GTM tag that tracks the source URL of any image that’s clicked on the site. You first have a trigger for image clicks something like this:

You have a Custom JavaScript variable something like this:

Your tag then references your trigger and variable something like this:

You could create a similar tag in MTM by doing the following:

• Click on the Triggers option in the left navigation pane:

  

• Click the button to create a new trigger:

  

• You will be prompted for the trigger type. Select the All Elements Click type:

  

• Give the trigger the same or similar name.
• In the Only trigger when (optional) section, click on the select to choose the variable to restrict by:

  

• You can then either expand the Clicks type group or search for ‘Click n’ and select the Click Node Name option:

  

• Leave the operator as equals and set the value as ‘img’ like this:

  

• Fill out any other desired fields and click the button at the bottom of the form to create the new trigger.
• Next, select the Variables option from the left navigation pane:

  

• Set the name of the variable.
• Set the value in the JavaScript Function input to the following:

  function () { return TagManager.dom.getElementAttribute(TagManager.dataLayer.get('mtm.clickElement'), 'src'); }

  If you’d like more information about what this JavaScript is doing, you can look at the Tag Manager JavaScript API documentation.
• Fill out any other desired fields and click the button at the bottom of the form to create the new variable.
• Select the Tags option from the left navigation pane.

  

• Click the button to create a new tag.

  

• Select the Matomo Analytics tag type.

  

• Set the name of the tag.
• Assign a Matomo configuration variable using the drop down.
• Set the name of the tag.
• Select Event as the Tracking Type:

  

• Populate the event category and action similar to how they were set in GTM. You can use the button on the side of the action input to select the variable created earlier:

  

• Change the drop down that defaults to Pageview to the trigger created previously:

  

• Click the button, at the bottom of the form, to save the tag.