Tracking Java versions using Google Analytics

Question

I am tracking the Java versions being used by web visitors: http://cowwoc.blogspot.com/2008/12/tracking-java-versions-using-google.html

Unfortunately, the integration level is skin deep. I would like Google Analytics to tell me what percentage of visitors ran what version, and drill down further to find out what sub-attributes each version is associated with. For example, what referrals/sources brought users with a specific version? What screen resolution did they use? etc... On the flip side, what percentage of Mac users were running what version of Java?

Any ideas on how to improve the integration? Any idea on how to integrate this into competitors of Google Analytics? At the end of the day I am looking for the best integrated free analytics product out there.

Answer 1

You want to use the new Advanced Segments feature. It's in the top-right corner of the page and create a new segment. Drag the dimension Visitors > User-Defined Value into your dimension and put in a term that matches. You might want to use regexes to group versions, something like 6.* to match all version 6 Java.

With this, you'll be able to slice and dice any report by your Java versions.

Note however that I've found the Advanced Segments to be a little flaky. It's still beta and I've been getting some weird numbers on some segments.