Upgrading to Universal Analytics with old code lurking around

Question

I am wanting to upgrade a site to universal analytics, which is a simple process. But it will be too time consuming to go though our content management system and pick out every single copy of the old code "_gaq.push..." etc (I will be doing my best here but we have a massive amount of legacy HTML in our content management software).

I am wondering if one of the older code snippets appears for our customers will it cause a javascript error in the browser or will universal analytics just ignore it. And if we get a javascript error on a page we will stop the site working on that page for users, as we use a lot of javascript on the site.

In phase 1 of the switch to universal analytics https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/upgrade/#phase-1 Google mentions that the older code will be valid for a period. Can we use a bit of both or do we have to stick to one or the other.

Answer 1

Here are a few helpful resources pertaining to the migration process, which will hopefully answer your questions.

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/universal-analytics/

http://www.swellpath.com/2013/11/migrating-upgrading-universal-analytics/

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1032400?hl=en

Generally speaking, it's better to have just one version of the code running so that your data is consistent. Given this opportunity, you should also consider using GTM which streamlines your analytics management process. It may take a slightly larger effort but it pays off in the end.

Hope this helps.