Piwik block by AdBlock even after renmaing piwik.php piwik.js

[sambuev]

Hello, I have Piwik installed on my hosting with secret address: interes.site.com/sm/
and I have renamed piwik.php piwik.js to sm.php sm.js and I though it cannot by caught by AdBlock but unfortunately AdBlock on my Safari browser easily blocking Piwik and many other users with their Adblock (on Chrome, Firefox) out of my view :(

What can I do to avoid blocking Piwik?
Is it possible to avoid it?

[MESWEB]

I got this same error but I think this is difficulty for dev piwik

[kylekatarnls]

I use rewriting and replace /piwik.php with juste /p. Works like a charm.

[MESWEB]

Can You give any solution? I trying this but without success with uBlock - https://www.codelibrary.me/tag/ad-block/

[kylekatarnls]

This is what I did (but with a proxy-pass in the same domain).

First remove "analytics" in the URL when you enter the rewrite rule and any word that can be seen as ads.

Then if it's not enough, use a proxypass (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/fr/mod/mod_proxy.html) on your own domain, so your URL to call Piwik will just look like "/p" and "/j"

(function() {
    _paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', '/p']);
    _paq.push(['setSiteId', 1]);
    var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
    g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src='/j'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s);
  })();

[Joey3000]

Guys, have you tried just replacing "piwik.php" and "piwik.js" in the tracking code with "js/", as described in https://github.com/piwik/piwik/blob/master/js/README.md? No .htaccess rewriting, file renaming, etc. needed.

See also:
http://forum.piwik.org/read.php?2,83940,125929
http://forum.piwik.org/read.php?4,14971

I've been using that for years. Just make sure that the "piwik" string (or any other string blocked by the ABP) doesn't appear anywhere in the URL (i.e. domain name, directories). After coming across this issue report, I've just tried it again with ABP on Firefox and it doesn't block it. I checked the ABP "easyprivacy" list again, and it only checks for the "piwik" string anywhere in the URL.

P.S.: Another solution is in https://piwik.org/faq/how-to/#faq_132, but that would require the server being able to make outbound connections.

[MESWEB]

Non of all solution what You give not working with uBlock! I think the uBlock is hard to defeat. Only solution is use any server-side tracker. Piwik should use server-side tracking by default.

[Joey3000]

@MESWEB From https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/:

Out of the box, these lists of filters are loaded and enforced:

- EasyList
- Peter Lowe’s Ad server list
- EasyPrivacy
- Malware domains

Any chance your Piwik URL doesn't pass any of those?

[Joey3000]

There is following investigation necessary:

• If the filter lists can include not just Piwik installation URL parts, but also URL parameters. (I tried the lists provided in the original issue post with ABP on Firefox and Piwik was not blocked. But I haven't checked if the "Peter Lowe’s Ad server list" also used by ublock includes URL parameters. Or if any other list could do that.)
• If the ability by the plugin to check the parameters is browser dependent (e.g. due to some browser restrictions). Since the original issue post refers to Safari.

And if the block can be URL parameter based, it could be the time for a Piwik plugin where the user could freely change them. (I don't know how deep into the rabbit hole one would need to go to do that.)

[kylekatarnls]

@MESWEB Piwik was using server-side (it was called phpMyVisites), but for many reasons (performances, security) it has been switched to client-side and it's a good thing. I use proxypass + url-rewriting (it's exactly equivalent to the solution mentionned by @Joey3000, but it is faster because it does not use PHP) and uBlock does not block this solution.

[MESWEB]

Yes I know it and I try changing url or filenames and dynamic changed filenames with .htaccess with RewriteRuele but without effect. I saw something strange - Any of my browser (Opera, Chrome, Waterfox) hasn't be counted by piwik but when Author of the PIWIK goes on my site I see his log in PIWIK. So my question is WTF? I'm not only one with this strange bug.

[kylekatarnls]

Maybe you missclicked on uBlock and add a filter in your browser try to reset uBlock. Else, if all your stuff is on the same domain, it should not be blocked as uBlock does not search in the response body but only in request URLs.