Software update: Matomo 3.13.1

Version 3.13.1 of Matomo has been released. Matomo, formerly Piwik, is an open source alternative to Google Analytics. It uses php and a MySQL database to do its job. The functionality can be easily extended with plugins, of which more than twenty are included. Of course you can also turn it off if certain functionality is not needed. For more information about Matomo, please refer to this page and an overview of the schedule is on this page to find. The release notes for this release are as follows:

What’s new?

In this release we’re focusing on fixing a few bugs, a regression in tracking unique visitors affecting some users, we’re making Matomo tracking slightly faster, and we ensure compatibility with the upcoming Chrome 80 browser. Below you’ll find the most important changes in Matomo 3.13.1. This release is also rated critical and includes a major security fix.

A regression was introduced in 3.13.0 which could in some cases lead to inflate unique visitors/unique users metrics, when the User ID feature is used: this regression has been fixed. Another regression causing some of the number metrics to display wrongly in some languages ​​such as German has been fixed.

As the default geolocation provider MaxMind is introducing new complicated licensing terms for their geolocation database, and broke auto-updating of geolocation databases for Matomo, we’re introducing a new Geolocation provider by default to replace MaxMind. Matomo will now use db-ip.com as a geolocation provider and all Matomo users will automatically download this new geolocation database starting in 3.13.1.

Chrome 80 is planning to make all cookies that don’t have an explicit `SameSite` option have `SameSite=Lax` by default. So far it has been an optional flag but Chrome 80 (release due in January 2020) will have it enabled by default. Matomo 3.13.1 will be fully compatible and won’t issue a browser console warning anymore.

The Countries Regions maps should now work again and display data for most countries regions.

In terms of new features, we’ve improved the Behavior > Engagement report, which will now clearly display all metrics for both Returning visits and New visits.

When you create a new website and it has no data tracked, you will now see links to the new guides for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, SharePoint.

Several improvements were also made to messages being logged out when the core:archive console command fails to run, so it’s easier to troubleshoot when things go wrong.

Matomo 3.13.1 should also be fully compatible with PHP 7.4.

This release might be the last Matomo 3.x release. We’ve started working on Matomo 4.0.0 which should be released in around 3 months. We may release Matomo 3.13.2 if there are any regressions or important bugs to address before Matomo 4.0.0.

As usual, you’ve also helped us add many new device detection rules, new referrer spammers, as well as improved translations in various languages!

We are grateful for all community members who reported feedback and suggestions, our awesome team of translators for their work, and our Premium Features customers and Matomo Cloud hosting customers for their amazing support.

181 tickets have been closed by more than 18 contributors!