hash and older browser support

[sharq88]

Hi.

"Since almost all browsers in use today support the History API, that's what you should be using when creating SPAs. Hash changes should only be used for in-page navigation to anchor links." https://github.com/googleanalytics/autotrack/issues/146

"If we have to support IE9 and below we have to use the same hash based routing." http://krasimirtsonev.com/blog/article/deep-dive-into-client-side-routing-navigo-pushstate-hash

I know you have a few tickets and been asked about why it doesn't support hashes a few times, but would it be possible to move the getPath() method into the options, so it can be overridden in case we need to support older browsers / hash URL's? That would be a massive help! :) https://github.com/googleanalytics/autotrack/blob/master/lib/plugins/url-change-tracker.js#L162

Thanks

[philipwalton]

Adding the hash option to the getPath() function wouldn't solve your issue because the plugin only "listens" for URL changes, it doesn't listen for the hashchange event.

I opted not to include hash changes since adding your own hashchange listener is pretty easy (and I still feel strongly that developers shouldn't be using hash URL for SPA).

That being said, if enough people wanted generic hash support for URLs (like when users click on in-page anchor links), I'd consider adding an option to that, but I'd probably do it as an event rather than a pageview.

[sharq88]

@philipwalton - thanks for your reply. This is not down to us whether or not to use hash. If you have to support IE9 you have to use hash unfortunately. I was thinking:

if (window.onpopstate != undefined) {
    window.addEventListener('popstate', this.handlePopState);
} else {
    window.addEventListener('hashchange', this.handleHashChange);
}

but as I see:

// Feature detects to prevent errors in unsupporting browsers.
if (!history.pushState || !window.addEventListener) return;

it would be indeed more change than just the getPath method. Never mind, we'll implement a custom version...

[philipwalton]

@sharq88 I added a suggestion in https://github.com/googleanalytics/autotrack/issues/194 that might be helpful to you.