Merge pull request #693 from plausible/reviews

review

Author: metmarkosaric

docs/agencies-and-freelancers.md

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+title: Using Plausible as an agency or freelancer
+---
+
+Plausible is built to fit how agencies and freelancers actually work: one login, multiple clients, flexible ownership and easy sharing. This page points you to the right parts of the docs depending on how you structure your work.
+
+For an overview of why agencies use Plausible and how it compares to Google Analytics, see [our agency page](https://plausible.io/for-freelancers-agencies).
+
+## Choose an ownership model
+
+There are three common ways to structure client analytics. Most agencies use a mix depending on the client relationship.
+
+**One team per client.** Create a separate team for each client, add their sites to that team and invite the client as a member. Each team has its own subscription and billing, so clients can pay independently. You stay a member of all teams under one login.
+
+**One agency team, all client sites.** Add all client sites to a single team that you own and manage. Simpler to run, but you handle billing for everything and manage access centrally.
+
+**Transfer on handoff.** Manage the site during the project, then transfer ownership to the client when the work is done. They take over billing and administration. You can keep access to the stats if needed.
+
+See [Teams and roles](users-roles.md) for how to create teams, invite members and assign permissions.
+
+## Share dashboards with clients
+
+You have three options depending on how much access the client needs:
+
+| Option | Best for |
+|---|---|
+| [Shared link](shared-links.md) | Clients who just want to view stats, no account needed. Can be password-protected. |
+| Guest invite | Clients who need their own login to view or manage a specific site. See [Teams and roles](users-roles.md). |
+| [Transfer ownership](transfer-ownership.md) | Clients who should own and control the site and billing going forward. |
+
+## Manage multiple sites
+
+- [Consolidated views](consolidated-views.md): see traffic across all your client sites in one dashboard
+- [Email reports](email-reports.md): schedule weekly or monthly reports sent directly to clients
+- [Traffic spike notifications](traffic-spikes.md): get alerted when a client site has unusual traffic
+
+## Billing across clients
+
+If each client needs their own subscription and invoicing, use a separate team per client. Each team is billed independently. See the [billing FAQ](billing.md#can-i-manage-multiple-clients-with-separate-billing-for-each) for details.

docs/billing.md

@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ If paying via PayPal, make sure a valid card is linked to your PayPal account. P
 
 ## How do I add my VAT number?
 
-During checkout, you can add your company address and VAT ID. Paddle handles all sales taxes. If you're eligible, no VAT will be charged.
-
-If you didn't add it during checkout, open any Paddle invoice and click "**Add address & VAT Number**". [More on Paddle's VAT handling →](https://paddle.com/support/which-countries-does-paddle-charge-vat-for/)
+If you're purchasing on behalf of a business, click "**Add VAT number**" on the second step of the checkout, where you also add your payment details. Paddle handles all sales tax calculations and will apply the correct rate based on your details.
 
 <img class="border" alt="Add VAT number at checkout" src={useBaseUrl('img/v2/add-vat-number-during-checkout.webp')} />
 
+If you missed this step, open any Paddle invoice and click "**Add address & VAT Number**". Paddle will automatically refund the VAT on your original payment and apply the correct rate to future payments. [More on Paddle's VAT handling →](https://paddle.com/support/which-countries-does-paddle-charge-vat-for/)
+
 ## How do I change my VAT number?
 
 Paddle does not allow editing the VAT number on an existing subscription. To update it, let your current subscription run until the end of the billing period, cancel it and resubscribe from the same Plausible account with the correct VAT details. All your Plausible data, sites and settings stay unchanged during this process.

docs/bot-traffic-filtering.md

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+title: Bot and spam traffic filtering
+---
+
+Plausible automatically filters out bots, crawlers, referrer spam and other non-human traffic. Our filtering systems block approximately 2 billion bot visits per month across our network, on top of the bots that never trigger the script at all because they don't execute JavaScript.
+
+## What Plausible filters automatically
+
+We use multiple layers to filter non-human traffic:
+
+- **User-Agent filtering.** We block known bots and crawlers by their User-Agent header, including search engine crawlers, scrapers and monitoring tools.
+- **Referrer spam filtering.** We filter out traffic from known referrer spam domains.
+- **Data center IP filtering.** We filter traffic from approximately 32,000 known data center IP ranges commonly used by bots and automated tools.
+- **Traffic pattern detection.** We use our own algorithm to detect and exclude unnatural traffic patterns that don't match human browsing behavior.
+
+In [a server log comparison we ran](https://plausible.io/blog/server-log-analysis), we saw 18x more pageviews in server logs than in Plausible, which illustrates how much non-human traffic Plausible excludes. In a [separate test comparing Plausible to Google Analytics](https://plausible.io/blog/testing-bot-traffic-filtering-google-analytics), we ran three bot traffic scenarios against both tools. GA4 recorded all of them as legitimate traffic. Plausible rejected all three.
+
+## Why you might still see some bot traffic
+
+No filter is perfect. Bots emerge constantly and there is always a gap between when a new bot appears and when we identify and block it. If you see a sudden spike from an unfamiliar source with a very high bounce rate and short session duration, it may be bot traffic we haven't classified yet.
+
+## What you can do
+
+- **Block by IP, hostname or country.** Use [Shields](excluding.md) to block visits from specific IP addresses, hostnames or countries from being recorded.
+- **Filter by page.** Use [page exclusions](excluding-pages.md) to exclude specific URLs from your stats.
+- **Filter your dashboard view.** Use [filters and segments](filters-segments.md) to narrow down traffic when analyzing your data.
+
+## How Plausible improves bot filtering over time
+
+We continuously monitor incoming traffic patterns. When we identify new sources of non-human traffic or trends that look automated, we update our filtering rules. The filtering improves over time without any action needed on your end.
+
+If you notice something in your dashboard that looks like unfiltered bot traffic, [contact us](https://plausible.io/contact) with the dates, source and any patterns you've noticed. We'll investigate and update our filters if needed.

docs/cancel-subscription.md

@@ -12,10 +12,26 @@ Go to the "**Subscription**" section and click "**Cancel plan**".
     <img alt="Cancel your Plausible subscription" src={useBaseUrl('img/v2/account-settings-cancel-subscription.webp')} />
 </div>
 
-After canceling:
+## What happens after you cancel
 
-- Your stats **keep being counted** and you have full access until the end of your current billing period.
-- Once the billing period ends, your stats dashboard will be locked but your data is **not deleted**. If you resubscribe later, everything will still be there.
-- If you change your mind before the period ends, you can resubscribe from the same "**Subscription**" section.
+**Until the end of your billing period**
 
-Want to switch to a different plan instead of canceling? See [Change your subscription plan](change-plan.md).
+Your stats keep being counted and you have full access to your dashboard.
+
+**Once the billing period ends**
+
+Your dashboard is locked. You can still log in, access your account settings and site settings, but you cannot view your stats. You can export your collected data at any time from the site settings of any locked site.
+
+One month after locking, Plausible stops collecting data. If you haven't removed the Plausible snippet from your site, any data it sends will be dropped automatically from that point.
+
+**Your data**
+
+Your data is not deleted immediately. How long it is kept depends on your plan. Retention periods are listed on the [pricing page](https://plausible.io/#pricing).
+
+You can delete your data at any time, before or after canceling, either for individual sites or your entire account, from your site or account settings.
+
+**Resubscribing**
+
+If you resubscribe at any time within the retention period, your dashboards unlock automatically, data collection resumes and all your historical data will still be there. You can resubscribe from the "**Subscription**" section in your account settings.
+
+Want to switch plans instead of canceling? See [Change your subscription plan](change-plan.md).

docs/change-email.md

@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@ To change your account email address, go into the "**Security**" section. Find t
 
 Note that our system has two email addresses and that these may not necessarily be the same. One is for your Plausible account and the other one for your Paddle account. Paddle is our payment processor and they send the billing emails such as invoices to the email address on your Paddle account.
 
-Following the instructions on this page only changes your Plausible account email address. Do [contact us](https://plausible.io/contact) with details if you'd like to change your Paddle account email address as well.
+Following the instructions on this page only changes your Plausible account email address. To change your Paddle invoice email, see [invoice email and billing access](invoice-email.md).
 
 <img alt="Change your account name and/or email address" src={useBaseUrl('img/change-email.png')} />

docs/change-plan.md

@@ -33,4 +33,6 @@ Your subscription renews automatically and you can change or [cancel](cancel-sub
 
 :::tip
 Not sure which tier fits? Check your current usage in the "**Subscription**" section. You can also see [Choose the right subscription](subscription-plans.md) for guidance on how usage is calculated.
+
+Dealing with a traffic spike? You can upgrade now to restore access and downgrade again once traffic drops. See [Traffic spikes and overages](subscription-plans.md#traffic-spikes-and-overages) for how it works.
 :::

docs/compliance.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+title: Compliance and security documentation
+---
+
+Plausible publishes its security practices, data policy and legal documents publicly. Most compliance and security review questions can be answered directly from those pages without needing to contact us.
+
+## Where to find the relevant documents
+
+- **[Security overview](https://plausible.io/security)**: technical and organizational security measures, infrastructure, access controls, backups, subprocessors and vulnerability disclosure
+- **[Data policy](https://plausible.io/data-policy)**: what data Plausible collects, why, and how it is handled
+- **[Privacy policy](https://plausible.io/privacy)**: how we handle data related to Plausible account holders
+- **[Data Processing Agreement (DPA)](https://plausible.io/dpa)**: the DPA that applies to all Plausible customers, covering GDPR obligations and processor responsibilities
+
+## How Plausible is typically classified in security reviews
+
+Plausible does not process personal data or track individual users. There are no cookies, no cross-site tracking and no persistent user identifiers. Because of this, Plausible is typically classified as a low-risk service in vendor security assessments and GDPR impact analyses.
+
+## Security questionnaires
+
+If your organization requires a vendor security review, the documents above are designed to answer the questions typically asked in those reviews. We recommend going through them before sending a questionnaire, as most topics are already covered.
+
+If there are specific questions that are not answered by those pages, [contact us](https://plausible.io/contact) and include the specific questions. We will do our best to help.

docs/dashboard-faq.md

@@ -33,11 +33,7 @@ Note that this doesn't affect graphs with an hourly (or greater) interval. A ses
 
 ## Does Plausible exclude known bots and spam traffic?
 
-Plausible excludes bots, crawlers, referrer spam and other known non-human traffic by default. In [a test we ran](https://plausible.io/blog/server-log-analysis), we saw 18x more pageviews with server side tracking than with Plausible Analytics which shows the volume of spam traffic that Plausible excludes. 
-
-A lot of this difference comes from the fact that client-side analytics such as Plausible only count visitors that run JavaScript. This is a decent proxy for "this is probably a real human using a web browser".
-
-In addition to this, we exclude known bots by the User-Agent header, we filter out traffic from known referrer spam domains and data centers, and we also use our own algorithm to detect and exclude non-human traffic patterns.
+Yes. Plausible uses multiple layers to filter bots, crawlers, referrer spam and other non-human traffic. See [bot and spam traffic filtering](bot-traffic-filtering.md) for a full breakdown of how it works.
 
 ## Does Plausible do data sampling?
 

docs/funnel-analysis.md

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ To be counted as converted, visitors need to complete all the steps you've defin
 
 **Strict order funnel:** Every step must happen in exact consecutive order with no other actions in between. Use this when you want to measure a tightly defined path and any detour should disqualify the visitor.
 
+Funnels in Plausible are always linear. Each funnel follows one defined path from start to finish. Branching or conditional paths are not supported. If you need to compare two different paths, create two separate funnels.
+
 Funnels also work across your main domain and its subdomains ([see more](subdomain-hostname-filter.md)), and you don't need to worry about visitors briefly leaving your site to complete actions on external services like Stripe's payment page or other third-party gateways. Plausible treats the returning visit as part of the same session, so your funnel will accurately track the full visitor journey.
 
 ## How to set up the conversion funnel analysis

docs/goal-conversions.md

@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Plausible supports the following goal types:
 | [Funnel analysis](funnel-analysis.md) | Follow the visitor journey from a landing page to a conversion in order to uncover possible issues, optimize your site and increase the conversion rate                                   |
 | [Ecommerce revenue tracking](ecommerce-revenue-tracking.md)          | Assign dynamic monetary values to goals and custom events to track revenue attribution   |
 | [Custom properties](/custom-props/introduction)  | Send custom data with pageviews and custom events to create custom metrics  |
+Outbound link clicks, form submissions and file downloads are enabled by default when you add a new site. To review or change these at any time, go to Site Settings > General > "Review installation".
+
 | [Outbound link clicks](outbound-link-click-tracking.md) | Automatically measure clicks on external links     |
 | [Form submissions](form-submissions-tracking.md) | Automatically measure when a visitor completes a form     |
 | [File downloads](file-downloads-tracking.md)  | Automatically measure when a visitor clicks a link leading to a file |