How to track the usage of Variables

[cathyw49544988]

Is eVar/ prop unique in a report suite? If so, what's the best way to track which eVar/prop have been used for what? Could I use eVar1 in one suite for productID and in another suite for Price?

Also for all the eVars or Props, is there guidance which variables should use for which kind of event/ values?

[Urs_Boller · Accepted solution]

just a few words and links to help:

props/evars once set up for a report suite can be used for whatever you want. but i would strongly recommend not to mix it up, unless you run out of props/evars. i mean, try to use the same prop/evar for the same intent and name it accordingly.

Traffic Props and Conversion eVars

i would recommend to use the same props/evars over all different report suites. this way, you can use segments, calculated metrics, workspace projects over different report suites without any problems.

there was a similar question with a good answer from adam:

Do the props, eVars and events have to be the same across multiple reporting suites?​

btw: if you try to catch product/prices, better use the predefined "product variable": products

as far as i know there is no "best practice" or guidance, which props/evars/events are used for each single case. you can almost do whatever you want. i recommend to always have a separate documentation on what you've done (and why). mabe the post here might help you: How to make Adobe Analytics tagging map aka solution design requirements for SiteCatalyst implementa...

[cathyw49544988]

Actually I need to create something to track the load of "contact us" page and also need to track the source of the contact us page ( from different division ). I created a page load rule for load of the "contact us" page, and used an eVar12 as string to grab the division value when the rule fired. I tested the code, eVar12 was set successfully. Then I don't know how to create report for my eVar12. To show how many times this page was loaded and categorized with Division value ( the value in eVar12 ). Anyone can give me some guidance?

Thanks.

[Urs_Boller]

you could check the report for evar12 in the reports section, should show what you need out of the box.

or you create a workspace project with evar12 as dimension (left side) and pageviews as metric (top of free form)

[cathyw49544988]

I did see a report for eVar12 under custom conversion ->custom conversion11-20 folder. But the thing is, it is counted by a metric, it can be visit or visits those metrics. I guess the issue is I defined this eVar as string, it was considered as dimension. So I can not count it, even count by category. In this case, I want to track 2 info, #of time load contact us page and in which division. how should I implement the eVar12? Should I use event? Should I define eVar as a counter instead of a text?

Thanks

[cathyw49544988]

I have one more question, if eVar12 was used for other purpose before, when I this time I use it, could I see old data? Could I clean the old data before I use it? Thanks

[Gigazelle]

Yes, you would see old data if you repurposed an eVar. However, you can force an eVar to expire all existing values in the admin console so if you do repurpose an eVar, you won't get weird persisting values.