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Level 2
July 22, 2020
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Wistia Video Milestone Tracking

  • July 22, 2020
  • 1 reply
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Hi All,
We have Wistia video embedded on page without Iframe. Has anyone done Wistia video milestone tracking through Adobe Launch?

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Best answer by Brian_Johnson_

You'll probably have to leverage the Wistia JS API to monitor video activity. In the past, when taking a similar approach, I've loaded the related JS in a page load rule (only on pages where videos exist), then triggered a direct call rule from within the JS. Passing a payload in with the direct call rule lets me specify the milestone to track (play, 25%, 50%, 75%, complete, etc), as well as any other meta data I might need (video title, ID, duration, etc).

 

 

window.videos = {}; wistiaEmbeds.forEach(function (vid) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()] = { id: vid.hashedId(), name: vid.name(), duration: vid.duration(), status: { step_play: false, step_25: false, step_50: false, step_75: false, step_95: false, step_end: false } } function trackProgress(milestone, currentVideo) { currentVideo.milestone = milestone; console.log("Video milestone", milestone, "reached for:", currentVideo); // trigger your direct call rule here // _satellite.track("dcr:video progress", currentVideo); } function checkProgress(milestone, percent) { var step = "step_" + milestone; if (milestone === "play" || milestone === "end") { if (!window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step]) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step] = true; trackProgress(step, window.videos[vid.hashedId()]); } } else { if ((percent * 100) >= milestone) { if (!window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step]) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step] = true; trackProgress(step, window.videos[vid.hashedId()]); } } } } vid.bind('percentwatchedchanged', function (percent, lastPercent) { checkProgress(25, percent); checkProgress(50, percent); checkProgress(75, percent); checkProgress(95, percent); }); vid.bind('play', function() { checkProgress('play'); }); vid.bind('end', function() { checkProgress('end'); }); });

 

 

Caveats and assumptions:

  • The above code is functional, but I haven't done any real QA on it, and it hasn't run in any production environment, so use it as you will.
  • Make any modifications you want/need. (For example, you'll notice that I have a 95% complete step in there. I'll often use this instead of "complete" or "end" to account for those viewers who see all of the relevant content in a video, but drop off during the closing credits or as the speaker is saying goodbye.)
  • I haven't tested it, but I'm pretty sure the above code will NOT work with other players, nor will it work with IFRAME embedded Wistia players.
  • Running the above code in the console should allow for a quick test. You'll see the various milestones/steps written out in the console.
  • I didn't include any error handling in the code, so it WILL break on pages without the wistiaEmbeds JS object.
  • The code should work for pages with multiple videos. But, again, I haven't tested it.
  • The code is designed to only track the specified milestones/steps once per page load. So, if a viewer watches a video, then re-watches it, we'll only count the first time through. Similarly, if a viewer watches 25% of a video, then rewinds to a point before the 25% milestone, the code will not fire the 25% milestone tracking call again. Refreshing the page enables tracking to start over again.

1 reply

Brian_Johnson_
Brian_Johnson_Accepted solution
Level 8
July 23, 2020

You'll probably have to leverage the Wistia JS API to monitor video activity. In the past, when taking a similar approach, I've loaded the related JS in a page load rule (only on pages where videos exist), then triggered a direct call rule from within the JS. Passing a payload in with the direct call rule lets me specify the milestone to track (play, 25%, 50%, 75%, complete, etc), as well as any other meta data I might need (video title, ID, duration, etc).

 

 

window.videos = {}; wistiaEmbeds.forEach(function (vid) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()] = { id: vid.hashedId(), name: vid.name(), duration: vid.duration(), status: { step_play: false, step_25: false, step_50: false, step_75: false, step_95: false, step_end: false } } function trackProgress(milestone, currentVideo) { currentVideo.milestone = milestone; console.log("Video milestone", milestone, "reached for:", currentVideo); // trigger your direct call rule here // _satellite.track("dcr:video progress", currentVideo); } function checkProgress(milestone, percent) { var step = "step_" + milestone; if (milestone === "play" || milestone === "end") { if (!window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step]) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step] = true; trackProgress(step, window.videos[vid.hashedId()]); } } else { if ((percent * 100) >= milestone) { if (!window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step]) { window.videos[vid.hashedId()].status[step] = true; trackProgress(step, window.videos[vid.hashedId()]); } } } } vid.bind('percentwatchedchanged', function (percent, lastPercent) { checkProgress(25, percent); checkProgress(50, percent); checkProgress(75, percent); checkProgress(95, percent); }); vid.bind('play', function() { checkProgress('play'); }); vid.bind('end', function() { checkProgress('end'); }); });

 

 

Caveats and assumptions:

  • The above code is functional, but I haven't done any real QA on it, and it hasn't run in any production environment, so use it as you will.
  • Make any modifications you want/need. (For example, you'll notice that I have a 95% complete step in there. I'll often use this instead of "complete" or "end" to account for those viewers who see all of the relevant content in a video, but drop off during the closing credits or as the speaker is saying goodbye.)
  • I haven't tested it, but I'm pretty sure the above code will NOT work with other players, nor will it work with IFRAME embedded Wistia players.
  • Running the above code in the console should allow for a quick test. You'll see the various milestones/steps written out in the console.
  • I didn't include any error handling in the code, so it WILL break on pages without the wistiaEmbeds JS object.
  • The code should work for pages with multiple videos. But, again, I haven't tested it.
  • The code is designed to only track the specified milestones/steps once per page load. So, if a viewer watches a video, then re-watches it, we'll only count the first time through. Similarly, if a viewer watches 25% of a video, then rewinds to a point before the 25% milestone, the code will not fire the 25% milestone tracking call again. Refreshing the page enables tracking to start over again.
Level 2
October 19, 2021

How do I track milestones for wistia video in an iframe?

Brian_Johnson_
Level 8
October 21, 2021

@aaanon - It's actually pretty similar. Using the documentation on the Wistia site, there's a quick reference to interacting with videos that are embedded via IFRAME.

 

Assuming you have the necessary Wistia JS library on the page (

//fast.wistia.net/assets/external/E-v1.js), you should be able to use the following. It behaves exactly as the solution I shared above, with the same caveats and assumptions.