Tagging on a Single Page App/Kiosk

[chris_jordan]

I am implementing a tagging solution for a kiosk that will run a single page application. What's most important is recording the path the user takes through the application. Imagine there being 5 "pages", with 5 links the user can click on each "page". I want to have the analytics call send the custom link tag name and manually set page name. I am wondering how this can be done in terms of:

1) Having a session/visitor's path start when they are on the start screen and have it end when the session either completes by clicking 'submit' or times out (and goes back to the start screen for another user to come up and begin)

2) Correctly setting the page name and custom link, as I can only send one or the other in the Adobe Analytics section of a DTM click event rule. The two pictures show what I mean.

3) If the kiosk were to go offline because of an unavailable internet connection, would adobe analytics be able to remember/queue a visitor's session and their respective path, and send it to the report suite once the kiosk got back online?

        I have been able to see the manually set page name and the custom link name in Observepoint and Adobe Analytics debugger, but in my report in omniture there's only an 'Other' page available to see. So it looks like a visitor only comes to my site, goes to page 'Other' and then exits. I do not know why I am able to see the page name and the custom link name in the analytics call in the debugger, but not in a report. I am new to Adobe Analytics so any and all help is much appreciated.

[taciac · Accepted solution]

Hi Chris,

You can change the length of a session for a report suite by contacting Customer Care. This will change the length for the entire report suite and is only recommended in specific cases such as this exact case. Alternatively you could use the mobile SDK for the app and use the session length. More information on visit here and more information on the mobile SDK here.

An s.tl call is used for link tracking and does not increment page views or page name. This is why you can't select the page name when creating an s.tl call in DTM. Even if you passed page name in the s.tl call it wouldn't collect with a page view in the interface. Alternatively you can use a variable such as a prop or evar to pass the page name instead. (more information on s.tl calls here: https://marketing.adobe.com/resources/help/en_US/sc/implement/function_tl.html)

To track offline data you would want to enable timestamps on the report suite and enable offline tracking. This would cache the hits from the kiosk while offline and would send the data when the kiosk came back online. This can also be easily enabled if using the mobile SDK. More information on tracking offline data here. 

Let me know if you have any questions on this.

Best,

Tacia

[chris_jordan]

Thank you very much Tacia, that all helps a lot.

I like the idea of saving the page name as an evar. Would it also work if I saved it as a 'Channel'? That is an available field to populate when I say a link does not increment a page view. Is it easy to sort the data in the report and see a click path with the page names set as evars?

If I contact Customer Care to adjust the session time, it seems that the session would still be defined by a set time, like 5 min or whatever I choose. Is there a way to stick with my Web Services property and not have to transfer everything over to the mobile SDK? I really just want to save a session/user's click path based on a start screen and an end screen. 

Can timestamps be used not on the mobile SDK as well? If none of this is possible in the web services analytics, could you point me in the direction of which mobile SDK could be best for this case, and tell me if my events and data elements in my web property can be transferred over? 

[taciac]

Yes, you can save the pagename as a channel. This would allow you to use the pathing reports in analytics. Pathing reports are only available for traffic variables (pagename, channel, server, and props) and not conversion variables (campaign, evars). The only metric that doesn't increment on an s.tl call is page views. Alternatively, you will want to create an event and use it for page views. This is in place so the default page views metric isn't inflated on link tracking calls. 

Yes, the only way to change a session (aka a visit) in App Measurement is to alter the time frame of the visit in the backend. A visit is calculated as 30 min of inactivity or 12 hours of continuous activity. Alternatively, when using the SDK a session is defined as the time between a launch and 5 minutes of inactivity. This can be altered in the SDK to be a different period of time. The definition of a visit would remain the same. Both are time based.You can set the eVar expiration based on the users path i.e. expire the eVar on the confirmation page (or end page), but the visit will always remain time based. 

Timestamps can be used in AppMeasurement (core javascript file) or in the mobile SDK. If you are hosting your code in DTM you are on AppMeasurement. If you are hosting your code on your end, check at the top of the file if it is H Code or AppMeasurement. OfflineTracking/Timestamps can be implemented in AppMeasurement with the information here: https://marketing.adobe.com/resources/help/en_US/sc/implement/offline_tracking.html. 

If setting it up in AppMeasurement doesn't work and you decide you want to go with the Mobile SDK information on implementing is found here https://marketing.adobe.com/developer/get-started/mobile/c-measuring-mobile-applications. The SDK will be different depending on the operating system. 

Sincerely,

- Tacia

[chris_jordan]

Thanks again Tacia! This has been very helpful.

One last thing, I have set the Channel name for my tags, but in my report I cannot see a Paths report that uses the Channel variable. Do you know how I can see a Paths report of the Channel variable? I've read that you may need to enable pathing for the Channel variable, but I can't find how to do that or see if it already is enabled in DTM.

[taciac]

Chris Jordan wrote...

Thanks again Tacia! This has been very helpful.

One last thing, I have set the Channel name for my tags, but in my report I cannot see a Paths report that uses the Channel variable. Do you know how I can see a Paths report of the Channel variable? I've read that you may need to enable pathing for the Channel variable, but I can't find how to do that or see if it already is enabled in DTM.

If pathing isn't enabled for Channel/Site Sections you will want to submit a ticket to Customer Care. Channel/Site Section and Server are the only two that aren't edible from the report suite settings section of the admin console. To enable pathing on props you can go to Admin > Report Suites > Edit Settings > Traffic > check the box for pathing and set it to enabled > save.

Best,

Tacia