Data Collection
This is the first phase of the data flow. In this stage, the data is collected from the user and stored temporarily in memory.
Server side collection
Umbraco Engage works via serverside collecting meaning that all initial visitor data is collected on the server and not sent via JavaScript for example. When a visitor visits your website Umbraco Engage code checks whether you already have an Umbraco Engage cookie. If not, it creates one and sends it back to you.
At the same time the visitor is making a request the visitor sends all kinds of data to the server:
Which browser the visitors are using
Which URL is requested
If there was any referring page (where did the visitor come from)
At what time the page is requested
Which IP Address is used
Which operation system is used
Which type of device is used
Which cookies are sent
This data is all collected and, because of the efficiency stored for a while in the web server memory. The idea is that storing this data in memory is faster than directly writing it to the database. It is more efficient to store multiple database records at once than to store the database records one at a time.
In the next phase, the data in memory will be stored in the database.
The beauty of server-side collection is that it always works and you're not relying on JavaScript for example. Also, there is no way for clients to block this behavior because this is "how the internet works".
Collected requests
Only page requests are collected in Umbraco Engage. The request needs to be a GET request returning a 200 OK. Requests to images (.png, .jpg ), .css and .js files are not tracked. All requests to the /Umbraco/-folder are also ignored by default.
Configuration options
There are different configuration options to adjust the collecting process.
You can limit the amount of data records stored in memory. If you are limited in memory you can adjust these settings to fit your needs.
The IP Address is anonymized by default. There is an option to change this
You can turn off server-side tracking. This can be useful if not every page request reaches your website. This could be the case if you're using CloudFlare for example.
Client-side collection
The amount of data that you can collect on the server is limited. Visitors have all kinds of interactions when your website loads. They can scroll, click on the website, watch videos, and click on other pages (inside and outside of your website).
These kinds of requests need to be collected via the client side. To support this we have created a JavaScript that collects a lot of data, and extending this with your own events is possible.
umbracoEngage.analytics.js
If you install the package you will find this JavaScript file in the folder /Assets/Umbraco.Engage/scripts/.
This JavaScript collects the following data for you:
The maximum scroll depth as a percentage of the whole page and in absolute pixels.
The links you have clicked and at the moment you have clicked these.
The time you have been engaged on the page.
We track the time that you are actively using the page. We see whether you are scrolling, moving your cursor, or typing. As long as you are doing that we track the time.
As soon as you do not do anything of the above we stop the timer until you start doing something again.
Also if you have opened the page in a tab but you are using another website at the moment, that time will not count. We stop measuring time as soon as you have not done anything for 5 seconds.
You need to load the file at the end of your page to enable these events.
Client-side events are collected and sent to the server and stored in memory when visitors exit the page or close the tab/browser.
Automatic script
Looking at your website source code you will see a line of code automatically inserted by Umbraco Engage. It most likely looks like something like this:
This snippet of code ensures loading the umbracoEngage.analytics.js file, the exact page visit will be automatically linked to the submitted client-side events.
Creating custom events
It is also possible to push your own events to Umbraco Engage. It works 80% the same as Google Analytics Event Measurement. Read more about custom events in the Create your own events article.
Google Analytics Bridging library
There is a chance that you've already implemented all kinds of events via Google Analytics with their syntax:
ga('send','event',[eventCategory],[eventAction],[eventLabel],[eventValue],[fieldsObject]);
If that is the case you can include a bridging library we created. This bridging library ensures that all custom events sent to Google Analytics are also sent to Umbraco Engage. These events will now be sent to both systems.
The only thing you will need to do is include the script \Assets\umbracoEngage\Scripts\umbracoEngage.analytics.ga-bridge.js somewhere on your page:
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