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Tracking Events

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We recommend that you get yourself acquainted with the concept of System Events, Custom Events and their attributes before proceeding. Doing so will help you better understand the workings of this section.

Here are a few Custom Event Templates to help you get started.

WebEngage starts tracking some events as soon as you integrate the SDK. These are called System Events and track some generic user interactions with your app and campaigns. Here's a list of the System Events that are automatically tracked by us.

You can create Custom Events to track any other user interactions that are curcial for your business. Each Custom Event can further be defined by Event Attributes like price, quantity, category and so on. Such granular data enables you to engage users through highly contextual and personalized campaigns through all the channels of engagement.

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Important!

Please note that the attribute, sdk_id (referred to as 'Platform' on your WebEngage dashboard) of Custom Events signifies the SDK type.

  • sdk_id 1 = Web

  • sdk_id 2 = Android

  • sdk_id 3 = iOS

Tracking Custom Events

All Events related APIs are part of WebEngage Android SDK's Analytics object. Here's how you can get an instance of the WebEngage Analytics object:

// import WebEngage ‘Analytics’
import com.webengage.sdk.android.Analytics;

// Get an instance of ‘Analytics’ object
Analytics weAnalytics = WebEngage.get().analytics();

// import WebEngage ‘Analytics’
import com.webengage.sdk.android.Analytics;

// Get an instance of ‘Analytics’ object
val weAnalytics = WebEngage.get().analytics()

Guidelines

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • WebEngage sends all events data periodically in batches to minimize network usage and maximize mobile battery life for your users. (How to Set Event Priority)

  • Custom Event and Custom Event Attribute names are case sensitive and must be less than 50 characters long. String attribute values must be less than 1000 characters long.

  • eventName or eventAttributeName must not start with we_. Names starting with we_ are reserved exclusively for internal use at WebEngage. Thus, to avoid data contamination for your account, such data will be ignored if used for your Custom Events.

  • Custom Event Attributes can be of these data types: String, all subclasses of Number, Boolean, Date, List, Map.

  • You can create a maximum of 25 Event Attributes of each data type for a Custom Event.

  • If an Event Attribute value is List or Map, then it cannot be used to create segments. It can only be used to personalize campaigns.

  • The first datapoint synced to WebEngage defines the data type for that event attribute. Thus, data types must be consistent with the value that you want to store against the attribute. If the data type is changed at a later date, then Custom Event Attribute data will stop flowing to your WebEngage dashboard.

After WebEngage has been successfully initialized, you can track a Custom Event in the following manner:

weAnalytics.track("Product - Page Viewed");

Tracking Event Attributes

You can use a Map to specify a Custom Event Attribute and attach it to the Custom Event for which you'd like to track it, in the following manner:

Map<String, Object> addedToCartAttributes = new HashMap<>();
addedToCartAttributes.put("Product ID", 1337);
addedToCartAttributes.put("Price", 39.80);
addedToCartAttributes.put("Quantity", 1);
addedToCartAttributes.put("Product", "Givenchy Pour Homme Cologne");
addedToCartAttributes.put("Category", "Fragrance");
addedToCartAttributes.put("Currency", "USD");
addedToCartAttributes.put("Discounted", true);

weAnalytics.track("Added to Cart", addedToCartAttributes);


Map<String, Object> orderPlacedAttributes = new HashMap<>();
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Amount", 808.48);
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 1 SKU Code", "UHUH799");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 1 Name", "Armani Jeans");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 1 Price", 300.49);
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 1 Size", "L");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 2 SKU Code", "FBHG746");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 2 Name", "Hugo Boss Jacket");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 2 Price", 507.99);
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Product 2 Size", "L");
String dateStr = "2017-10-06T09:27:37Z";
SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'");
try {
    Date date = format.parse(dateStr);
    orderPlacedAttributes.put("Delivery Date", date);
} catch (ParseException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Delivery City", "San Francisco");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Delivery ZIP", "94121");
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Coupon Applied", "BOGO17");

weAnalytics.track("Order Placed", orderPlacedAttributes);

val addedToCartAttributes: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        addedToCartAttributes["Product ID"] = 1337
        addedToCartAttributes["Price"] = 39.80
        addedToCartAttributes["Quantity"] = 1
        addedToCartAttributes["Product"] = "Givenchy Pour Homme Cologne"
        addedToCartAttributes["Category"] = "Fragrance"
        addedToCartAttributes["Currency"] = "USD"
        addedToCartAttributes["Discounted"] = true

        weAnalytics.track("Added to Cart", addedToCartAttributes)


        val orderPlacedAttributes: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        orderPlacedAttributes["Amount"] = 808.48
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 1 SKU Code"] = "UHUH799"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 1 Name"] = "Armani Jeans"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 1 Price"] = 300.49
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 1 Size"] = "L"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 2 SKU Code"] = "FBHG746"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 2 Name"] = "Hugo Boss Jacket"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 2 Price"] = 507.99
        orderPlacedAttributes["Product 2 Size"] = "L"
        val dateStr = "2017-10-06T09:27:37Z"
        val format = SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'")
        try {
            val date: Date = format.parse(dateStr)
            orderPlacedAttributes["Delivery Date"] = date
        } catch (e: ParseException) {
            e.printStackTrace()
        }
        orderPlacedAttributes["Delivery City"] = "San Francisco"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Delivery ZIP"] = "94121"
        orderPlacedAttributes["Coupon Applied"] = "BOGO17"

        weAnalytics.track("Order Placed", orderPlacedAttributes)

Tracking Complex Event Attributes

WebEngage allows you to pass complex event attributes as List and Map data types. You will be able to use this data to personalize campaigns, as shown below. However, you will not be able to use complex attributes for creating segments.

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Here's how you can pass Complex Event Attributes along with a Custom Event to your WebEngage account:

Map<String, Object> product1 = new HashMap<>();
product1.put("SKU Code", "UHUH799");
product1.put("Product Name", "Armani Jeans");
product1.put("Price", 300.49);

Map<String, Object> detailsProduct1 = new HashMap<>();
detailsProduct1.put("Size", "L");
product1.put("Details", detailsProduct1);

Map<String, Object> product2 = new HashMap<>();
product2.put("SKU Code", "FBHG746");
product2.put("Product Name", "Hugo Boss Jacket");
product2.put("Price", 507.99);

Map<String, Object> detailsProduct2 = new HashMap<>();
detailsProduct2.put("Size", "L");
product2.put("Details", detailsProduct2);

Map<String, Object> deliveryAddress = new HashMap<>();
deliveryAddress.put("City", "San Francisco");
deliveryAddress.put("ZIP","94121");

Map<String, Object> orderPlacedAttributes = new HashMap<>();
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Products", Arrays.asList(product1, product2));
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Delivery Address", deliveryAddress);
orderPlacedAttributes.put("Coupons Applied", Arrays.asList("BOGO17"));

weAnalytics.track("Order Placed", orderPlacedAttributes);

val product1: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        product1["SKU Code"] = "UHUH799"
        product1["Product Name"] = "Armani Jeans"
        product1["Price"] = 300.49

        val detailsProduct1: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        detailsProduct1["Size"] = "L"
        product1["Details"] = detailsProduct1

        val product2: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        product2["SKU Code"] = "FBHG746"
        product2["Product Name"] = "Hugo Boss Jacket"
        product2["Price"] = 507.99

        val detailsProduct2: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        detailsProduct2["Size"] = "L"
        product2["Details"] = detailsProduct2

        val deliveryAddress: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        deliveryAddress["City"] = "San Francisco"
        deliveryAddress["ZIP"] = "94121"

        val orderPlacedAttributes: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        orderPlacedAttributes["Products"] = Arrays.asList(product1, product2)
        orderPlacedAttributes["Delivery Address"] = deliveryAddress
        orderPlacedAttributes["Coupons Applied"] = Arrays.asList("BOGO17")

        weAnalytics.track("Order Placed", orderPlacedAttributes)

Event Priority

Events accumulate over time, and WebEngage sends events in batches periodically to minimize network usage and maximize battery life of the device. Event priority allows you to override this behaviour of the SDK.

  • Since high priority events are reported more frequently than batched events, it will cause your app to drain your user's device battery faster. Hence, we stronly recommend that you user this feature sparingly.

  • setHighReportingPriority works only when reporting strategy is set to BUFFER. In case reporting strategy is set to FORCE_SYNC, all your events will be reported at high priority by default.

You can set any particular event's priority to 'high' in the following manner:

weAnalytics.track("Checkout Started", new Analytics.Options().setHighReportingPriority(true));

weAnalytics.track("Checkout Started", Analytics.Options().setHighReportingPriority(true))

The WebEngage SDK reports such events immediately (provided network connectivity is available), and does not batch them with events whose priority is not set to high.

You can also set high priority for events that have attributes attached to them, in the following manner:

Map<String, Object> checkoutStartedAttributes = new HashMap<>();
checkoutStartedAttributes.put("Cart ID", 35651);
checkoutStartedAttributes.put("Cart Size", 3);
checkoutStartedAttributes.put("Cart Value", 445.59);
checkoutStartedAttributes.put("Cart Category", "Women Dresses");

weAnalytics.track("Added to Cart", checkoutStartedAttributes, new Analytics.Options().setHighReportingPriority(true));

val checkoutStartedAttributes: MutableMap<String, Any> = HashMap()
        checkoutStartedAttributes["Cart ID"] = 35651
        checkoutStartedAttributes["Cart Size"] = 3
        checkoutStartedAttributes["Cart Value"] = 445.59
        checkoutStartedAttributes["Cart Category"] = "Women Dresses"

        weAnalytics.track(
            "Added to Cart",
            checkoutStartedAttributes,
            Analytics.Options().setHighReportingPriority(true)
        )

Please feel free to drop in a few lines at [email protected] or get in touch with your Onboarding Manager in case you have any further queries. We're always just an email away!

Updated almost 3 years ago

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