Tracking PDFs with WebTrends

Colleen MacDonald · December 2008

We are trying to figure out how to track PDFs (and other docs) using WebTrends. When we were on the Get Active platform we created special code to use in teh PDF URL so we could track downloads but I believe this is no longer necessary. If anyone using WebTrends can explain how this would work on the Convio platform that would be great.

Thanks,

Colleen

rdunn · March 2009

Convio CMS now automatically includes the onclick handler required by both the new and legacy versions of the Google Analytics tracking code in order to track clicks to files. The following file types are tracked by default: pdf, doc, ppt, xls, mp3, mp4, txt, zip and tiff.

If you would like track additional file types for your site, you can add a bit of Javascript to your wrapper to define the additional types:

var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|doc|ppt|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

Add the additional types you want to track inside the parentheses, separated by a |

For additional information on how to track clicks to files using Google Analytics, see the appropriate article below based on which version of the tracking code you are using on your site:

new version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

legacy version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=74985

Bev Stanton · March 2009

rdunn :
Convio CMS now automatically includes the onclick handler required by both the new and legacy versions of the Google Analytics tracking code in order to track clicks to files. The following file types are tracked by default: pdf, doc, ppt, xls, mp3, mp4, txt, zip and tiff.

If you would like track additional file types for your site, you can add a bit of Javascript to your wrapper to define the additional types:

var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|doc|ppt|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

Add the additional types you want to track inside the parentheses, separated by a |

For additional information on how to track clicks to files using Google Analytics, see the appropriate article below based on which version of the tracking code you are using on your site:

new version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

legacy version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=74985

Does Get Active WSM include the onclick handler as well? Thanks for letting us know about this!

rdunn · March 2009

Bev Stanton:
Does Get Active WSM include the onclick handler as well? Thanks for letting us know about this!

yes, this functionality is in place on the GetActive WSM sites as well.

Eric Helmuth · March 2009

rdunn :
Convio CMS now automatically includes the onclick handler required by both the new and legacy versions of the Google Analytics tracking code in order to track clicks to files. The following file types are tracked by default: pdf, doc, ppt, xls, mp3, mp4, txt, zip and tiff.

If you would like track additional file types for your site, you can add a bit of Javascript to your wrapper to define the additional types:

var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|doc|ppt|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

Add the additional types you want to track inside the parentheses, separated by a |

For additional information on how to track clicks to files using Google Analytics, see the appropriate article below based on which version of the tracking code you are using on your site:

new version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

legacy version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=74985

Rebecca, to clarify: Have you also added support for the WebTrends version of this handler, or is it just Google Analytics? Currently, we are using an inserted jump.jsp path in our PDF URLS so that they ding our WebTrends on Demand.

Eric Helmuth

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Bev Stanton · May 2009

rdunn :
Convio CMS now automatically includes the onclick handler required by both the new and legacy versions of the Google Analytics tracking code in order to track clicks to files. The following file types are tracked by default: pdf, doc, ppt, xls, mp3, mp4, txt, zip and tiff.

If you would like track additional file types for your site, you can add a bit of Javascript to your wrapper to define the additional types:

var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|doc|ppt|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

Add the additional types you want to track inside the parentheses, separated by a |

For additional information on how to track clicks to files using Google Analytics, see the appropriate article below based on which version of the tracking code you are using on your site:

new version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

legacy version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=74985

Does this code go within the google analytics tracking code, or within a script tag in the <head> of the wrapper? Thanks for providing it!

Bruce Keilin · May 2009

Bev Stanton:
Does this code go within the google analytics tracking code, or within a script tag in the <head> of the wrapper? Thanks for providing it!

The code goes in the <HEAD> tag.

Also, for those of you "blessed" with Office 2007, your snippet should be:


var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|xlsx|doc|docx|ppt|pptx|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

to include the new office document extensions.

Alex Bernardin · February 2010

rdunn :
Convio CMS now automatically includes the onclick handler required by both the new and legacy versions of the Google Analytics tracking code in order to track clicks to files. The following file types are tracked by default: pdf, doc, ppt, xls, mp3, mp4, txt, zip and tiff.

If you would like track additional file types for your site, you can add a bit of Javascript to your wrapper to define the additional types:

var REMOTE_LOGGER_REGEXP = /\\.(pdf|xls|doc|ppt|mp3|mp4|txt|zip|tiff)$/;

Add the additional types you want to track inside the parentheses, separated by a |

For additional information on how to track clicks to files using Google Analytics, see the appropriate article below based on which version of the tracking code you are using on your site:

new version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

legacy version: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=74985

This post is from a year ago, so maybe things have changed. I'm a little confused by this posting saying that Convio CMS is automatically including the onclick attribute for images.

I'm not seeing any onclick on images I'm placing in CMS pages today, and I don't see how Convio would know what to put in the onclick (distinguishing between Google Analytics and something else, for example...). The WYSIWYG doesn't show a place to enter the onclick code, so it looks like the only place to do it is in the HTML...

Can anyone speak to this? Is there a document somewhere about tracking file accesses without having to touch each <img> tag?

Bruce Keilin · February 2010

Alex Bernardin:
This post is from a year ago, so maybe things have changed. I'm a little confused by this posting saying that Convio CMS is automatically including the onclick attribute for images.

I'm not seeing any onclick on images I'm placing in CMS pages today, and I don't see how Convio would know what to put in the onclick (distinguishing between Google Analytics and something else, for example...). The WYSIWYG doesn't show a place to enter the onclick code, so it looks like the only place to do it is in the HTML...

Can anyone speak to this? Is there a document somewhere about tracking file accesses without having to touch each <img> tag?

CMS (and WSM) adds a Javascript file /system/components/logging/logging.js that dynamically adds the onclick handlers.

Alex Bernardin · February 2010

Bruce Keilin:
CMS (and WSM) adds a Javascript file /system/components/logging/logging.js that dynamically adds the onclick handlers.

aha! Thanks, Bruce. I do see the logging code, and it looks like it does a basic check to know if you're using webtrends, urchin or the newer GA.

For the curious:


if (window.dcsMultiTrack) {
    // WebTrends.
    dcsMultiTrack('DCS.dcsuri', link.href ,'WT.ti', link.title);
  } else if (window.urchinTracker) {
    // Old google analytics.
    urchinTracker(link.href);
  } else if (window.pageTracker) {
    // New google analytics.
    var linkPath = getPath(link.href);
    pageTracker._trackPageview(linkPath);
  }

So if you've got any of those three trackers' code in your wrapper (as long as the tracking code is before any references to files, etc), then the corresponding object ought to exist, and the event handler will get added.

Fairly clever!

Tracking PDFs with WebTrends

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