Niche Tracking
Description
This repository contains code we use for tracking. The goal of niche-tracking is to be used in all of our products, however currently it's used only for tek-web.
Local development
Nothing fancy here. First install dependencies
clone repository, open terminal and run.
npm i
Next start transpiling the source code:
npm run transpile:watch
Make your project available as package locally:
npm link
And in project you need:
npm link @schibsted/niche-tracking
And now you are all good. Your project will now use the local version of niche-tracking instead of the one in node_modules.
Supported trackers
Currently pulse, google analytics and linkpulse trackers are implemented.
How to use it and how it works
Package exports Tracker
class and all implemented tracker objects. You can import it like this:
import { Tracker, pulse } from '@schibsted/niche-tracking';
Next you need to create tracker instance with proper parameters
const tracker = new Tracker({
pageviewTrackerMappers,
eventTrackerMappers,
logger,
enabled,
mutateScript,
trackers: [pulse],
});
When you have the tracker instance you will have to initialize it with proper config. Calling this method will download all tracking scripts and actually make them work. Don't worry, you can call
tracker.pageView
and tracker.event
methods before calling tracker.initialize
as all build in trackers have event queue that will be unloaded after initialization.
tracker.initialize
methods takes config with tracker specific options. You can see them here:
Let's discuss Tracker constructor parameters
logger
Optional object containing 4 methods:
trackers
Array with trackers you want to use.
You can import those from package or provide your own. They must be objects with three methods:
pageViewTrackerMappers, eventTrackerMappers
These are objects with following format:
{
[TYPE]: {
[TRACKERNAME]: optionTransormFunction
}
}
enabled
This flag lets you disable the tracking. Please keep in mind that even if you set enabled: false
mappers will still be called to keep the behaviour as close to production as it can be.
Where TYPE
is unique name of event type you want to track (defined by you), TRACKERNAME
is (who would have guessed?) tracker name and optionTransformFunction
is function that transforms data from option
object to data that specific tracker needs for that event.
For example it could look like this:
const pageViewTrackerMappers = {
[SCREENS.SECTION]: {
pulse: options => ({
object: {
id: 'sectionScreen',
type: 'Listing',
category: options.type === 'guide' ? 'reise>byguide' : 'reise',
filters: {
query: `?page=${options.pagination}`,
},
name: options.title,
},
}),
linkpulse: options => ({
contentType: 'Sectionpage',
pagination: options.pagination,
url: getCurrentUrl(),
referer: options.appReferrer,
}),
googleAnalytics: options => ({
pathname: options.pathname,
})
}
}
Remember out tracker instance? Just to remind you:
const tracker = new Tracker({
pageviewTrackerMappers,
eventTrackerMappers,
logger,
enabled,
mutateScript,
trackers: [pulse, linkpulse, googleAnalytics],
});
Now each time you call tracker.pageView(SCREENS.SECTION, options)
the tracker will create:
- pulseSpecificOptions,
- linkpulseSpecificOptions,
- googleAnalyticsSpecificOptions
according to transform functions you provided in
pageViewTrackerMappers
.
Next it will call pulse.pagewiew(pulseSpecificOptions)
, linkpulse.pageView(linkpulseSpecificOptions)
, googleAnalytics.pageView(googleAnalyticsSpecificOptions)
.
As you can see it enables you to implement most of the tracking in declarative way. All you need is choose which trackers you need and provide proper options mapping.
As a recommendation I suggest providing redux state as options and using selectors in option transorm function.
mutateScript
This function allows for mutating scripts that will be injected in dom. You can for example add css class to them.
mutateScript: script => {
script.classList.add('no-prerender');
}
Experiments
Experiments is a field used for A/B tests tracking. It should be passed during tracker
initalization and contain list of all A/B tests that user is part of.
For example it could look like this:
const tracker = new Tracker({
pageviewTrackerMappers,
eventTrackerMappers,
logger,
enabled,
mutateScript,
trackers: [pulse],
});
const experiments = [
{
id: 'experimentId',
name: 'Readable explanation of A/B test',
variant: 'variant-b'
},
{
id: 'anotherExperimentId',
name: 'Readable explanation of another A/B test',
variant: 'another-variant-a'
},
];
tracker.initalize({
...trackersConfig,
clientId,
experiments,
})
In the case of the pulse
tracker, this list will be added to every page view and engagement event.
Polyfills
This package requires only one polyfill: Promise.
Useful links
To get more general idea of how tracking works check our team docs