Analytics configuration reference_sc61_a4

Sitecore Online Marketing Suite 1
Analytics Configuration Reference Rev: 2009-10-26

Sitecore Online Marketing Suite 1
Analytics Configuration
Reference
A Conceptual Overview for Developers and Administrators

Sitecore® is a registered trademark. All other brand and product names are the property of their respective holders. The
contents of this document are the property of Sitecore. Copyright © 2001-2009 Sitecore. All rights reserved.

Sitecore Online Marketing Suite 1 Analytics Configuration Reference

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 2 Sitecore Analytics Overview ...................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Analytics Features and Concepts ................................................................................................. 6
2.1.1 Page Request Tracking ............................................................................................................. 6
2.1.2 Analytics Sessions .................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.3 Global Analytics Sessions ......................................................................................................... 6
2.1.4 Analytics Tags ........................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.5 Analytics Profiles ....................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.6 Analytics Page Events .............................................................................................................. 7
Goals and Failures ............................................................................................................................. 7
Campaign Events ............................................................................................................................... 7
How to Register an Analytics Page Event ......................................................................................... 7
How to Trigger an Event with a URL Query String Parameter .......................................................... 8
How to Map Query String Parameters to Events ............................................................................... 8
2.1.7 Campaigns ................................................................................................................................ 8
How to Register a Campaign ............................................................................................................. 8
2.1.8 Reverse DNS Lookups .............................................................................................................. 8
2.1.9 Automatic Robot Detection ....................................................................................................... 9
2.1.10 Analytics Email Distribution ................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Multivariate Tests ........................................................................................................................ 11
2.2.1 Multivariate Test Definitions and Multivariate Test Variables ................................................. 11
How to Create a Multivariate Test .................................................................................................... 11
How to Add a Multivariate Test Variable to a Multivariate Test ....................................................... 11
How to Implement a Multivariate Test .............................................................................................. 11
2.2.2 Multivariate Test Strategies ..................................................................................................... 12
How to Implement a Multivariate Test Strategy ............................................................................... 12
2.3 Analytics Architecture .................................................................................................................. 13
2.3.1 The Analytics Page Event Queue ........................................................................................... 13
Chapter 3 Sitecore Analytics Configuration ............................................................................................. 14
3.1 The Analytics Database .............................................................................................................. 15
3.2 The Analytics Client Roles .......................................................................................................... 16
3.3 The Analytics Settings ................................................................................................................. 17
3.3.1 The Analytics.AutoDetectBots Setting .................................................................................... 17
3.3.2 The Analytics.CampaignQueryStringKey Setting ................................................................... 17
3.3.3 The Analytics.EMailFromAddress Setting ............................................................................... 17
3.3.4 The Analytics.Enabled Setting ................................................................................................ 17
3.3.5 The Analytics.EventQueryStringKey Setting ........................................................................... 17
3.3.6 The Analytics.LogLevel Setting ............................................................................................... 17
3.3.7 The Analytics.LongRunningRequest Setting .......................................................................... 17
3.3.8 The Analytics.MaxQueueSize Setting ..................................................................................... 18
3.3.9 The Analytics.PerformLookup Setting ..................................................................................... 18
3.3.10 The Analytics.PerformLookup.Interval Setting .................................................................... 18
3.3.11 The Analytics.PerformLookup.MachineName Setting ........................................................ 18
3.3.12 The Analytics.ReverseDnsLookupTimeout Setting ............................................................. 19
3.4 The Analytics Provider ................................................................................................................ 20
3.5 The Reverse DNS Lookup Provider ............................................................................................ 21
3.5.1 MaxMind Reverse DNS Lookup Provider Settings ................................................................. 21
The MaxMind.Encoding Setting ....................................................................................................... 21
The MaxMind.Format Setting ........................................................................................................... 21
The MaxMind.SecurityToken Setting ............................................................................................... 21
The MaxMind.Url Setting .................................................................................................................. 21
3.6 The Site Definition enableAnalytics Attribute .............................................................................. 22
Chapter 4 The Sitecore Analytics API ...................................................................................................... 23
4.1 Analytics API Overview ............................................................................................................... 24

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4.1.1 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent .................................................................................. 24
4.1.2 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker ........................................................................................ 24
4.1.3 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage ............................................................................................ 24
How to Report an Analytics Page Event, Goal, or Failure ............................................................... 24
4.1.4 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage Extension Classes ............................................................. 25
How to Associate the Search Action with the Previous Page .......................................................... 25
4.1.5 The VisitorIdentification Web control....................................................................................... 26
4.1.6 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsGlobalSession.Tags .................................................................... 26
Chapter 5 Analytics Troubleshooting ....................................................................................................... 27
5.1 OMS Troubleshooting Overview ................................................................................................. 28
5.1.1 Sitecore Logs .......................................................................................................................... 28
5.1.2 Analytics Control Panel ........................................................................................................... 28

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Chapter 1

Introduction

This document provides configuration and usage instructions for the Sitecore Online
Marketing Suite (OMS, also called analytics). Sitecore administrators and developers
should read this document before implementing OMS.

This document provides an overview of the OMS architecture, details of OMS
configuration, pointers to common analytics Application Programming Interfaces, and
instructions for troubleshooting OMS.

This document contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1 — Introduction

Chapter 2 — Sitecore Analytics Overview

Chapter 3 — Sitecore Analytics Configuration

Chapter 4 — The Sitecore Analytics API

Chapter 5 — Analytics Troubleshooting

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Chapter 2

Sitecore Analytics Overview

This chapter describes analytics concepts and features, and then explains the
architecture of the Sitecore analytics engine.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Analytics Features and Concepts

Multivariate Tests

Analytics Architecture

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2.1 Analytics Features and Concepts
This section describes Sitecore analytics concepts, including instructions to implement the
corresponding features.

Important
In this document, references to web.config may correspond to entries in
/App_config/include/Sitecore.Analytics.config on your system. If an entry does not
exist in web.config, look for a corresponding entry in
/App_config/include/Sitecore.Analytics.config.

2.1.1 Page Request Tracking
The analytics engine automatically tracks all page requests. You can cancel tracking of specific
requests. Most analytics operations involve a sequence of request visited by a Web client. With
Sitecore, each page request corresponds to an item in the database. Therefore each analytics
operation is associated with a Sitecore item, also known as a page.

2.1.2 Analytics Sessions
A session represents a sequence of pages accessed by a single Web client in a single browsing
session, including any events associated with those pages.

2.1.3 Global Analytics Sessions
A global session represents multiple individual sessions from a single user agent. For more
information about sessions, see the section Analytics Sessions.

Note
The Web client cookie that allows global sessions expires after one year.

2.1.4 Analytics Tags
You can use analytics tags to store analytics attributes about global sessions, each of which
represents a different site visitor as identified by a global session. For more information about global
sessions, see the section Global Analytics Sessions.

Important
1
Analytics tags differ from security profiles and analytics profiles. Analytics tags apply to global
sessions in individual Web clients rather than to users or individual sessions. For more information
about analytics profiles, see the section Analytics Profiles.

Note
Analytics tag values apply to global sessions in individual Web clients. If a user accesses the Web site
using two different user agents, the analytics engine records two sessions with separate tag values.

2.1.5 Analytics Profiles
Analytics profiles contain information gathered from each analytics session. You can assign analytics
profile values to content items, automatically updating the user’s analytics profile when the user
accesses that content. For more information about sessions, see the section Analytics Sessions.

1
For more information about user profiles, see the Security Reference at
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Security%20Reference.aspx.

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Important
2
Analytics profiles differ from security profiles and analytics tags. Analytics profiles apply to individual
sessions in individual Web clients rather than to users or global sessions. For more information about
analytics tags, see the section Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsGlobalSession.Tags.

Note
Analytics profile values apply to individual sessions in individual Web clients. If a user accesses the
Web site using two different user agents, the analytics engine records two sessions with separate
profile values.

2.1.6 Analytics Page Events
The Sitecore analytics engine associates zero or more events with each page request. By default,
each page request raises the Page Visited event. You can configure user actions to raise events,
such as when a user clears a form or submits their vote in a poll that uses AJAX instead of ASP.NET
postback technology. System operations can generate events, such as when a timer expires or a
video reaches its conclusion.

Goals and Failures
Some events can represent specific objectives of the Web site owner, such as if a user accesses a
resource or completes a form. Other events may represent failures, such as if a user does not click
any of the links in a list of search results. Register specific types of goals and failures using the
System/Analytics/Goal data template as described in the section How to Register an Analytics
Page Event.

Campaign Events
You can associate events with specific campaigns. To register a campaign event, beneath the
campaign definition item, insert a campaign event definition item using the
System/Analytics/Campaign Event data template. You can activate the campaign event using
the value of the sc_camp query string parameter in the Campaign Link field in the Data section of the
campaign event definition item. For more information about campaigns, see the section Campaigns.
To change the name of the sc_camp query string parameter, see the section The
Analytics.CampaignQueryStringKey Setting.

How to Register an Analytics Page Event
To register an event:
1. In the Content Editor, select the /Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Page
Events item.
2. In the Content Editor, with the /Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Page
Events item selected, insert an event definition item using the System/Analytics/Page
Event data template, the System/Analytics/Campaign Event data template, or the
System/Analytics/Goal data template, depending on the type of event.

Note
Code and configuration reference event definition items by name.

Tip
Use patterns to identify events within components, such as Video Starts and Video Concludes.

3. In the Content Editor, in the event definition item, in the Data section, enter event parameters.

2
For more information about user profiles, see the Security Reference at
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Security%20Reference.aspx.

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For instructions to activate event using APIs, see the section How to Report an Analytics Page Event,
Goal, or Failure. To activate the event using a URL query string parameter, see the section How to
Trigger an Event with a URL Query String Parameter.

Important
You must register an event before using it in any other way.

How to Trigger an Event with a URL Query String Parameter
You can set the sc_trk URL query string parameter to the name of an event, goal, or failure. For
information about configuring the name of this parameter, see the section The
Analytics.EventQueryStringKey Setting.

How to Map Query String Parameters to Events
To configure an arbitrary query string parameter to trigger an event:
1. Add a <trigger> element within the
/configuration/sitecore/pipelines/startTracking/processor element in
web.config that has a value of
Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.StartTracking.ProcessQueryString,Sitecor
e.Analytics for the type attribute.
2. In the <trigger> element, set the querystring attribute to the name of the query string
parameter.
3. In the <trigger> element, set the eventname attribute to the name of the event to trigger.
If the URL contains the specified query string parameter, the analytics engine records the specified
event.

Note
The default OMS configuration maps the URL query string parameter named sc_rss to the event
named RSS.

2.1.7 Campaigns
A campaign is a marketing effort to promote awareness of a product, service, or other offering through
one or more media channels. You can associate each session with one or more campaigns. OMS
users can filter analytics data by campaign.

How to Register a Campaign
To create a campaign:
1. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, select the /Sitecore/System/Marketing
Center/Campaigns item.
2. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, with the /Sitecore/System/Marketing
Center/Campaigns item selected, insert a campaign definition item using the
System/Analytics/Campaign data template.
3. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, in the campaign definition item, in the Data
section, enter campaign parameters.

2.1.8 Reverse DNS Lookups
A reverse DNS lookup provides information about the owner of an IP address. To include this
information in reports, the analytics engine uses a reverse DNS lookup provider.

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Note
3
Contact with a third-party such as MaxMind to obtain reverse DNS lookup service.

2.1.9 Automatic Robot Detection
The Sitecore analytics engine can automatically detect robots such as search engines, classifying
their sessions separately from those of actual users. If needed, CMS users can reclassify robot
sessions as live sessions.
Sitecore uses a number of criteria to attempt to identify robots. A robot is likely to place a number of
requests in a short period of time, is unlikely to support cookies, and is unlikely to request CSS files
and media referenced by content.

2.1.10 Analytics Email Distribution
To configure analytics report distribution by email, in the Content Editor, edit the Schedule field in the
Data section of the /Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Reports/Reports item. If this
field contains a value, it must be an XML document with the root element <schedule>. Each child of
the <schedule> element must be a <report> element. Each <report> element designates the
properties of a single email report.
For example, with this XML in the Schedule field:
<schedule>
<report
reportitem="/sitecore/system/Settings/Analytics/Reports/Reports/Marketing/Metrics"
recipients="alias@domain.tld"
recurrence="everyday"
title="Metrics"
days="1"
format="html" />

</schedule>

The attributes of the <report> element described in the following table are mandatory:

Attribute Description
reportitem The full path of the report definition item.
recipients Email addresses separated by commas.
Recurrence Frequency of distribution (everyday, weekdays, Mondays,
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays,
Sundays, monthly, or biweekly). Separate multiple values with
commas (“,”). This value is not case sensitive.
Title Email message title.
Days Number of days of analytics data to include in the report.
Format Report format (html, pdf, png, rtf, word2007, or excel2007).

The /configuration/sitecore/scheduling/agent element in web.config with type
Sitecore.Analytics.Tasks.EmailReportsTask distributes analytics reports by email. This
agent runs hourly, but checks and updates the value of the Last Run field in the
/Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Reports/Reports item in order to run once each
day, shortly after midnight.

3
This product includes GeoLite data created by MaxMind, available from http://www.maxmind.com/.

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Note
Sitecore uses the SMTP server specified by the value attribute of the
/configuration/sitecore/settings/setting element in web.config with name
MailServer.

Note
You can also distribute analytics reports by email using the Sitecore user interface and APIs.

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2.2 Multivariate Tests
You can use the analytics engine to apply multivariate testing (also known as A/B testing). You can
use multivariate tests to dynamically set the data source of each presentation control.

2.2.1 Multivariate Test Definitions and Multivariate Test Variables
Each multivariate test consists of a multivariate test definition item containing one or more multivariate
test variables. Each multivariate test variable specifies an item to apply as the data source of the
presentation control when the system applies that variable. The multivariate test definition item
specifies a strategy for the system to select which of the multivariate test variables to apply as the
data source for the rendering. Layout details allow the user to select a multivariate test to apply to
each presentation control.

How to Create a Multivariate Test
To create a multivariate test:
1. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, select the /Sitecore/System/Marketing
Center/Test Lab item.
2. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, beneath the
/Sitecore/System/Marketing Center/Test Lab item, insert a multivariate test
definition item using the System/Analytics/Multivariate Test Variable data
template.
3. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, in the multivariate test definition item, in the
Data section, in the Title field, enter the title of the multivariate test as it should appear in
Sitecore user interfaces.
Data section, in the Description field, enter a description of the multivariate test.
Data section, in the Test Strategy field, select a test strategy. For more information about
multivariate test strategies, see the section Multivariate Test Strategies,

How to Add a Multivariate Test Variable to a Multivariate Test
To add a multivariate test variable to a multivariate test:
1. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, select a multivariate test definition item.
2. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, beneath the multivariate test definition item,
insert a multivariate test variable definition item using the
System/Analytics/Multivariate Test Variable data template.
3. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, in the multivariate test variable definition item,
in the Data section, in the Name field, enter the name of the multivariate test variable.
4. In the Marketing Center or the Content Editor, in the multivariate test variable definition item,
in the Data section, in the Data Source field, select the item to apply as the data source for
the presentation control when the strategy selects this multivariate test variable.

How to Implement a Multivariate Test
To implement a multivariate test, in layout details, in the properties for the presentation component,
4
select the multivariate test.

4
For more information about presentation component properties, see
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Presentation%20Component%20Reference.aspx and
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Presentation%20Component%20Cookbook.aspx.

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2.2.2 Multivariate Test Strategies
Sitecore provides two multivariate test strategies, and you can implement custom multivariate test
strategies. The Random multivariate test strategy selects multivariate test variables randomly each
time. On its first use, the Sticky multivariate test strategy applies a random multivariate test variable,
and then maintains that data source if the user requests the same page again.

How to Implement a Multivariate Test Strategy
To implement a multivariate test strategy:
1. In the Visual Studio project, create a multivariate test strategy class by implementing the
Sitecore.Analytics.Rules.Conditions.IMultivariateTestStrategy interface.
2. In the class, implement the GetTestVariableItem() method. The first parameter to the
GetTestVariableItem() method is the context item. The second parameter to
GetTestVariableItem() is the multivariate test definition item. Implement the strategy to
return the appropriate multivariate test variable definition item from the children of the
multivariate test definition item. For example, to always apply the first multivariate test
variable:
public Sitecore.Data.Items.Item GetTestVariableItem(
Sitecore.Data.Items.Item item,
Sitecore.Data.Items.Item multiVariateTest)
{
Sitecore.Diagnostics.Assert.ArgumentNotNull(item, "item");
Sitecore.Diagnostics.Assert. ArgumentNotNull(multiVariateTest, "multiVariateTest");

if (!multiVariateTest.HasChildren)
{
return null;
}

return multiVariateTest.Children[0];
}

3. In the Content Editor, select the
/Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Multivariate Test Strategies item.
4. In the Content Editor, with the
/Sitecore/System/Settings/Analytics/Multivariate Test Strategies item
selected, insert a multivariate test strategy definition item using the
System/Analytics/Multivariate Test Strategy data template.
5. In the Content Editor, in the multivariate test strategy definition item, in the Test Variable
Strategy Script section, in the Type field, enter the .NET type signature of the multivariate test
strategy class.
6. In one or more multivariate test definitions, select the multivariate s.NET type signature of the
multivariate test strategy class in the Type field of a multivariate test definition item as
described in the section How to Create a Multivariate Test.

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2.3 Analytics Architecture
The Sitecore analytics engine adds analytics processing logic to each page request.

2.3.1 The Analytics Page Event Queue
Each page request can generate a number of analytics page events. Each analytics page event
involves at least one database operation. To avoid any performance impact while rendering pages,
the Sitecore analytics engine writes database operations to an event queue in memory. A separate
thread invokes the appropriate database operations to remove entries from the event queue when
hardware resources are available.
The event queue cannot exceed a configurable number of entries. When requests trigger events that
cannot fit in the queue, Sitecore discards new events, storing no record of those events. For
instructions to configure the number of entries allowed in the event queue, see the section The
Analytics.MaxQueueSize Setting.

Important
Configure the queue size to prevent overwhelming the solution infrastructure that lacks capacity at
peak periods, or to reduce the harm of aggressive, unrecognized search engines.

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Chapter 3

Sitecore Analytics Configuration

This chapter provides instructions to configure the Sitecore analytics engine,
including databases, settings, and providers.


The Analytics Database

The Analytics Client Roles

The Analytics Settings

The Analytics Provider

The Reverse DNS Lookup Provider

The Site Definition enableAnalytics

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3.1 The Analytics Database
The connectionString attribute of the /connectionStrings/add element in
/App_Config/ConnectionStrings.config with name analytics specifies the database
containing analytics data. Multiple Sitecore instances can access the same analytics database. For
example, multiple content delivery instances behind a load balancer might populate an analytics
database accessed by a separate content management server to generate reports.

Warning
Sitecore supports Microsoft SQL Server for analytics features.

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3.2 The Analytics Client Roles
5
The Sitecore analytics roles control aspects to OMS features in the Sitecore user interface.

5
For more information about the analytics roles, see the Client Configuration Cookbook at
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Reference/Sitecore%206/Client%20Configuration%20Cookbook.aspx.

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3.3 The Analytics Settings
Comments above each /configuration/sitecore/settings/setting element in
web.config provide possible values for each setting.

Important
For an important note regarding web.config, see the section Analytics Features and Concepts.

3.3.1 The Analytics.AutoDetectBots Setting
The value attribute of the /configuration/sitecore/settings/setting element in
web.config with name Analytics.AutoDetectBots specifies whether the analytics engine
attempts to classify search engines and other Web robots automatically. For more information about
automatic robot detection, see the section Automatic Robot Detection.

3.3.2 The Analytics.CampaignQueryStringKey Setting
web.config with name Analytics.CampaignQueryStringKey specifies the name of the URL
query string parameter used by the analytics engine to trigger a campaign. For more information
about campaigns, see the section Campaigns.

3.3.3 The Analytics.EMailFromAddress Setting
web.config with name Analytics. EMailFromAddress specifies the email address to use as
the sender for messages generated by the analytics engine. For more information about analytics
email distribution, see the section Analytics Email Distribution.

3.3.4 The Analytics.Enabled Setting
web.config with name Analytics.Enabled controls whether Sitecore stores analytics
information about incoming HTTP requests. To improve performance in environments that do not use
analytics, set Analytics.Enabled to false.

3.3.5 The Analytics.EventQueryStringKey Setting
web.config with name Analytics.EventQueryStringKey specifies the name of the URL query
string parameter used by the analytics engine to trigger an event. For more information about events,
see the section Analytics Page Events.

3.3.6 The Analytics.LogLevel Setting
web.config with name Analytics.LogLevel specifies the threshold for logging activity. By
default, the analytics engine logs only errors and exceptions.

3.3.7 The Analytics.LongRunningRequest Setting
web.config with name Analytics.LongRunningRequest specifies the number of milliseconds

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to allow for analytics operations. If an analytics operation exceeds this threshold, that operation will
appear as an error in the Sitecore log and analytics reports.

3.3.8 The Analytics.MaxQueueSize Setting
web.config with name Analytics.MaxQueueSize controls the maximum size of the event
queue. For more information about the event queue, see the section The Analytics Page Event
Queue.

Warning
The size of the analytics page event queue cannot exceed memory available to ASP.NET. Reaching
the analytics page event queue limit does not always indicate an inadequate queue size. Reaching
the queue limit may indicate inadequate hardware to service peak load, an aggressive robot, or other
factors.

3.3.9 The Analytics.PerformLookup Setting
web.config with name Analytics.PerformLookup controls whether to perform reverse DNS
lookups. Only one of the Sitecore instances connected to a Sitecore analytics database should
perform reverse DNS lookups. For more information about reverse DNS lookups, see the section
Reverse DNS Lookups.

Important
Most reverse DNS lookup providers, including the MaxMind provider, require Internet access to
perform reverse DNS lookups. Set Analytics.PerformLookup to false in environments without
Internet access. For more information about reverse DNS lookup providers including MaxMind, see
the section The Reverse DNS Lookup Provider.

3.3.10 The Analytics.PerformLookup.Interval Setting
web.config with name Analytics.PerformLookup.Interval controls the interval between
reverse DNS lookup operations. For more information about reverse DNS lookups, see the section

3.3.11 The Analytics.PerformLookup.MachineName Setting
If the value attribute of the /configuration/sitecore/settings/setting element in
web.config with name Analytics.PerformLookup.MachineName is not an empty string and
does not match System.Environment.MachineName, then Sitecore does not perform reverse
DNS lookups on the machine even when the Analytics.PerformLookup setting is true. This
allows a single configuration for all machines in a content delivery environment behind a load
balancer not configured for server affinity without allowing multiple content delivery servers to perform
redundant reverse DNS queries. For more information about reverse DNS lookups, see the section
For more information about the Analytics.PerformLookup setting, see the section The
Analytics.PerformLookup Setting.

Warning
If a load balancer not configured for server affinity (also known as sticky sessions) distributes a series
of requests to different content delivery servers, the reverse DNS lookup operation triggered by the
first request may not be complete before Sitecore processes a second request, triggering a redundant
reverse DNS lookup. Some reverse DNS lookup providers, including MaxMind, charge a fee for each
lookup operation. To avoid redundant reverse DNS lookups in load-balanced environments not

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configured for server affinity, configure the Analytics.PerformLookup and
Analytics.PerformLookup.MachineName settings such that a single content delivery instance
perform reverse DNS lookups. If the content management instance has access to the Internet,
configure the content management instance to perform reverse DNS lookups.

3.3.12 The Analytics.ReverseDnsLookupTimeout Setting
web.config with name Analytics.ReverseDnsLookupTimeout specifies a number of
milliseconds to allow for analytics reverse DNS lookup operations. Sitecore handles reverse DNS
lookup operations that exceed this limit as failures, logging an error and reporting the date and time of
the most recent reverse DNS lookup error in the Control Panel in the Sitecore Desktop. If a reverse
DNS lookup operation fails, Sitecore cannot update the database with DNS ownership information,
which is subsequently absent from analytics reports. For more information about reverse DNS
lookups, see the section Analytics Page Events.

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3.4 The Analytics Provider
To update the default analytics provider to store analytics data in a system other than the default
Sitecore analytics database, implement a custom analytics provider class that provides the same
signature as the default analytics provider. Then, either update the type attribute of the
/configuration/sitecore/analyticsManager/providers/add element in web.config
with name default to reference your class, or add an additional <add> element within the
<providers> element, give it a unique name and update the type attribute to reference your
provider, and set the defaultProvider attribute of the <analyticsManager> element to that
name.

Important
Your analytics provider must provide the same signature as the default analytics provider.

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3.5 The Reverse DNS Lookup Provider
The type attribute of the /configuration/sitecore/lookupManager/providers/add
element in web.config with name default specifies the reverse DNS lookup provider. To
configure the MaxMind reverse DNS lookup provider, see the section MaxMind Reverse DNS Lookup
Provider Settings. For more information about configuring reverse DNS lookups, see the section The
Analytics.ReverseDnsLookupTimeout Setting.
To implement a custom reverse DNS lookup provider, create a class that inherits from the
Sitecore.Analytics.Lookups.LookupProviderBase class and implements the
GetInformationByIp() method, and update the type attribute to reference that class.

3.5.1 MaxMind Reverse DNS Lookup Provider Settings
To use the MaxMind reverse DNS lookup provider, configure the settings described in this section,
and then set the type attribute of the
/configuration/sitecore/lookupManager/providers/add element in web.config with
6
name default to the following value:
Sitecore.Analytics.Lookups.MaxMindProvider, Sitecore.Analytics
While the OMS comes with a number of free lookups for testing and implementation convenience to
ensure that you can utilize OMS’ capabilities from day one, the free batch of lookups will expire and
more must be purchased from MaxMind.
For information on signing up with MaxMind and purchasing more lookups, refer to the following page:
http://sdn.sitecore.net/Products/OMS/MaxMind.aspx.

Important
If you use the MaxMind reverse DNS lookup service, you must set the MaxMind.Url setting to the
URL provided to you by MaxMind. For more information about the MaxMind.Url setting, see the
section The MaxMind.SecurityToken Setting.

The MaxMind.Encoding Setting
web.config with name MaxMind.Encoding controls the page encoding used by the MaxMind
reverse DNS lookup provider.

The MaxMind.Format Setting
web.config with name MaxMind.Format controls the format used by the MaxMind reverse DNS
lookup provider.

The MaxMind.SecurityToken Setting
web.config with name MaxMind.SecurityToken controls the security used by the MaxMind
reverse DNS lookup provider.

The MaxMind.Url Setting
web.config with name MaxMind.Url controls the URL used by the MaxMind reverse DNS lookup
provider.

6
This product includes GeoLite data created by MaxMind, available from http://www.maxmind.com/.

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3.6 The Site Definition enableAnalytics Attribute
To enable or disable capturing of analytics data for each Web site, you can set the
enableAnalytics attribute of the appropriate /configuration/sitecore/sites/site
element in web.config to true or false.

Tip
If you separate content management from content delivery, to prevent capturing analytics in the
content management environment, in the content management environment, set the
enableAnaltics attribute to false for all logical sites.

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Chapter 4

The Sitecore Analytics API

This chapter describes the Sitecore analytics Application Programming Interface
(API).


Analytics API Overview

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4.1 Analytics API Overview
To use the Sitecore analytics APIs, in the Visual Studio project, add a reference to the
Sitecore.Analytics.dll assembly in the /bin folder within the document root of the Sitecore
solution Web site.

Warning
In the Visual Studio project, set the Copy Local property of all references in the project to assemblies
in the /bin folder to False. If you do not set the Copy Local property of a referenced assembly to
False, Visual Studio can delete assemblies from the /bin folder, causing Sitecore to fail.

4.1.1 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent
The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent class represents an event, goal, or failure
associated within an analytics page. The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent.Name
property must match the name of one of the registered events. Remaining properties of the event
object affect analytics reports. For more information about events, see the section Analytics Page
Events.

4.1.2 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker
The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker class provides access to the analytics context.
The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.IsActive property indicates whether analytics
are enabled for the current request.

4.1.3 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage
The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage class represents a page in a session. You can
associate events with the previous, current, and next pages in the user’s session. For more
information about analytics pages, see the section Page Request Tracking.

How to Report an Analytics Page Event, Goal, or Failure
You use the same API to register goals, failures, and generic events. For more information about
analytics page events, goals, and failures, see the section Analytics Page Events.
To report an analytics page event, goal, or failure:
1. Check the Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.IsActive property to confirm
that the analytics engine is active:
if (!Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.IsActive)
{
return;
}

2. Confirm that you can access the analytics tracker and the current analytics page:
Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker analyticsTracker =
Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.Current;

if (analyticsTracker == null
|| analyticsTracker.CurrentPage == null)
{
return;
}

3. Create a Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent object to represent the event, and
set the Name property to the name of the event definition item:
Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent pageEvent =

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new Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent()
{
Name = "Event Name",
Key = "Event Key",
Text = "Event Text",
Data = "Event Data",
Integer = 999,
};

Important
The Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPageEvent.Name property must match the name of one
of the registered analytics page events. For instructions to register an event, see the section How to
Register an Analytics Page Event.

4. Pass the event to the Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.TriggerEvent()
method:
analyticsTracker.CurrentPage.TriggerEvent(pageEvent);

5. Commit the event:
analyticsTracker.Submit();

4.1.4 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage Extension Classes
The static classes in the Sitecore.Analytics.Extensions.AnalyticsPageExtensions
namespace provide extension methods for the Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsPage class to
achieve specific objectives.

How to Associate the Search Action with the Previous Page
With a classic Web analytics solution, a search operation typically results in records for two or three
page requests: the current page, the search page (if the user had to access a search page to enter a
search query), and the search results page. With the Sitecore analytics engine, you can cancel
tracking of the search results page, and associate the search event with the page from which the user
submitted their query.
To associate the search action with the previous page, and cancel tracking of the search results page:
using Sitecore.Analytics.Extensions.AnalyticsPageExtensions;

{
return;
}


if (analyticsTracker == null
|| analyticsTracker.PreviousPage == null
|| analyticsTracker.CurrentPage == null)
{
return;
}

analyticsTracker.PreviousPage.Search(
searchCriteria,
hits);
analyticsTracker.Cancel();

The call to the Search() method generates associates the search event . The parameters indicate
the search term and the number of results.
The call to the Cancel() method cancels tracking of the current (search results) page request.

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Note
Visual Studio 2005 does not support extension methods. If you use Visual Studio 2005, instead of
using extension methods, call the corresponding static methods directly:

Sitecore.Analytics.Extensions.AnalyticsPageExtensions.Searches.Search(
analyticsTracker.PreviousPage,
searchCriteria,
hits);

4.1.5 The VisitorIdentification Web control
The VisitorIdentification Web control helps the Sitecore analytics engine identify robots. The
VisitorIdentification Web control generates an HTML <link> element that references an empty CSS
resource. The Sitecore analytics engine uses this request to help differentiate robots from actual
users. For more information about automatic robot detection, see the section Automatic Robot
Detection.

Important
To assist the analytics engine in robot identification, include the VisitorIdentification Web control in all
of your layouts. For example:

<sc:VisitorIdentification runat="server" />

4.1.6 Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsGlobalSession.Tags
You can use the Sitecore.Analytics.AnalyticsTracker.CurrentGlobalSession.Tags
collection to access analytics tags. For example, to set the analytics tag named TagName to the value
Tag Value for the current user:
{
return;
}


if (analyticsTracker == null || analyticsTracker.CurrentGlobalSession == null)
{
return;
}

analyticsTracker.CurrentGlobalSession.Tags["TagName"] = "Tag Value";

Note
You do not need to commit after updating a tag.

Note
You cannot remove an analytics tag using the API.

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Chapter 5

Analytics Troubleshooting

This chapter provides instructions to troubleshoot issues with the Sitecore analytics
engine.


OMS Troubleshooting Overview

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5.1 OMS Troubleshooting Overview
Use the following sections to troubleshoot issues with the Sitecore analytics engine.

5.1.1 Sitecore Logs
Always begin troubleshooting by investigating the Sitecore log files in the directory specified by the
value attribute /configuration/sitecore/settings/setting element in web.config with
name LogFolder.

5.1.2 Analytics Control Panel
If the reverse DNS lookup configuration is incorrect, if Sitecore cannot access the reverse DNS lookup
provider, or if reverse DNS lookup operations time out, information obtained from the reverse DNS
lookup provider does not appear in analytics reports. If reports do not include information expected
from the reverse DNS lookup provider, confirm that Sitecore is able to access the reverse DNS lookup
provider.
To determine if Sitecore is able to access the reverse DNS lookup provider:
1. In the Sitecore Desktop, click the Sitecore button. The Sitecore menu appears.
2. In the Sitecore menu, click Control Panel. The Control Panel appears in the Sitecore Desktop.
3. In the Control Panel, click Analytics. The Analytics Control Panel appears in the Sitecore
Desktop.
4. In the Analytics Control Panel, click Run Lookups and complete the wizard that appears in the
Sitecore Desktop.
5. In the Analytics Control Panel, click Retrieve Status Information. The Analytics Status report
appears in the Sitecore Desktop.
6. In the Analytics Status report, if Last Successful for Requests does not indicate a recent date
and time, or Last Failed for Requests indicates a recent date and time, then the system may
be exceeding the event queue. For more information about the event queue, see the section
The Analytics Page Event Queue.
7. In the Analytics Status report, if Last Successful for Lookups does not indicate a recent date
and time, or Last Failed for Lookups indicates a recent date and time, then the reverse DNS
lookup provide may not be configured correctly, the system may not have Internet access, or
is otherwise unable to use the reverse DNS lookup provider.
For more information about reverse DNS lookups, see the section Reverse DNS Lookups. For more
information about configuring the reverse DNS lookup provider, see the section The Reverse DNS
Lookup Provider.

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Analytics configuration reference_sc61_a4

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