Tracking Flash events demo
For products:
Webtrends On Demand
Webtrends Analytics 9.2x
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Last modified: 3/1/2011
Introduction:
Attached to this Knowledge Base article is a .zip file containing the following:
An example .fla file with functional dcsMultiTrack calls and examples in both getURL and ExternalInterface
A working .html file with the Flash file and the Webtrends JavaScript tag
A sample log in the web log folder generated using the above html file
In addition to the .zip archive, a PowerPoint document with screenshots and notes has been attached to the Knowledge Base article. References to slides in the body of this article correlate to slides in this file.
This example illustrates how ten-second clip records how long a visitor watches it, in 20% intervals, and includes an initial load to account for the initial page view followed by playing the clip as compared to viewing the .fla file in isolation.
A layer just for the dcsMultiTrack calls was added to the Flash file. Following that, a keyframe was created at each point at which the Webtrends JavaScript tag is to be fired, in this case, every 24 frames (Slide 1). Within each keyframe there is an ExternalInterface object call to dcsMultiTrack. Since any parameters set on the page containing the Flash movie are persistent until the next page load and parameters that are not to be recorded are overridden. In this case, no query string is to be passed so it is set to have a blank value (Slide 2).
Once all the keyframes have been tagged, the movie can be published. The movie does not start automatically in this case, and in a production environment this may not be desired.
Test to ensure the Webtrends JavaScript tag has a chance to fire the dcsCollect method before the Flash movie starts calling dcsMultiTrack.
In this example, a local web server and a local SmartSource Data Collector (SDC) were used. In order to test the .html sample, it must be run from a web server, and not from the file system. If the SDC is not already installed it can be downloaded from the following URL:
http://www.webtrends.com/Support/SoftwareCenter.aspx
Implement the tag into the .html file created for the Flash movie or integrate the Flash movie into an already existing page (Slide 3).
Next, test the tag's functionality. In this test, the page loads, plays the movie, and completes. As shown in weblog\flash.log, the initial page load and a separate record for each of the six percentages were recorded. (Slide 4)
This log can then be used to create a custom report using this information. For example, create a dimension based on PercComplete and use it in a report with the Visitors measure in order to get a report showing how many visitors made it to 20%, 40%, etc.
Further information:
A full document on tagging Flash movies can be found at the following URL:
http://product.webtrends.com/WRC/9.1/ResourceCenter/rc/Library/PDF/AUG/Flash_Tracking.pdf
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