Webtrends - How can I pass values to a download tracking event?

[craig_evans]

I'd like to pass values to the download event for Webtrends. Is this possible? Here's what I've tried, but it doesn't work: utag.track('download', {var1: value1, var2: value2}); I have Preserve set to true in the Webtrends tag, so setting the values in utag_data beforehand isn't really an option, since they won't carry over when the download event is fired. As a work around, I cleared the Download Type field in the Webtrends tag config. This allows me to use utag.link and send whatever values I want, along with WT.dl = 20 to simulate a download event. Clearing the Download Type field eliminates double-event firing (for WT.dl = 20). This seems like a bit of a hack to me, so I'd like to know if there's a better way.

[dan_george · Accepted solution]

Hi Craig, Based on what you are trying to accomplish I believe your changes should be okay. If you want this to work with the default configurations then here is more information. There is not a "download" event for utag.track, only "view" for page views and "link" for any type of click event. This is why your utag.track for "download" did not work - it didn't trigger any templates to fire. If you changed that to "link" it should work. You would also need to pass a variable that signifies this is a download and the dl type: utag.track('link', {type:"download", dl:"20", var1: value1, var2: value2}); Then you can declare variable "dl" in the Data Source tab and map it to "WT.dl". The template will see dl is set and that this is a link event and fire the download event with your new parameters (which also must be mapped). Give that a shot and let me know how that works out.

[craig_evans]

Is type something I would need to map as well, or is it already programmed in the template? I tried using utag.link, but I was getting double hits for a download since the default download tracking was enabled. One of the hits had the values I wanted, and the other had none of the values I passed.

[craig_evans]

Hi Dan, I've tried out your suggestion, and it doesn't help with the double hits. I think I'm just going to have to stick with the solution I came up with for now. Thanks for the suggestion.

[dan_george]

Hi Craig, Thinking about this it make sense that your initial solution is correct since Webtrends does download tracking by default but you also want to pass custom parameters during the download. There is probably room for improvement with the way Tealium handles these events. We will need to review the template and tag requirements.