Vanity.js

Client

Vanity(options)

Create a new client and configure it to use given server and access token.

The options are:

• url - URL of vanity server, for example, "http://vanity.local:443"
• token - Access token (required if server uses access token for authentication)

Example:

var Vanity = require("vanity"),
    vanity = new Vanity({ url: "http://vanity.local:443", token: "supersecret" });

vanity.activity({ actor: "Assaf", verb: "shared", object: "http://bit.ly/GLUa9S" })

Activity Stream

Use these methods to operate on the activity stream.

vanity.activity(activity)

Adds a new activity to the activity stream:

• id - Unique activity identifier. Optional.
• actor - Activity actor is either a name (string) or an object.
• verb - Activity performed.
• object - Object associated with the activity, either display name (string) or an object. Optional.
• location - Location name. Optional.
• label - Labels. Optional.

Actor may specify id and/or displayName, and optionally also url (to profile) and image. If you don't have a displayName, just pass the id, and Vanity will make up a name for you. If you only have the display name, you can pass it directly as a string argument.

Object may specify url and/or displayName, and optionally also an image. If you don't have a displayName, url will be shown as the object descriptor. If you only have the display name, you can pass it directly as a string argument.

Image must specify url and may specify height and width in pixels.

For example:

vanity.activity({ actor: "Assaf", verb: "shared", object: "http://bit.ly/GLUa9S" })

vanity.activity({
  actor: {
    id: "assaf",
    displayName: "Assaf",
    url: "http://labnotes.org/"
  },
  verb: "shared",
  object: {
    displayName: "hjkl",
    url: "http://t.co/dKh54pQK",
    image: {
      url: "http://bit.ly/yq14vJ"
    }
  },
  location: "San Francisco, CA",
  labels: ["funny"]
})

Split Testing

Use these to work with split (A/B) tests.

vanity.split(id)

Returns a split test (SplitTest).

Arguments are:

• id - Test identifier (alphanumeric/underscore/hyphen)

Returns a SplitTest object.

For example:

var signup = vanity.split("signup-form");

splittest.show(participant, alternative, callback)

Use this when choosing which alternative to show.

If you want Vanity to pick up which alternative to show, call with one argument (participant identifier) and it will return an alternative. This request updates the server but returns immediately without waiting for response.

The baseline alternative (option A) has the value 0 (JS false), and the new alternative (option B) has the value 1 (JS true). Just remember "new is true".

Example:

if (split.show(userId))
  render("optionB"); // The new alternative we're testing
else
  render("optionA"); // Our baseline

You can also call with participant and callback. This will contact the server, wait for response, and return the actual alternative. This is the safest way to get the alternative.

Example:

split.show(userId, function(error, alternative) {
  if (alternative)
    render("optionB"); // Alternative 1 that we're testing
  else
    render("optionA"); // Alternative 0, our base line
})

You can also force a particular alternative by calling with participant, alternative and optional callback. Note that an alternative can be set only once. With a callback, you'll get the alternative stored on the server, which may differ from the one passed as argument.

Example:

// These users always sees option B
if (user.beta)
  split.show(userId, true);
split.show(userId, function(error, alternative) {
  . . .
})

splittest.showA(participant, callback)

Convenience function that works just like show, with one difference.

Without callback, if the chosen alternative is A, returns true. If the chosen alternative is B, returns false.

With a callback, if the chosen alternative is A, passes true as the second argument.

By constract, show returns false for the first alternative (A).

splittest.showB(participant, callback)

Convenience function that works just like show.

Without callback, if the chosen alternative is B, returns true. If the chosen alternative is A, returns false.

With a callback, if the chosen alternative is B, passes true as the second argument.

splittest.completed(participant, callback)

Use this to record when a participant completed the test (converted).

Example:

split.completed(userId)

If you want to wait for response from the server, pass a callback as the second argument.

You can call this method multiple times for a given participant, only the first call has any affect. You can call this method without first calling show, and it will also add the participant to the experiment.

splittest.get(participant, callback)

Retrieve all that is known about a participant.

Arguments are:

• participant - Participant identifier
• callback - Call with error and result (null if no participant)

Result contains:

• participant - Participant identifier
• alternative - Alternative number
• joined - When participant joined the test (Date)
• completed - When participant completed the test (Date)