Add support for GA custom dimensions

[ivolo]

Setting a custom dimension requires pushing a command into the _gaq queue (classic) or ga variable (universal) before the track

Maybe you do so with an analytics.ready similar callback that fires between script load and page view.

analytics.before(function() {
    // set custom dimension
});

[bdarfler]

+1

[joecorcoran]

Would love to be able to send custom dimensions to UA. It's possible to send dimensions and metrics as part of the field object passed to ga('send', 'event', {}), so it wouldn't necessarily need a before callback, although I like the idea.

Is this on anyone's radar at Segment.io? I'm happy to put a pull request together but don't want to duplicate work.

[ianstormtaylor]

as far as i can tell from the GA api, you're able to pass in a dictionary of properties, but it doesn't actually accept custom properties. instead they have a very strict list of what to accept. for example page is one of them that sets the URL of where the event was fired.

i could be convinced to parse certain properties that match the GA spec, but it doesn't look like you can just send arbitrary properties with events. maybe i'm misunderstanding

[joecorcoran]

I was going off the bit that says

Read the Field Reference document for a complete list of all the fields that can be used in the configuration field object.

Down at the bottom of the list of fields, there are entries for custom dimensions and metrics. They can't just be any old keys though, they need to be dimension1, dimension2 etc.

Of course it would be a lot nicer if the documentation was explicit! 😄

[ianstormtaylor]

mm yeah, i guess we could keep a map around of property name -> dimension like we do with the awe.sm integration. i could help merge in a pull request if you wanted to add that

just broke my brain on understanding those docs haha but i think it could work. i assume these dimensions and metrics need to be across identify and track?

[edeint]

Hi guys. Just wanted to see how progress was going and clarify something. It is important to distinguish between custom dimensions (CDs) and custom metrics (CMs) that are set on PAGEVIEWS vs those set on EVENTS.

Currently Segment works fine settings CDs and CMs for events. However it struggles when doing PAGEVIEW CDs and CMs.

This is because CDs and CMs must be set BEFORE the ga('send', 'pageview') command and after the tracker is created. By default, when you enable GA in Segment it puts the base code onto the site, which includes the 'pageview' call. There is no time to add the CDs or CMs.

Example

What Segment puts on page:

ga('create', 'UA-43334570-1'); ga('send', 'pageview');

What we need on page:

ga('create', 'UA-43334570-1'); ga('set', 'dimension1', 'Hello World'); <- this bit is key ga('send', 'pageview');

Current work around

1. Disable the 'send pageview' checkbox in the Segment interface.
2. Add custom JS to your page:

analytics.ready(function() {
   ga('set', 'dimension1', 'Hello World'); <- this bit is key
   ga('send', 'pageview');
});

Sadly this is a real nightmare.

[joecorcoran]

@edeint Yep, I'm currently using the same workaround re: setting dimensions before pageview is sent. I haven't had chance to look at any of the above yet, so no progress to report at my end.

[edeint]

Also, custom dimensions don't seem to be passed through for events either. e.g.

analytics.track("Performed a Test", {
      'dimenson2': 'Hello World',
      'category': 'TEST',
      'label': 'Ed'
    });

The event is recorded in GA but dimension 2 is not recorded. The way you do this is standard GA code would be:

window.ga('send', 'event', 'TEST', 'Performed a Test', 'Ed', {
      'dimension2': 'Hello World',
    });

[ianstormtaylor]

ah, the before page problem would be solved by: #153

[sporkmonger]

👍 I'm also running into issues with custom dimensions in combination with Segment.io.

[reinpk]

we're settling towards a spec for how this could work, and getting ready to implement it over at segmentio/analytics.js-integrations#73

[bblimke]

@edeint "Disable the 'send pageview' checkbox in the Segment interface." I can't find this checkbox, where is it?