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Tracking

info

We’re currently making rapid changes to the product so our docs may be out of date. If you need help, please email yo@forem.com.

Visits & Events​

For first-party analytics, we use the ahoy_matey gem, which tracks visits and events.

We intentionally choose to limit what user data we track and persist, and have opted to follow the GDPR compliance standards set by Ahoy. By default, we have configured the Ahoy library to mask IP addresses, disable geocode tracking, and not track user cookies.

Visits​

Ahoy creates an Ahoy::Visit record for each visit that it tracks.

By default, we have turned off visit tracking in the ApplicationController:

skip_before_action :track_ahoy_visit

We currently only create visits on the server-side when they are required to be created by events. Visits can be re-enabled for specific controller actions if necessary, but this should be done so with explicit care.

We do not collect any personal user data when tracking visits. Our collected data is limited to the user's id. Each user has a unique visitor_token, while each visit to the site is marked with a unique visit_token.

Events​

Ahoy creates an Ahoy::Event record for each event that it tracks. If no visit is recorded for a user when an event is tracked, Ahoy will simultaneously create an Ahoy::Visit for the event being tracked.

Events can be tracked in a controller action on the backend, or with JavaScript on the frontend. Learn more about tracking events with JavaScript in our frontend tracking guide.

When an event is tracked, it should include a name and a properties hash. When adding new events, be sure that the name is unique per-event. The properties will help you differentiate between events.

In order to track a specific event in a controller, use the ahoy.track call:

class YourController < ApplicationController
  after_action :track_my_action

  protected

  def track_my_action
    ahoy.track "A specific description of your event", request.path_parameters
  end
end

Event tracking can be enabled for specific controller actions, but should be done so with explicit care.

Messages​

For email analytics, we use the ahoy_messages gem, which tracks a history of email messages sent to users.

Ahoy creates an Ahoy::Message record for each email sent by default, but can be disabled on a per-mailer basis.