Test Integration

By this point, you should have installed the Parse.ly tracking code. Now it’s time to test your integration. We will review each of the events trigged by our script.

We’ve written this article with all audiences in mind so that everyone can see what’s happening for themselves.

Getting Started

Open DevTools

Regardless of the event you’re testing, they process always begins by opening your browser’s Web Development Tools with any of the following methods. Alternatively, you can use a tool like Omnibug. For Dev Tools:

1. Use a keyboard shortcut
   • Windows/Linux
     • Ctrl + Shift + I or
     • F12 for most browsers and full-size keyboards
   • Mac
     • Cmd + Option + I (Mac) or
     • Fn + F12 for most browsers and compact keyboards
2. Use a context menu
   • Right click anywhere on the page in your browser
   • Click “Inspect” or “Inspect Element”
3. Find DevTools in your browser menu
   • Click the 3 vertical dots or 3 horizontal lines in the upper right corner
   • Look for any combination of “Tools” “Web” Developer”
   • Safari users will need to first enable these tools in menu: Safari > Preferences > Advanced

Navigate to DevTools > Network

With DevTools open, look for a “Network” tab and click to open it. We’ve circled the Network tab in orange in the lower-right corner of the screenshot, below.

Is the tracking code loaded?

You may use any of the following methods to see if the tracking code is loaded on a URL.

Locate the tracking code in your HTML

1. Navigate to the Elements tab of DevTools
2. Click on something in the Elements tab to ensure this pane is active
3. Use keyboard shortcut CTRL+F (Windows) or CMD + F (Mac)
4. Enter one of the following to search for the tracking code:
   • cdn.parsely
   • p.js

Enter PARSELY in the Console

1. Navigate to the Console tab of DevTools
2. Enter PARSELY
   • If successful, the Parse.ly object will return.
   • If unsuccessful, you will see an error message saying “Uncaught ReferenceError: PARSELY is not defined”

Use the Open-in-Parse.ly Bookmarklet

See our Open-in-Parse.ly bookmarklet documentation for details.

Pageview

Trigger the pageview

By default, we send a pageview event whenever someone loads your page. To verify that we’re doing this on your website, perform the following:

1. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools (if you haven’t done so already)
2. In the filter field, type action=pageview
3. Navigate to a url on your website or refresh the page, if you’re already on the url of interest.
4. Navigate to additional pages, ensuring that one (and only one) pageview fires with each page load.

Examine the pageviews

By now, you should have seen one (and only one) item appear in the list. Let’s review the screenshot below for expected results and what they mean:

1. The filter field where you type action=pageview
2. The list of network events. By using the filter, we have fewer distractions.
3. Click on the “Payload” tab to see the pertinent information
4. idsite – this value should match your Parse.ly Site ID.
   • If you see genericconfigfree then it means that you have the tracking script on your page but that something is wrong with it. Only use Site IDs provided by Parse.ly Support and check for typos throughout the entire script.
   • Ensure you’re not using your sandbox Site ID in your production environment and vice versa
5. url – the url that triggered the pageview. Must be a “full url” not a relative path.
6. urlref – the referring url. This will be blank if the reader manually typed in the url into their browser. Must be a “full url” not a relative path.
7. data – a place where you can send custom audience segment data to Parse.ly (if purchased)
8. title – the headline that will appear in your Parse.ly Dashboard
9. date – the publication date that will appear in your Parse.ly Dashboard
10. action – the event that Parse.ly triggered on your site
11. metadata – the metadata that you’re sending to Parse.ly that we will display in your Dashboard

Next Steps

• If you encountered something unexpected, please review the Troubleshooting section.
• If you’ve successfuly tested pageviews, then you’ll likely want to proceed to the next step of the integration process, i.e., sending metadata.

Troubleshoot

Symptom	Potential Cause	Remedy
No pageview appears in the list	The tracking script is not on the page	If using the wp-parsely plugin, reconfigure Track Post Types As settings If using the plugin on a multisite, ensure that you’ve installed on all sites If the url is on a subdomain hosted by a third-party, contact them to add the tracking code
	No navigation since loading DevTools	Navigate to a new page Refresh the page
	There’s a typo in the filter	Erase the filter and look again
Pageview fires once but not when navigating to other pages	Site is a SPA but doesn’t have the SPA tracker	Review the SPA documentation and contact support@parsely.com to request the SPA tracker.
More than one pageview appeared in the list while navigating	The tracking script is loaded more than once	If using GTM and wp-parsely plugin, set the plugin Disable JavaScript setting to Yes Examine your code and look for the tracking code. Try searching with for cdn.parsely.com/keys. Eliminate the source of the extra script(s).
idsite says genericconfigfree	Invalid Site ID	Check the spelling of your Site ID in the tracking script. Only use Site IDs provided by Parse.ly
Triggered pageviews don’t appear in Dashboard	Domain mismatch	Ensure the Site ID matches the domain that’s sending pageviews. If you’re using the sandbox, provide testing domain(s) to support@parsely.com for allowlisting.
	Filtered view	Modify your Dashboard filter(s) to view Page Type: All Pages

If you encountered an unlisted symptom or the corresponding remedies did not solve your problem, please contact support@parsely.com.

Heartbeat

If pageviews are working, then there shouldn’t be a need to test heartbeats. But we’re not going to stop you! To see Parse.ly heartbeats on your site, perform these steps:

1. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
2. In the filter field, type action=heartbeat
3. Navigate to a url on your website
4. Open a new tab in your browser
5. Click on the original tab used in Step 3, you should see the heartbeat event in DevTools
6. Click on the heartbeat event
7. If needed, click the “Payload” tab to see the pertinent information
8. Review the inc value – this is the number of seconds that elapsed while the reader was engaged with your page

Want to learn more about how Parse.ly measures engaged time? Read here. Do you want to customize engaged time behavior? Read here.

Videostart

Prerequisites

1. Video analytics is a paid, add-on, feature. If you haven’t purchased this feature, contact your Relationship Manager to schedule a demo.
2. Ensure that you’ve completed the basic integration that includes:
   • Installing tracking code
   • Sending metadata
3. Ensure that you’ve completed the video analytics integration instructions
4. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
5. In the filter field, type action=videostart
6. Navigate to a url on your website that contains your video

Trigger the videostart

1. Complete the prerequisites in order to receive the videostart
2. Play the video
   • If your video contains pre-roll advertising, the videostart will trigger at the beginning of pre-roll by default.
   • When integrating video, it’s up to your development team to decide when the videostart should trigger. Most of our customers trigger the videostart after pre-roll.

Review the videostart

Videostarts are similar to pageviews with the most notable difference being the metadata.

Video Heartbeat

If videostarts are working, then it’s unlikely that you’ll need to test video heartbeats. To see vheartbeats on your site, perform these steps:

1. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
2. In the filter field, type action=vheartbeat
3. Navigate to a url on your website
4. Play a video on your site
5. Open a new tab in your browser
6. Click on the original tab used in Step 3, you should see the vheartbeat event in DevTools
7. Click on the vheartbeat event
8. If needed, click the “Payload” tab to see the pertinent information
9. Review the inc value – this is the number of seconds that elapsed while your visitor was playing your video
   • Skipping ahead or rewinding the video does not affect our measurement of “minutes watched”.
   • Read more about engaged time here.

Conversion

Prerequisites

1. Conversions tracking is a paid, add-on, feature. If you haven’t purchased this feature, contact your Relationship Manager to schedule a demo.
2. Ensure that you’ve completed the basic integration that includes:
   • Installing tracking code
   • Sending metadata
3. Ensure that you’ve completed the conversions integration instructions
4. Navigate to a url on your website that contains a converting event

Testing conversions

1. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
2. In the filter field, type action=conversion
3. Trigger the converting event (load, submit, click)
4. Click on the conversion event
5. If needed, click the “Payload” tab to see the pertinent information
6. Review the following values in the data object:
   • _conversion_type
   • _conversion_label

Custom Audience Segments

Prerequisites

1. Audience Segmentation is a paid, add-on, feature. If you haven’t purchased this feature, contact your Relationship Manager to schedule a demo.
2. Ensure that you’ve completed the basic integration that includes:
   • Installing tracking code
   • Sending metadata
3. Ensure that you’ve completed the custom audience segments integration instructions
4. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
5. In the filter field, type action=pageview

Trigger a pageview (containing segment info)

1. Navigate to a url on your website that contains the Parse.ly tracking code
2. Examine the payload of the pageview
3. Review the value of the data key and ensure it reflects the expected information

Alternative

If you missed the pageview and want to see what data came with it, enter PARSELY.lastRequest.data into the developer console.

Custom Events

Prerequisites

1. The Data Pipeline (DPL) is a paid, add-on, feature where you can see custom events. Custom events are not visible in the Parse.ly Dashboard. If you haven’t purchased DPL, contact your Relationship Manager to schedule a demo.
2. Ensure that you’ve completed the basic integration that includes:
   • Installing tracking code
   • Sending metadata
3. Ensure that you’ve added custom events using our Dynamic Tracking instructions.
4. Navigate to the Network tab of DevTools
5. In the filter field, type action=custom

Sending the Custom Event

1. Navigate to a url on your website that contains your custom event
2. Trigger the custom event in accordance with your design
3. View the event in DevTools