Data Mappings
Data Mappings is where you can see the "name" and "type" of data that Pendo uses for all analyses. Your Data Mappings can be found by clicking the gear icon in the lower left-hand corner.
Data Mappings are set for Visitor (an individual user) level or Account (a group of associated users) level data. Each Visitor Level Data or Account Level Data will have the following metadata groups associated as applicable:
Metadata Groups
There are a few possible "groups" that the metadata falls under.
Agent Metadata
This is metadata passed through the installation snippet. These fields can only be changed within the code snippet. It is important that the agent data be reviewed inside of Pendo to ensure that the data-type listed in Pendo matches the actual data-type sent in the snippet. This metadata automatically updates when a user visits a page in your application and passes the fields to Pendo. If an agent metadata field is incorrectly populated, it can only be updated the next time the user visits your application and passes the correct information. These fields cannot be modified manually or through the API. There are several metadata fields that are provided out of the box:
Default Account Metadata:
- First Visit
- Last Visit
- Number of Days Active
- Number of Events
- Number of Visitors
- Time on Site
Default Visitor Metadata:
- First Visit
- Last Visit
- Number of Days Active
- Number of Events
- Time on Site
- Most recent browser version and name
- Most recent operating system
- Most recent server name
Custom Metadata
This is a way to add a custom "Pendo only" field to help analyze aspects of your data. This field can be updated manually on a specific Visitor/Account details page, or updated in bulk through our API.
Salesforce Metadata
These fields are pulled in from Salesforce through our integration. This is only an option if the Salesforce integration is enabled. These fields are not editable. More information on the integration here.
Segment.io Metadata
These fields are pulled in from the Segment.io integration and are not editable from the data mappings page. This type of metadata is only used with the integration. More information on the integration here.
Acceptable Metadata Format
When adding any new type of metadata (agent, custom, Salesforce, or Segment) that is a date, Pendo by default will use the ISO8601 W3C (ex: 2006-01-02T15:04:05.999-05:00) format. Make sure you’re using this format before sending data into Pendo. Due to the way data is processed in Pendo, contact Pendo Support for additional assistance if you wish to change and use a different date format.
For more information on supported data formats take a look at Data Mapping and Data Types in Pendo.
Remove Agent or Custom Metadata
Agent or Custom metadata can be removed or deleted through the data mappings page. To delete a metadata field, click on “remove” and “confirm” the deletion.
The confirmation prompt will display for a couple of seconds to prevent accidental deletions. If no confirmation occurs, the button will revert back to the "Remove" state.
Once you confirm, the metadata field will be removed from the list and no longer available to be used in segmentation.
Note: If you delete an Agent type field from the Pendo UI, but do not delete it from your installation snippet, while Pendo will still continue capturing the data, it won't re-populate into the UI. To un-delete the field, contact Pendo Support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of metadata should I send to Pendo?
We recommend that you send us anything you would find beneficial in segmenting your Visitor and Account base. Several examples include Role, Account Status, Account Manager, Contract Expiration Date, Account Creation Date, etc.
How do I send metadata?
You’ll want to add any variables to your Pendo snippet under the visitor or account sections.
How do I specify the type of data fields I am sending to Pendo?
Admins can identify the datatype of each field on the Data Mappings tab found on the Install Settings page.
When would I want to use a custom field?
If you want to add metadata from your product, passing it through the agent is best. When looking to add metadata from Salesforce, leveraging our Salesforce Integration will be the best. If the data you are looking to add doesn’t fall into either of these categories, custom fields will fill this void. You can add data manually to each visitor, or you can leverage our API to add larger amounts to custom fields. Custom fields can be added from the Data Mappings page.
How do I send custom language metadata?
The default language metadata field in Pendo is collected from the visitor's browser settings by the agent. Custom visitor metadata can be passed through by the agent or integrations, like Salesforce. Custom language metadata fields must use a name other than language. This name is reserved for browser language metadata and cannot be replaced.
You can specify a different metadata field in Localization settings. Learn more about localization in the Localization Overview article.
What key-values are supported when passing metadata through the snippet?
A custom "key" must start with a letter or a "_". No other types of syntax is supported. For example, if you have a key such as "300", it needs to be changed to "_300" in order to work properly with Pendo. If this syntax is not followed, you will not be able to create segments or run reports using those custom fields.
Supported syntax includes:
- letters
- numbers
- _