Tech Note: Track Events Best Practices

UPDATE: 

This Tech Note is no longer being updated. Please refer to these Help Articles instead:

• Track Events
• Configure Track Events
• Event Properties

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Welcome to part one of a two part series on Track events! Once you’re done reading this post, please click here to see post 2, which focuses on track events properties and reporting: Track event properties and reporting best practices

What is a Track Event and what does it look like in Pendo?

Track Events Overview article

Tech Corner Track Events Overview video (5 min) | EU Link

Pendo Academy Track Events video (2 min)

What are some example situations for track events? 

Pendo Academy Track Event Examples

This other Community post

Should I use track events for performance monitoring of my application?

How to configure track events & technical limitations 

Track events cannot be created via the Pendo Designer and will typically require development time and effort. Please also be aware that track events must be sent one at a time. Pendo does not have the ability to receive track events in bulk.  Please see this Track Events Configuration article for more details: Track Events Configuration

When you are deciding how to structure the track event and what to send as an event property, consider the following questions: 

• What question are you trying to answer and what level of granularity will you need?
• Do you really need a track event? Can the question be answered with data already available in Pendo via tagged pages, tagged features or click event properties? 
• Do you intend to use the track event for guide segmentation, data analysis, or both?
• Do you intend to primarily view the data within the Pendo UI?
• Would you be comfortable with or does your company have technical resources to assist with pulling the data out via API and building reports outside of Pendo?

You might not have all of the answers to these questions immediately. However, we hope that the information in this post and the second post (focused on reporting) will help you answer these questions for yourself.

Track events & segments in Pendo

Tech Corner Video: Using Track Events (5 min) | EU Link

When creating a segment in Pendo, you can use track events and track event properties. This is documented here: Track events and segments

However, if you intend to use the segment for guide eligibility, your options are more limited. You are limited to “used” or “not used” for the track event, and you cannot use event properties as documented here: Ineligible segments for guide targeting

This same limitation applies to click event properties from feature clicks. 

Reporting within the Pendo UI - Overview

Track events can be seen in Data Explorer reports, paths, funnels, visitor reports, account reports, and the visitor timeline. You can also see track events data by going to Product > Track Events and clicking into each individual Track Events details page.

Reporting on track event properties has additional complexity. Please click here to see this related Community post: Track event properties and reporting best practices