Reduce GA Payload

By default, Whatfix does not send any data to Google Analytics (GA). However, you can configure Whatfix to capture content usage and engagement data using Google Analytics. For more information, see Capture Whatfix analytics data using Google Analytics. However, if you also have a standard GA account for tracking these events, it could lead to differences in the data you see between the two platforms.

For example, consider that the timezone for Whatfix GA is set to Indian Standard Time (IST), while your standard GA could be set to another time zone. This difference in time settings can cause discrepancies when comparing data for specific date ranges.

What are custom dimensions?

Custom dimensions in Google Analytics are like custom tags you can attach to your data for better organization and analysis. For example, you may want to track which user role is using your application or which feature they're interacting with the most.

What is a payload?

When data is sent to Google Analytics, it's packaged into what's known as a payload. This payload contains various pieces of information, including the custom dimensions you've set up.

If your custom dimension setup is not consistent between Whatfix GA and your standard GA, it can impact the payload size. If the payload size becomes too large, Google may convert the method of sending data from GET calls to POST calls. However, POST calls can sometimes face security issues, such as Content Security Policy (CSP) restrictions, which could lead to blocked events or incomplete data being recorded in Customer GA.

To address this issue, you can either whitelist Google Analytics to send and receive data without any hindrance. If you choose not to whitelist the Google Analytics domain in your CSP configuration due to security concerns or privacy preferences, then you can enable GA Exclude Optional Dimensions to reduce the payload sent to Google Analytics. This reduces the amount of data sent to Google Analytics by using less intrusive GET calls instead of POST calls. However, some data may still be missed out because it's sent as POST calls, which could potentially be blocked by the CSP. This could lead to blocked events or incomplete data being recorded in Customer GA.

Use the following steps to reduce GA payload:

5. Click Analytics
   

6. Select the GA Exclude Optional Dimensions checkbox.
   

7. Click Add.
   

8. Enable the GA Exclude Optional Dimensions toggle.
   

9. Click Save.