How does Whatfix identify users on the application?

Whatfix uses the following two methods to identify users:

Anonymized Whatfix ID

Consider a user accessing the application for the first time.

• Whatfix generates a unique identifier called the Anonymized Whatfix ID when the user logs in for the first time.

• The ID is randomly generated and consists of a 16 character alphanumeric string, for example, 6idAi0oqW4sIPPFf.

• The Anonymized Whatfix ID enables anonymous tracking before the user is identified with a configured User ID.

• The ID is stored in the browser’s Lokaler Speicher to identify the user when they access the application later. The ID is stored in the key, wfx_unq, in the browser’s local storage.

Note:

Whatfix may create a new Anonymized Whatfix ID for the same user due to one of the following reasons:

• The user clears cookies and local storage, removing the existing Anonymized Whatfix ID.

• The organization’s IT team periodically clears the browser’s local storage due to IT policy, removing the existing Anonymized Whatfix ID.

• If the user accesses the application in incognito mode, Whatfix cannot use the pre-existing local storage to identify the user and, therefore, it generates a new Anonymized Whatfix ID. This incognito local storage also clears when the user closes the incognito browser window, resulting in the loss of the generated ID.

• The user accesses the application using a different browser or device that was not previously used, generating a new Anonymized Whatfix ID for the new browser or device.

• The underlying application clears the local storage, removing the existing Anonymized Whatfix ID.

User ID

• Whatfix also uses User IDs to uniquely identify users within an application.

• Configure User IDs to be picked from the application or use the user information stored in the organization’s Single Sign-on (SSO) to uniquely identify users in an application. For more information, see Configure User Identification Rules.

• To ensure accurate tracking, the User ID must remain unchanged when the user interacts with an application.

• Different applications may or may not have the same User ID. However, Whatfix requires the same User IDs to be available across applications to track users and analyze their behavior on various applications.

The following are the two ways in which User IDs can be configured:

Configure custom User Identification Rules:

If your application captures user information through the login status, Whatfix enables you to configure custom User Identification Rules using the Whatfix user interface (UI) in Advanced Customization without using code.

For more information, see Configure User Identification Rules.

Note:

• If you've used Advanced Customization (AC) code to set up User identification, Whatfix recommends removing the AC code after setting up User identification rules using the Whatfix UI.

• If User identification is configured using both the AC code and the Whatfix UI, the AC code takes precedence over the UI configuration.

Configure User Identification using SSO:

Whatfix supports End User Authentication, wherein end users authenticate with valid credentials using their organization’s SSO before accessing Whatfix content.

Use the same user information stored by Single Sign-On (SSO) providers as unique user identifiers. This ensures that all end users possess a unique identifier across multiple applications for accurate identification. For more information on enabling User Identification using SSO, contact support@whatfix.com.

Note:

If you've used Advanced Customization (AC) code to set up User identification, Whatfix recommends removing the AC code after setting up User identification rules using the Whatfix UI.

If User identification is configured using both the AC code and the Whatfix UI, the AC code takes precedence over the UI configuration.

Consider a user accessing an application for the first time, and Whatfix is unable to identify the user or map them to a User ID initially. The user logs in a second time. How does Whatfix identify this user and track their behavior across sessions within the application?

Note:

A session usually starts when a user accesses the site and ends when the user leaves or is inactive for more than 30 minutes.

In this scenario, Whatfix uses User Unification to merge the user’s engagement data from different sessions if it cannot identify the user initially. This mechanism ensures that the user’s engagement within the application during different sessions maps to a User ID, even if they log in anonymously with Whatfix initially.

What happens when User Unification is enabled:

• Whatfix maps the user’s engagement events to an Anonymized Whatfix ID if the user is initially unidentified.

• If Whatfix identifies the user later, it maps only the subsequent end-user engagement events to the User ID.

What happens when User Unification is not enabled:

If Whatfix tracks a user initially using an Anonymized Whatfix ID and later identifies the user with a User ID, it maps all the past and future recorded engagement data tracked using the Anonymized Whatfix ID to the identified User ID. The process ensures that all behavioral data, including past anonymous engagements are merged and mapped to a single user.

Note:

Unification occurs every 8 hours. Once an Anonymized Whatfix ID is linked to a User ID, any captured events received with that Anonymized Whatfix ID is linked to the identified User ID in 8 hours.e

First time users:

When a user logs in to the application for the first time, Whatfix generates an Anonymized Whatfix ID for them. The Anonymized Whatfix ID is stored in the browser’s local storage, and all events are mapped to this ID.

Returning users:

If the same user returns to the application later, within the same day or after several days, Whatfix reuses the stored Anonymized Whatfix ID. This enables Whatfix to recognize that the same user or device is accessing the application again.

If the browser’s local storage is cleared, Whatfix considers the user as a first time user and generates a new Anonymized Whatfix ID for them.

Identified users:

When a user is identified through their User ID, Whatfix links their Anonymized Whatfix ID to their User ID and tracks all engagement using both identifiers.

• The User ID is stored in the browser’s local storage and remains until a new User ID is detected or the storage is cleared.

• If Whatfix finds a new User ID, it replaces the existing one, and tracks the future engagement data under the new ID.

• If the local storage is cleared, a new Anonymized Whatfix ID is generated and sent until the user is identified again.

• If User Unification is enabled, Whatfix merges the past engagements from the Anonymized Whatfix ID with the identified User ID.

  Note:

  When a user accesses the application from different browsers or devices, or if the browser’s local storage is cleared, Whatfix generates a new Anonymized Whatfix ID each time. As a result, a single user may have multiple Anonymized Whatfix IDs. With User Unification enabled, Whatfix merges these Anonymized Whatfix IDs into a single User ID, provided that each Anonymized ID has at least one event linked to the User ID.