Custom events

A custom event is any action on your site that Trace doesn't already know about on its own — clicking a "Sign up" button, submitting a form via JavaScript, upgrading a plan, completing step 2 of a wizard. Pageviews are tracked automatically; anything else needs you to tell Trace it happened.

Once an event is firing, its name shows up on the Events page and can be used as a goal, as a funnel step (through a goal) and as an alert trigger.

Send a custom eventCopy Anchor Link

Call the global datafast function with a name for the action and, optionally, properties that describe it:

window.datafast("signup");

// with properties
window.datafast("signup", {
  plan: "pro",
  billing: "yearly",
  source: "pricing-page",
});

• The first argument is the event name — there's no separate "event type" wrapper. This is the name you match against in a goal.
• The second argument is optional properties attached to that one event. Properties become breakdowns you can open and filter by.

Pick short, stable names in one style (signup, checkout_started) — every distinct name is its own row, so Signup and signup count separately. Put the variable part in a property, not in the name.

Without writing JavaScriptCopy Anchor Link

ClicksCopy Anchor Link

Add data-fast-goal to any clickable element and a click (or Enter/Space on it) sends that event. Extra data-fast-goal-* attributes become its properties; dashes in the property name become underscores.

<button data-fast-goal="signup" data-fast-goal-plan="pro">
  Start free trial
</button>

Elements scrolled into viewCopy Anchor Link

data-fast-scroll on an element sends an event when the element scrolls into view.

<section
  data-fast-scroll="pricing_seen"
  data-fast-scroll-threshold="0.5"
  data-fast-scroll-delay="1000"
>
  …
</section>

The event also carries scroll_percentage (how far down the page the visitor was), threshold and delay. If the element leaves the viewport and comes back, it can fire again. Elements added to the page later are picked up automatically.

Tracked automaticallyCopy Anchor Link

These arrive with no code from you. Each is listed on the Events page under its own name.

Links to your own site — including other subdomains of the same domain, and hostnames listed in data-allowed-hostnames — aren't outbound, so they aren't counted.

Reserved namesCopy Anchor Link

These names have a special meaning and can't be used for your own events:

LimitsCopy Anchor Link

If a call breaks the rules for property names or count, the whole event is dropped rather than stored partly.

FAQCopy Anchor Link

My event isn't showing upCopy Anchor Link

• Tracking is off on localhost and file:// unless you add data-allow-localhost="true" or data-allow-file-protocol="true".
• A call that breaks the limits above is dropped whole — turn on data-debug to see why.
• Check the date range and filters at the top of the page: the event has to fall inside both.
• Switch the event log to Realtime and trigger the event: it should appear within a couple of seconds.
• Open your browser's network tab and trigger the action: you should see a request go out. If nothing fires, the call isn't reachable from your code path, or it runs before the script loads and isn't queued.

Can I rename an event after I've been sending it?Copy Anchor Link

Not automatically — goals match the exact event name. If you rename it in your code, update any goal using the old name too.

Can I use an event as a goal or a funnel step?Copy Anchor Link

Yes — create a goal of type Custom event with the event's name (or external_link, file_download, form_submission or payment for the automatic ones) in Settings → Goals, then use that goal as a funnel step.

Do bots show up in events?Copy Anchor Link

No. Known crawlers are kept on the Bots page, and automated browsers are ignored before anything is sent.