Create an ID Collector

An ID Collector targets and collects the value of a cookie, JavaScript variable, HTML element, or URL query parameter that identifies a customer across devices and domains. It is a link in the chain connecting site visitors, Customer Attributes datasets, and experiences. For more info on finding ID Collectors, refer to Client-Side ID Collectors.

Creating an ID Collector

Follow these steps to create an ID Collector.

1. Click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, and then select ID Collectors.

   

2. Click CREATE ID COLLECTORS to launch the version of Target Builder specific to this task.

   

3. Select the on-site identifier type that the ID Collector must collect, and then complete the fields as necessary for the specific type that you selected.
   • Cookie value: Collects a customer ID from one of the cookies on your site
   • JavaScript variable value: Collects a customer ID from a JavaScript variable on your site
   • HTML element content: Collects a customer ID based on the presence of specific DOM elements or the contents of DOM elements on your site
   • Query parameter value: Collects a customer ID from an email click-through to your site

   Ensure that the ID Collector is defined with a static name and with a single value. By default, ID Collectors look for the target type and then collect the entire value (for example, an entire cookie value or an entire JavaScript variable value), but sometimes the on-site identifier is only one part of a longer string (for example, in a delimited string or part of some name-value pair combo). To better ensure the ID Collector grabs the correct value, build a conditional operator on the Conditions tab that employs the Path starts with operator.

   For example, if your site uses a cookie to set an anonymous ID for every customer who arrives on the site, but it then changes that value to a customer ID when a customer logs in, you should only collect the cookie value tied to the login since it contains the ID. You would thus build an ID Collector condition in Target Builder that uses the Path starts with operator to only track the cookie on the login page.

   

4. Give the ID Collector a name and a description, then select the target type, and then click SAVE & RETURN.

   

The newly created ID Collector appears at the bottom of the table on the ID Collectors list page.

Editing an ID Collector

You can revise and add some settings for an ID Collector from the ID Collectors list page.

1. Click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, and then select ID Collectors.

   

2. Find the ID Collector that you want to edit.

   

3. Click the name of the ID Collector to access its ID Collector Quickview modal, on which you can take the following actions:
   • Rename the ID Collector by clicking the pencil icon.
   • Revise the description.
   • Select a different target type from Category, but do so only if the ID Collector was miscategorized when created.
   • Add an Identifier Name from Named Identifier so that the ID Collector can be linked to one or more Customer Attributes datasets.

     An Identifier Name is created when a Customer Attributes dataset is created. For more information, see Upload a Customer Attributes Dataset.

   • Revise the subcategory.

     

4. If necessary, set the collector priority for the ID Collectors that run on the same page on your site and are associated with the same Identifier Name.

   

Deleting an ID Collector

Follow these steps to delete an ID Collector.

1. Click COMPONENTS in the top navigation bar, and then select ID Collectors.

   

2. Click the name of the ID Collector that you want to delete to access its ID Collector Quickview modal.
3. Click DELETE.

   

4. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the ID Collector.

   

After you delete an ID Collector, Monetate removes it from any Identifier Names to which it was linked, which then impacts any experiences using any Customer Attributes datasets that were linked to the now-deleted ID Collector.