Knowledge Base Article

Aurora Analytics Metric Definitions

This article provides definitions for all the metrics available in Aurora Analytics.

Aurora Analytics approximates user behavior and therefore these metrics exclude almost all nonhuman requests (Web crawlers, robots, RSS feeds, REST API calls). 

About how Community visit metrics are calculated 

When viewing visits metrics, you might see small variants in the reported numbers. This is expected when you compare visits metric for a period within a month versus a sum of months in that period. The main reasons for these differences include:

  • Overlapping visits across months

    "Visits" are defined as the number of unique user sessions. A session is defined as a group of interactions one user takes within a given time frame. Sessions time out in the case of 30-minute inactivity.

    Assume someone browsed through a community during the last hour of a month (Month-1) and continued browsing through the first hour of next month (Month-2). In this scenario:
    • When we measure visits for Month 1, this session is counted as 1 visit. 
    • When we measure visits for Month 2, this session is counted as 1 visit.

So, when you sum up visits for Month 1 and Month 2, you see 2 total visits, whereas, if you measure visits over the 2-month period, this session is counted as a single visit.

  • Algorithm approximation

    "Visits" and "visitors" metrics are an approximation algorithm in their calculations. As such, there might be a 1-2% variance in the calculations. Elastic search documentation mentions that sometimes the variance could be up to 6%. 

Aurora Analytics metrics and definitions

Widget/Metrics

Definition

Page Views

A page view is counted each time a browser requests a page regardless of the device type or whether the page is cached. Page Views approximate user behavior and therefore exclude non-human requests (web crawlers, bots, RSS feeds, REST API calls).

Page Views (Trend graph)

Page Views trend graph is a line graph that shows how the Page Views are trending for the selected time frame.

Visits

A visit is one or more page views over time by a uniquely identified visitor.

A cookie set in the browser identifies visitors (anonymous or registered), so if a visitor has cookies turned off, each page view counts as a new visit. The visit counter increments as soon as the visitor views any community page; the visit ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. After the 30-minute timeout, the next page view counts as a new visit. The Mobile Visits metric is a subset of the Visits metric and includes requests from mobile web browsers only.

Unique Visitors

The number of unique visitors over the specified time interval. When a visitor (registered or anonymous) views a page, the application looks for a visitor cookie. If no cookie is found, a new cookie is created, and the visitor counts as a new unique visitor. If a visitor cookie is found, the Unique Visitor counter is not incremented.

If cookies are cleared after a visit, the next visit sets a new cookie and counts a new unique visitor. Since cookies are browser dependent, so are unique visitors. Users who access the community from different browsers count as a unique visitor. The Mobile Unique Visitors metric is a subset of the Unique Visitors metric and includes visitors who used mobile web browsers only over the specified time interval.

Page Views /Visit

The average number of Page Views per Visit for the time frame selected.

Visits vs. Unique Visitors

The trend of the number of visits to the community site against the number of unique visitors for the selected time frame.

Visits by User Type

The number of visits made by anonymous users and signed-in users. Anonymous users also refer to community members who have not logged in. Learn more about Visits by User Type.

Visit Referrals

The number of community visits that originated from specific URL domains. This metric helps you understand how much traffic is coming in from different search engines, social networks, or links on your company website.

Completed Registrations

The number of member registrations completed during the selected time period (excludes partial/abandoned registrations).

A registration is considered complete when the visitor finishes the sign-up flow and is given a unique user ID. If the visitor leaves the sign-up flow before being granted their unique user ID, the registration is considered to be abandoned, and the completed registration counter is not incremented. If the community uses Single Sign On (SSO), Khoros increments the completed registration count the first time it receives an authentication token that contains a unique User ID.

Partial Registrations

The number of user registrations abandoned during the selected time period.

Completed and Partial Registrations

The line graph shows how the completed and partial registrations are trending over the selected time frame.

DAU/MAU

DAU (Daily Active Users) is the number of unique members who engage with the community in a one-day window. MAU (Monthly Active Users) is the number of unique members who engage with the community over a month or 30-day window. The ratio of DAU to MAU is the proportion of monthly active members who engage with the community in a single day window.

Member Time on Site

The Member Time metric indicates the total number of minutes from first page request to last page request for each visit of all registered members in your community during the date range of the report. Member time does not capture the time of actions, such as likes, unless the member requests a new page after the action. Nor does it include the last 30 minutes after the last page request before the session times out. Member time is calculated from the time of the first page request, such that a session that started at 11:50pm on day 1 and ending at 12:15am on day 2 is counted as member time for day 1.

New vs. Returning Members

New members are members who have never visited the community and are visiting for the first time. Returning members are members who have visited the community before. This line graph shows the trend of new and returning members over the selected time frame.

Note that this widget will show data for the last 30 days only, irrespective of the selected date range. Depending on the time range you choose in the dashboard settings, you may get partial data or no data.

New vs. Returning Anonymous Users

When a user views the community without signing in, the community looks for cookies saved on their device. If there is no cookie present, then the user is treated as a New Anonymous User. If cookies are present, then the user is treated as a Returning Anonymous User. Since members can also view the community without signing in, they are also considered Anonymous.

Note that this widget will show data for the last 30 days only, irrespective of the selected date range. Depending on the time range you choose in the dashboard settings, you may get partial data or no data.

Forum

This widget shows the engagement on the selected Place for the date range selected. Shows the number and trend line of the number of discussions created, number of likes received, number of replies for the time frame and selected Place. Click View Details for further insights. 

Blog

This widget shows the engagement on the selected Blog for the date range selected. Shows the number and trend line of the number of posts created, number of likes received, and the number of comments for the time frame and selected Place. Click View Details for further insights. 

Knowledge Base

This widget shows the engagement on the selected Knowledge Base for the date range selected. Shows the number and trend line of the number of articles created, number of likes received, and the number of comments for the time frame and selected Place. Click View Details for further insights. 

Places - Follows

The total number of followers for the selected Place.

Topics - Follows

The total number of followers for the selected Content.

Observing vs. Participating vs. Contributing

This widget shows the engagement between members who are observing, participating and contributing in the community for the place and time frame selected.

Observing members are those who have signed into the community and their engagement is limited only to viewing the contents.

Participating members are those who reply or like posts in the community.

Contributing members are those who create content or provide solutions in the community.

Private Messages

This widget shows the number of private messages sent, its trend line and the messages per conversation in the community for the time frame selected.

Messages sent

The number of private messages sent from the inbox by all the community members during the selected time frame.

Messages sent (trend graph)

The trend line graph showing the number of private messages sent from the inbox by all the community members during the selected time period.

Discussions

The number of Discussions in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

Likes

The number of likes received for the Discussions and replies in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

Replies

The number of replies received for the Discussions in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

Engagement

Shows the trend line for number of Discussions, likes, and replies in the Place during the selected time period in Forums Details.

Shows the trend line for number of Blog posts, likes, and comments in the Place during the selected time period in Blogs Details.

Shows the trend line for number of articles, likes, and replies in the Place during the selected time period in Knowledge Base Details.

Shows the trend line for number of ideas, votes, and comments in the Place during the selected time period in Ideas Board Details.

Time to First Reply

The time taken (average) for Discussions in the selected Place to receive its first reply after it has been initially submitted. It is typically measured from the moment the Discussion is published to the moment someone replies to it. 

First Replies

The total number of first comments on all the Discussions in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

If for the selected time frame there are 10 Discussions in the selected Place, and only 4 have received a reply, then the total number of first replies is 4.

If for the selected time frame there are 10 Discussions in the selected Place and only 1 Discussion has replies, even if that one Discussion has 5 total replies, the First Replies is 1. 

Marked As Solved

The number of Discussion replies that are marked as an accepted solution for the selected Place and for the selected time frame. There is only 1 solution per Discussion. 

Marked As Solved Trend

Shows the trend line for the number of replies that are marked as an accepted solution for the forums in the selected Place and for the selected time frame.

Time to Solution

The average time taken for the replies in Discussions for the selected Place to be marked as an accepted solution. It is measured from the moment the Discussion is posted until one of its replies is marked as an accepted solution.

Solution Views

A count of page views of Discussions with an accepted solution after the Discussion has had a reply marked as an accepted solution.

Forum - Follows

The total number of followers for the selected Forum during the time frame selected.

Discussions - Follows

The total number of followers for the Discussions in the selected Place during the time frame selected.

New and Trending Discussions

The total number of new Discussions and trending Discussions in the Forum selected during the selected time frame. The metric values for Trending Discussions depends on the minimum number of views set in the Engagement dashboard settings.

Posts

The number of blog posts in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

Comments (for Blogs and Ideas)

The number of comments the blog posts or Ideas in the selected Place received during the selected time frame.

Articles

The number of Knowledge Base articles in the selected Place during the selected time frame.

Blog - Follows

 

The total number of followers for the Blog  in the selected Place during the time frame selected.

Posts - Follows

The total number of followers for the Blog posts in the selected Place during the time frame selected.

Knowledge Base - Follows

The total number of followers for the Knowledge Bases  in the selected Place during the time frame selected.

Article - Follows

The total number of followers for the Knowledge Bases articles in the selected Place during the time frame selected.

TTFR

Time to First Reply

TTFS

Time to First Solution

Helpful Votes

The number of votes the Knowledge Base board or article received stating that they were helpful.

Unhelpful Votes

The number of votes the Knowledge Base board or article received stating that they were unhelpful.

Members Joined

The number of members who joined the Group.

Members Left

The number of members who left the Group.

Invitations Sent

The number of invitations sent to members to join the Group.

Invitations Accepted

The number of invitations that were accepted by members to join the Group.

Ideas Snapshot (widget)

This widget contains the metrics related to Ideas Board. The metrics are number of ideas, number of comments received, number of votes received during the selected time period for the Place selected.

Ideas

Total number of ideas created during the selected time period for the selected Place.

Votes

Total number of votes received during the selected time period for the selected Place.

Lead-up to the Event.

This widget shows metrics on all the activities that occurred on the event before it started. 

 

Note:

In Classic Analytics, a summation of all posts in the community (root topics and replies across discussion styles) is presented as the 'Posts' metric in the Categories report. However,  in Aurora Analytics, the root topics and replies across content types (Forums, KB, Blog, Idea and Events) are presented as specific/independent metrics, instead of adding them together and presenting as 'Posts' metric. 

Related topics:

Updated 26 days ago
Version 11.0
  • What is defined as "engaging in the community"? Viewing a page? Logging in? Posting?

    Also would love to see a simple way for Classic admins to pull MAU. I'm shocked it's not there in the analytics, since it is a very basic metric that Community Managers use to justify their teams (and ahem PLATFORM EXPENSES).

  • 'Engaging in the community' refers to viewing a page in the community, in the context of DAU/MAU. 

    MAU or Monthly Active Users is the #unique members (both logged-in and not logged-in) in a month. In Classic, we don't have a like-to-like metric representing the #unique members visiting community in a month. One way to compute this metric in LSI (Classic Analytics) is to use to the Unique Visitors metric in the 'Traffic' tab for a period of 30 days, after excluding the anonymous visitor count. Anonymous visitors can be excluded by applying the filter 'User Name ≠ Anonymous'.