Piwik analytics, custom variables and reporting

General questions
1

I am logging some custom variables via the javascript tracker (which unimportant for this question most likely).

I can see the variables and their values in the Custom Variables section of my Piwik site so I know they are recording.

When I create a report however it generates something with just the names of my variables. I don’t see any aggregation or mention of the actual values for the custom variables. Is something that I can get out of the box or am I going to have to dig into the reporting api?

2

Click on the row where the Custom Variable names are reported. Then it loads the custom variable value. Or you can also “Flatten” the report. See: Custom Variables Analytics - Analytics Platform - Matomo

3

I don’t see where the docs talk about flattening the report. I am using Piwik 2.4.0. I have heard that there is a cog to click but I don’t see it. What am I missing?

4

OK I figured this out. The functionality I am asking about is NOT (as far as I can tell) in the reporting area at all. Here’s how to get the custom variable names AND values:

  1. Load the Custom Variables dashboard widget.
  2. If you hover over the dashboard widget you will see an icon that looks like 2 squares overlapping each other. The hover label reads ‘Maximise’. Click it.
  3. The widget should now be in a modal window. In the lower right there is a gear icon. Click it and select ‘Make it flat’. This causes the report to include the data when you export it.
  4. In the lower left of the modal dialog there are a series of icons. The last icon looks like a box with an arrow in it pointing right. The hover label reads ‘Export this data in other formats’. Click this and export. The variable names AND values should be there.

Phew!

5

Ok thanks for feedback. I now realise that something is confusing (it’s not easy to see that icons in the footer can be displayed on click).

In the dashboard, custom variables widget, you can hover in the footer. Here there is an icon that you can click. ON click it will show other icons. Then click on the cog icon and then “make it flat”. It should flatten the report in the dashboard.