The Advanced Settings dialog available from the Metrics page allows you to specify some complex details about when the Metric is triggered.
Preview Settings
Do not apply Campaign-related Site Variations: This option suppresses the display of any active Site Variations when you preview this Metric. Site Variations are usually included by default when Previewing.
Do not apply QuickChanges: This option determines whether SiteSpect also displays any Variation that is set to apply to all traffic when you preview the Metric. QuickChanges are included by default when Previewing.
Sequence
When a user's request matches more than one Variation or Metric, the Sequence determines the order in which the individual Variation is applied or the Metric matches. Variations and Metrics with lower Sequence numbers are considered before those with higher Priority numbers. The Priority value must be within the range of -100 to 100.
By default, Metrics have a Sequence of 10 and Variations have a Sequence of 50. This means that SiteSpect counts Metrics before applying any Variations to the user's current request.
In addition, for Origin Campaigns, the Sequence determines the order in which the values appear in the Affinity Cookie.
Visit Rating
A Visit Rating is an integer value associated with each user's visit. The Visit Rating starts at zero when the user's visit starts and changes if a Variation or Metric matches whose New Visit Rating value is not zero. Visit Ratings ensure that a Metric is not triggered unless the visitor sees particular Variation first.
Required:
The Required Visit Rating specifies the minimum Visit Rating that a user must 127. For example, a Required Visit Rating value of 5 means that the user's rating must be greater than or equal to 5 for the Variation to be applied. A Required Visit Rating of zero matches any existing rating value.
New Visit:
The New Visit Rating specifies the new value for a user's Visit Rating when a Variation matches. Acceptable values are integers in the range -127 to 127. No change is made to the Visit Rating if the New Visit Rating is set to zero.
Count Visitors Who Trigger this Metric
Count Visitors Who Trigger This Metric determines whether or not a user is counted in a Campaign after seeing this Variation. The default is Yes. By setting this parameter to No, users who see this Variation are not counted (although they may still be counted by seeing another Variation whose Count Users Who See This Variation is set to Yes).
Ordinarily, a user who has been assigned to a Campaign must see at least one Variation (or Control) before being counted toward the results. SiteSpect does this to keep the Campaign's data as pure as possible; users who are assigned to a Campaign but don't ever view a Variation are not counted.
In special circumstances, you may want set this value to No to prevent a user from being counted if they have seen the Variations. For example, if a Variation exists solely to rewrite a URL link (href) to any of several alternate target pages, the act of rewriting the URL link should not cause the user to be counted. However, in this example, we recommend creating a Variation that triggers on the target page (even if the Search Text and Replacement Text are empty), so that the user is counted.
Data Points
Data Points specify how data from visits is reported.
Total: Tracks the total number of times a visitor triggers the Metric during a visit. The number is reported as a range of values. For example, a Metric that matches a "successful add to shopping cart" tracks the number of times that each visitor adds something to their cart. Within reports, the average Total indicates the average number of times that the Metric was hit per visit.
Uniques: Tracks whether or not the Metric was hit during a visit. Any visit including at least one hit to the Metric will have a Uniques value of 1; otherwise the value will be 0. Within reports, the average Uniques indicates the average number of visits during which the Metric was hit at least once.