Administration, User Management, and Troubleshooting
Administration covers user management, product profiles, permissions, and report suite settings. Know that product profiles bundle permissions and are assigned through the Admin Console; user groups and login company settings control access. Understand report suite access and component permissions (e.g., who can create calculated metrics or segments).
Troubleshooting is diagnostic: verify data collection (tag firing, image request), processing (VISTA rules, processing rules), and reporting (segment logic, attribution, date range). Use debugger tools and raw data feeds to confirm what was sent versus what is reported. Know common causes of data discrepancies: bot filtering, internal URL filters, time zone, currency, and segment scope.
Traps
- Assuming a missing metric is a tracking failure when a segment or curation is hiding it.
- Forgetting that processing rules can alter or drop values after collection.
- Overlooking time zone differences between the report suite and a stakeholder's expectation.
- Confusing product profile permissions with report suite access - both are required.
Rule of thumb
Troubleshoot in order: was it sent? (debugger/raw feed) → was it processed? (rules/VISTA) → was it reported? (segment, attribution, date range). Fix the earliest failure first.
Worked example: A campaign report shows zero. The debugger confirms the eVar is sent. A processing rule overwrites the value, so reported data is blank. Correcting the rule resolves the discrepancy without touching the tag.