How to add Firebase custom events for analytics?

Question

I've seen some questions and answers about custom events for firebase analytics, but i just wanted to ask you a straight question so you can give me a straight answer :)

So, this is my method for logging:

@Override
public void logFeatureSelectedEvent(String categoryName, String actionName, String labelName) {
    Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
    bundle.putString(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.CATEGORY, categoryName);
    bundle.putString(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.ACTION, actionName);
    bundle.putString(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.LABEL, labelName);
    mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent(EventTrackingKeys.EventAnalyticTypes.FEATURE_SELECTED_EVENT, bundle);
}

with custom event/key names:

String CATEGORY = "category";
String ACTION = "action";
String LABEL = "label";
String FEATURE_SELECTED_EVENT = "feature_selected_event";

So, in my firebase console I only get event name "feature_selected_event", without custom parameter names.. I've seen some answers that i should call setUserProperty() method and register that user property in the User Properties tab of Firebase Analytics. Is this the right way to implement that method? :

   @Override
public void logFeatureSelectedEvent(String categoryName, String actionName, long value) {
    Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
    bundle.putString(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.CATEGORY, categoryName);
    bundle.putString(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.ACTION, actionName);
    bundle.putLong(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.VALUE, value);
    mFirebaseAnalytics.setUserProperty(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.CATEGORY, categoryName);
    mFirebaseAnalytics.setUserProperty(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.ACTION, actionName);
    mFirebaseAnalytics.setUserProperty(EventTrackingKeys.EventTypes.VALUE, value);
    mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent(EventTrackingKeys.EventAnalyticTypes.FEATURE_SELECTED_EVENT, bundle);
}

Allantoid

Answer 1

You can see it in console without any hacks, but it is pretty hidden there.

Go to Firebase Analytics -> Stream View -> Select Events -> Top events -> select_content -> there you go

My code:

Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("invalid_url", urlPart);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("eventInvalidUrl", params);

Refinement

This is only from the last 30 mins, so there's no other way to capture or visualize events data with specific bundle details? This service appears to be utterly useless. – Affra

use analytics.google to see events logged from firebase. – Forwardness

I used the same method of logging events. I see very few real events while most of these are 'not set' type. This is as per analytics report of 700+ users in 2 days. Anybody knows why? – Intelligibility

Answer 2

The custom parameters will not be shown. Only suggested events with suggested parameters are presented in dashboard.

To see the custom parameters, you have to link your project to Big Query (it's not free).

Also Firebase will not show information if the number of user is less than 10.

Excalibur

even though I had more than 10 users, Firebase did not show custom parameters' values, but it appeared when I had more event calls. – Sheathe

Answer 3

If you are still looking for answer, You need to add custom parameters into the event manually once in the dashboard Like this https://support.google.com/firebase/answer/7397304?hl=en&ref_topic=6317489 Actually there is no need to link BigQuery for this. But it will take several hours to show up custom parameter once you navigate inside the event.

Crandale

Answer 4

In Firebase, As i know we have to log the events in < Key,value > pair and then need to log.

Like this :

bundle.putString("yourKey","yourValue");

For Example, I have put the Custom event in MyApp to get the AppOpen time as below.

    Bundle params = new Bundle();
    params.putString("open_time", TimeStampUtil.getTimeStamp(System.currentTimeMillis()));
    mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("app_open_time", params);

so, in above example i have create a custom event with name app_open_time and put the value with key as open_time.

Try in this way and for more info refer this : https://firebase.google.com/docs/analytics/android/events

Suspicious

Yep, but did you get that "open time" property in your firebase console? From my example, I "have feature_selected_event" and count that says how many time that event occurred, which is shown in console, but i can't see what are the values for "category", "action" and "label". I was searching for an answer and saw that i should add setUserProperty() method and register those properties in console.. but i'm not really sure how to use that method... – Allantoid

No actually its not displayed in my app console too. may be its because its custom event. – Suspicious

@Allantoid see my answer – Excalibur

Are you sure? That's also what i read somewhere, but what's the point of using setUserProperty() method and registering user properties in firebase console then? – Allantoid

Will "app_open_time" be shown as the event name on the firebase console page like the other predefined event names like "app_remove" etc. What should be done if i want to show the custom event names on the console page? – Seawards

Yes @Rachana "app_open_time" shown as event name same as other default events. and as per Firebase Doc the values of the log event displays only if you have paid account, with the Free account user will only able to see the events times, count and user counts. – Suspicious

But i have implemented the analytics for ios also and there the full names of events are shown. Meaning with whatever events we have logged the events the same are reflected on console page. why is that android does not have this? any idea – Seawards

I really don't have any idea about iOS firebase analytic but as i also have implemented analytic in android apps and custom events it only shows me event names. – Suspicious

For accessing all the data(in your case the values part) that you log in Firebase Analytics.. you have to link firebase to use Google Big Query service that's not available for Free. #38695826 – Suspicious

TimeStampUtil.getTimeStamp(System.currentTimeMillis()) could that be replaced with Server TimeStamp ? – Engagement

Yes you can add any timestamp – Suspicious

Answer 5

Not only do you need to do what Muhammad Riyaz says, you also need to get your user count up above the "threshold". In my case, installing my app on a dozen simulator versions pushed my user count to 12, and voila, suddenly I have custom event parameter data in my Firebase dashboard.

Psychokinesis

Answer 6

Similar to @Josef Vancura answer, but in Kotlin:

val params = Bundle()
params.putString("invalid_url", urlPart)
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("eventInvalidUrl", params)

Carlsen

Answer 7

Fire a custom event:-

Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putString(variableName1, variableValue1);
bundle.putString(variableName2, variableValue2);
FirebaseAnalytics.getInstance(context).logEvent(event_name, bundle);

To view your custom events, open Firebase Console and go to Realtime Analytics and then scroll to bottom and check "Event count by Event name" section, you will find your event there.

Swaziland

Answer 8

To save an event on analytics :

 Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
 bundle.putString(FirebaseAnalytics.Param.ITEM_ID,your_event_detail);
 bundle.putString(FirebaseAnalytics.Param.ITEM_NAME,your_event_name);

FirebaseAnalytics.getInstance(context).logEvent(FirebaseAnalytics.Event.SELECT_CONTENT, bundle)

How long it takes for an event to appear in the report According to the offical documentation :

Data about an event appears in the report up to 24 hours from when the event was triggered on your website or app. To verify that Google Analytics has collected an event in the last 30 minutes, see the Event count by Event name card in the Realtime report.

Tonguelash