Sessions

A session is a record of a single visitor’s journey through a guide — from the moment they load it to the moment they see results (or leave). The session browser lets you inspect individual journeys, see what each visitor selected, and review any lead data they submitted. The session browser is a Pro feature.

What a session contains

Each session stores:

• Guide — Which guide the visitor interacted with.
• Status — Started (in progress), Completed (reached results), or Abandoned.
• Selections — The visitor’s choice at each step, stored with the step title and a human-readable label (e.g. “Choose Your Budget: $0–$500”).
• Lead data — If the guide includes a Lead Form step, the submitted name, email, and any custom fields.
• Result IDs — Which posts matched the visitor’s filters.
• Timestamps — When the session started, when it was last synced, and when it was completed.

How sessions are created

A session is created automatically when a visitor loads a guide on the frontend. The visitor is identified by a hashed fingerprint (user agent + language) — no cookies or login required. The session ID is stored in the browser’s localStorage so that returning to the same guide resumes the session instead of creating a new one.

The frontend syncs session data (current step and selections) to the server every 30 seconds. It also syncs immediately when the visitor completes a step or submits a lead form.

Session browser

Navigate to the Sessions tab in the analytics dashboard. The table shows all sessions with these columns:

• Guide — The guide title.
• Status — A badge showing Started, Completed, or Abandoned.
• Steps — How many steps the visitor completed.
• Started — When the session began.
• Lead — A badge showing “Yes” if the visitor submitted a lead form, or a dash if not.
• Actions — A View button to open the session detail.

Filtering sessions

A dropdown above the table lets you filter by status:

• All Sessions
• In Progress — Visitors currently navigating the guide.
• Completed — Visitors who reached the results page.
• Abandoned — Sessions that were never completed.
• With Lead Data — Only sessions that include a submitted lead form.

You can also filter by a specific guide and date range using the filters at the top of the analytics dashboard.

Session detail

Click View on any session to open a detail modal with four sections:

1. Session info — Guide name, status badge, start time, and completion time (if completed).
2. Selections — A list of every selection the visitor made, shown as “Step Title: Selection Label” for each step.
3. Lead data — If a lead form was submitted, all form fields with their labels and values.
4. Event timeline — A chronological log of all tracked events (guide started, step completed, form submitted, guide completed) with timestamps and details.

Session statuses

• Started — The default status when a session is created. Stays active as long as the visitor is navigating.
• Completed — Set when the visitor reaches the results page. This is the “success” state.
• Abandoned — Sessions that were started but never completed. Useful for spotting where visitors drop off.

Privacy considerations

Sessions are identified by a SHA-256 hash — not by personal data. IP address and user agent tracking are off by default and can be enabled in GuideForms → Settings if needed. If you’re collecting lead data via a form, make sure your privacy policy covers it and consider adding a consent checkbox to the lead form.

Next steps

• Leads — View and manage submitted lead form data.
• Analytics Overview — Dashboard stats, charts, and selection analytics.