Creating tracking plans - Tag Insight Documentation

Overview

A tracking plan is your source of truth for data collection. It defines what events should be tracked, which variables they contain, and what values are expected. Tag Insight makes creating and maintaining tracking plans simple and efficient.

Creating your first tracking plan

Navigate to tracking plans

From your project dashboard, click Tracking Plans in the navigation

Click new tracking plan

Select + New Tracking Plan to start the creation process

Configure basic settings

Name: Give your tracking plan a descriptive name
Description: Add details about its purpose
Template: Choose a starting template or start from scratch

Add events

Begin adding events that you want to track

Understanding events

Events represent user interactions or system occurrences that you want to track.

Event structure

Each event contains:

Event Name: The identifier (e.g., page_view, add_to_cart)
Description: What this event represents
Variables: The data points captured with this event
Trigger Conditions: When this event should fire

Common event types

Page views
E-commerce
User actions

{
  event: 'page_view',
  page_title: 'Product Detail Page',
  page_category: 'products',
  page_path: '/products/blue-shirt'
}

{
  event: 'add_to_cart',
  ecommerce: {
    items: [{
      item_id: 'SKU123',
      item_name: 'Blue Shirt',
      price: 29.99,
      quantity: 1
    }]
  }
}

{
  event: 'form_submit',
  form_name: 'newsletter_signup',
  form_position: 'footer',
  user_email: '[email protected]'
}

Adding events to your tracking plan

Method 1: Manual creation

Click add event

In your tracking plan, click + Add Event

Fill event details

Event Name: Use snake_case (e.g., product_view)
Event Label: Human-readable name
Description: Detailed explanation of when this fires
Category: Group related events together

Add variables

For each variable in the event:

Click + Add Variable
Set variable name, type, and validation rules

Save event

Review and save your event configuration

Method 2: Using templates

Tag Insight provides pre-built templates for common implementations:

Google Analytics 4

Standard GA4 e-commerce and engagement events

Enhanced e-commerce

Complete e-commerce tracking setup

Media & publishing

Content engagement and reading time events

SaaS applications

User lifecycle and feature usage events

To use a template:

Select Templates when creating a tracking plan
Choose your template
Customize events and variables as needed
Save your tracking plan

Method 3: AI-powered import

Use the Detect Tracking Plan feature to automatically discover existing events:

This method requires the Tag Insight pixel to be installed on your site.

Install pixel

Ensure the Tag Insight pixel is active on your site

Start detection

Click Detect Tracking Plan and set duration

Browse your site

Navigate through your site to trigger events

Import results

Review detected events and import selected ones

Configuring variables

Variables are the individual data points within each event.

Variable properties

For each variable, configure:

Basic properties

Name: The variable key (e.g., product_id)
Display Name: Human-readable label
Description: What this variable represents
Data Type: String, Number, Boolean, Object, or Array

Validation rules

Required/Optional: Whether the variable must be present
Format: Regex patterns for validation
Allowed Values: Specific values or ranges
Default Value: What to use if not provided

Advanced settings

Anonymize: Mask sensitive data
Transform: Apply transformations before validation
Custom Validation: JavaScript validation functions

Variable types and validation

String
Number
Boolean
Object

{
  name: "product_category",
  type: "string",
  required: true,
  pattern: "^[a-z_]+$",
  maxLength: 50,
  allowedValues: ["electronics", "clothing", "home", "sports"]
}

{
  name: "price",
  type: "number",
  required: true,
  min: 0,
  max: 10000,
  decimalPlaces: 2
}

{
  name: "is_logged_in",
  type: "boolean",
  required: true,
  default: false
}

{
  name: "user",
  type: "object",
  required: false,
  properties: {
    id: { type: "string", required: true },
    type: { type: "string", enum: ["guest", "member", "premium"] }
  }
}

Organization features

Event library

Build a reusable library of events:

Create library events

Define common events at the organization level

Set standards

Establish naming conventions and required variables

Import to projects

Use library events across multiple projects

Maintain Consistency

Updates to library events can cascade to projects

Version control

Tag Insight automatically versions your tracking plans:

Auto-save: Changes are saved automatically
Version History: View and restore previous versions
Change Tracking: See who made what changes when
Comparison: Compare versions side-by-side

Best practices

Naming conventions

Event Names

Use snake_case: product_view, not ProductView
Be descriptive: checkout_step_completed, not step
Include context: video_play_started, not just play

Variable Names

Consistent prefixes: page_, user_, product_
Clear purpose: total_price_usd, not amount
Avoid abbreviations: quantity, not qty

Documentation

Always document:

When: Exact conditions that trigger the event
Where: Which pages or features fire the event
Why: Business purpose of tracking this data
Examples: Sample data layer outputs

Progressive enhancement

Start Simple

Begin with critical business events only

Validate

Ensure basic tracking works perfectly

Expand Gradually

Add more detailed tracking over time

Review Regularly

Audit and clean up unused events quarterly

Importing existing plans

From Excel/CSV

Download Template

Get our Excel template from the import dialog

Fill Template

Add your events and variables following the format

Upload File

Drag and drop or browse to select your file

Map Columns

Match your columns to Tag Insight fields

Review and Import

Preview the import and confirm

From other tools

Tag Insight supports importing from:

Google Sheets
Segment Protocols
Adobe Data Layer Manager
Custom JSON formats

Contact support for help migrating from other tracking plan tools.

Validation and testing

Pre-implementation validation

Before implementing:

Review all events and variables
Check for naming consistency
Verify validation rules make sense
Test with sample data

Post-implementation testing

After implementation:

Use the Chrome extension to capture real data
Compare against your tracking plan
Run test audits
Adjust validation rules as needed

Common patterns

E-commerce tracking plan

// Product Interactions
- product_viewed
- product_added_to_cart
- product_removed_from_cart

// Checkout Process
- checkout_started
- checkout_step_completed
- payment_info_entered

// Purchase
- purchase_completed
- order_confirmed

// Post-Purchase
- product_reviewed
- product_returned

Content site tracking plan

// Content Engagement
- article_viewed
- article_read_progress
- article_shared
- comment_posted

// Navigation
- search_performed
- category_browsed
- tag_clicked

// User Actions
- newsletter_subscribed
- account_created
- preference_updated

Next steps

Import Methods

Learn about automated import options

Variable Configuration

Deep dive into variable setup and validation

Setting Up Audits

Start monitoring your tracking plan

Best Practices

Learn tracking plan design best practices

Getting started

Platform overview

Tracking plans

Monitoring & audits

Implementation

​Overview

​Creating your first tracking plan

​Understanding events

​Event structure

​Common event types

​Adding events to your tracking plan

​Method 1: Manual creation

​Method 2: Using templates

Google Analytics 4

Enhanced e-commerce

Media & publishing

SaaS applications

​Method 3: AI-powered import

​Configuring variables

​Variable properties

​Variable types and validation

​Organization features

​Event library

​Version control

​Best practices

​Naming conventions

​Documentation

​Progressive enhancement

​Importing existing plans

​From Excel/CSV

​From other tools

​Validation and testing

​Pre-implementation validation

​Post-implementation testing

​Common patterns

​E-commerce tracking plan

​Content site tracking plan

​Next steps

Import Methods

Variable Configuration

Setting Up Audits

Best Practices

Overview

Creating your first tracking plan

Understanding events

Event structure

Common event types

Adding events to your tracking plan

Method 1: Manual creation

Method 2: Using templates

Method 3: AI-powered import

Configuring variables

Variable properties

Variable types and validation

Organization features

Event library

Version control

Best practices

Naming conventions

Documentation

Progressive enhancement

Importing existing plans

From Excel/CSV

From other tools

Validation and testing

Pre-implementation validation

Post-implementation testing

Common patterns

E-commerce tracking plan

Content site tracking plan

Next steps