Creating and using events

Events (also commonly referred to as goals or conversions) allow you to track actions that visitors take on your site. For example, button clicks, form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, and even e-commerce conversions like starting a free trial or buying a product could all be events that you're able to track.

Events currently include one required variable (the event name) and supports one optional parameter:

1. Required: the event name (set in code on your site; see below examples)
2. Optional: options object (supported value: _value)

Always make sure that you add the event code after your Fathom script to ensure the script is loaded first. We also do not track events locally, as they require https/http to function.

You also cannot rename an event once it’s been created and fired off to your dashboard but you can easily change the event name you're sending us from your code.

Here's how to track various events and conversions in Fathom

• Track link clicks
• Track external link clicks
• Track page load conversions
• Track 404/error pages
• Track ecommerce conversions
• Track form submissions

Watch a video tutorial on simple events.

Allowed event names

You can name your event any name you want, but avoid special characters and emojis. Event names can be anything, but most importantly, they need to be something you (and your team) can easily and instantly recognize - so you know what each event conversion means.

Example code for events

Here’s an example of how events are programmed into your site:

fathom.trackEvent('cart add', {
  _value: 100, // Value in cents
});

Here’s an example of a simple event without a value:

fathom.trackEvent('newsletter signup');

Changing how conversions are calculated

You can update how conversions are calculated in your site settings. From your dashboard, go to: Settings > Click on your site name > Locate Event Conversion Formula setting in the list

By default, the conversion rate is based on Page views: Event completions / total Page views

If you switch the setting to People, the formula changes to: Event completions / total People

This lets you customise how conversions are measured based on your specific goals.

Deleting and blocking events

If you need to delete a specific event, you have a couple of options:

• Delete: Simply delete the event and its data.
• Delete and block: Delete the event data and prevent data being collected for the event in the future. You can unblock the event at any time, but this will not restore the deleted data.

To find these options, go to your dashboard and scroll down to the Events box. Click the Manage events button to open the Event settings page. Find the event in the list, click the ellipsis button next to its name, and select either Delete or Delete and block.

If you've blocked an event and want to unblock it, go to the Blocked Events section at the bottom of the Event settings page, where you'll find the option to unblock it.

Using events with GTM (Google Tag Manager)

If you're looking for ways to use Fathom events in GTM, take a look at our tailored examples for GTM in our GTM documentation.