The s_code.js File – Where is it now?

Sometimes, I get narcissistic. I log into Analytics and go through the numbers, for no other reasons than wanting to see whether they have gone up again. Then I am pleased.

For about a year or so, I have always seen one specific article at the top of the list, The s_code.js File – Overview. This has always puzzled me slightly. It has often led to me thinking I should write about it some more. But: what else would I write about it? The mini series pretty much covered it all, overview, configuration, doPlugins method, plugins, and the core Javascript code. So, what’s left to say?

Well, there might be a little bit left, and it has to do with — wait for it — DTM! Yay! Another DTM post!

But if you are new to Tag Management, I guess you might have asked yourself the question “where does that stuff go?”, and so I shall try to answer that question today.

This will not be a mini-series, more a mini-article. TMS are cool, they make things easier.

Configuration

In the s_code.js file, there are configuration settings, where you specify things like the report suite to be used, tracking servers, internal link URLs, or character encoding.

I’m happy to say that your TMS will take care of that stuff. In DTM, to cite an obvious example, you can set all of these in the configuration of the Analytics Tool.

Easy.

s.doPlugins()

As I mentioned about a month and a half ago, the s.doPlugins() method is alive and well, even if you’re using a TMS.

If you are not yet using a TMS, you’re bound to have one in your s_code.js file. So where does it go?

I would put it into a place where it is executed (which means it sort of installs itself) once per page load. Your TMS documentation will show you where that would be.

For DTM, I can tell you: put it into the edit box under “Customize Page Code” in the Adobe Analytics Tool.

Why does this work?

Well, DTM makes the deployment of Analytics more fancy, but under the hood, it still loads the Javascript code and calls s.t() and s.tl(). The core JS code still does what it always did: call doPlugins() before it actually tracks.

So, if you create a function called s.doPlugins(s) and set s.usePlugins = true, the function will be called on every tracking call.

Magic.

It might make sense to remove some code from the method, though.

Think about it: how much of your code could be replaced with a Data Element? Which part of it could rather be dealt with using an extra rule?

My tip: each bit of code that you migrate from doPlugins and into DTM (or whatever your TMS is) will make your setup easier, at least easier for your friendly marketer.

Plugins

Now where do the actual plugins go? (That is those that you still need!)

I’m sure you can guess: they go where the s.doPlugins() method goes as well: into the edit box under the “Customize Page Code” section in the Analytics Tool.

Again, we want the plugin code to be called once, at page load, on every page. That’ll define the plugin, so it can subsequently be used in doPlugins.

Do you put the plugins code below or above doPlugins?

Doesn’t matter. As long as the browser has gone through them before the first call to doPlugins, everything is fine.

Core Javascript Code

The core Javascript code is very similar to plugins and the doPlugins method in that it must be loaded once per page. You might copy your existing code, and there might even be a place in your TMS reserved for that. In DTM, that place is under “Library Management”: yet another “Open Editor” button.

I have to say, though, that I don’t like that.

Some people just copy their complete s_code.js file into this editor, which totally works, but…

Don’t you want to disentangle things? Make your setup easier?

The easiest, and really the preferred way of handling the core Javascript file, is to not handle it at all, like so:

Notes

I’m sure there are good reasons to stray from the path I outlined here.

Actually, no, I am not.

The reality is that if you actually do copy the whole s_code.js file in one go, you bring your old boxes into a new house. Have you ever moved house? Noticed how you never actually open some of those boxes? This is one of those. It’ll stay closed forever. I say open it before you move, throw away the cruft!

I did it along with a German customer, and it took us a day. Down the line, we have a slimmer system, and we’ll get that day back multiple times over because we don’t have to always worry about side-effects of the old stuff.

Absolutely worth it!