clickCollectionEnabled

Last update: May 19, 2025

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  • Developer

The clickCollectionEnabled property is a boolean that determines if the Web SDK automatically collects link data. If you do not set this variable, its default value is true which means that link tracking data is automatically collected by default. Setting this property to false is valuable in cases where you prefer to track link data manually.

When clickCollectionEnabled is enabled, the following XDM elements automatically populate with data:

  • xdm.web.webInteraction.name
  • xdm.web.webInteraction.type
  • xdm.web.webInteraction.URL

Internal links, download links, and exit links are all automatically tracked by default when this boolean is enabled. If you want more control over automatic link tracking, Adobe recommends using the clickCollection object.

Support for open Shadow DOM elements

The Web SDK supports automatic click tracking for links inside open Shadow DOM elements.

Many modern websites use Web Components to build reusable and encapsulated user interface elements. These components often use a technology called Shadow DOM to keep their internal structure and styles separate from the rest of the page.

There are two types of Shadow DOM:

  • Open Shadow DOM: The internal structure is accessible to JavaScript running on the page. This means other scripts can interact with or inspect the contents of the component.
  • Closed Shadow DOM: The internal structure is hidden from JavaScript outside the component, making it inaccessible for tracking or manipulation.

The Web SDK automatically tracks clicks on <a> and <area> elements inside open Shadow DOMs, just as it does for links in the main document. This ensures that link clicks within web components using open Shadow DOM are included in your analytics data. Clicks inside closed Shadow DOMs are not tracked, as their internal structure is hidden from JavaScript code operating outside the component.

The Web SDK tracks all clicks on <a> and <area> HTML elements if it doesn’t have an onClick attribute. Clicks are captured with a capture click event listener that is attached to the document. When a valid link is clicked, the following logic is run in order:

  1. If the link matches criteria based on values in downloadLinkQualifier, or if the link contains a download HTML attribute, xdm.web.webInteraction.type is set to "download" (if clickCollection.downloadLinkEnabled is enabled).
  2. If the link target domain differs from the current window.location.hostname, xdm.web.webInteraction.type is set to "exit" (if clickCollection.exitLinkEnabled is enabled).
  3. If the link doesn’t qualify for either "download" or "exit", xdm.web.webInteraction.type is set to "other".

In all cases, xdm.web.webInteraction.name is set to the link text label and xdm.web.webInteraction.URL is set to the link destination URL. If you want to set the link name to the URL as well, you can override this XDM field using the filterClickDetails callback in the clickCollection object.

Enable automatic link tracking using the Web SDK tag extension

This variable is automatically managed by the tag extension; you do not need to explicitly set it. If any of the following are selected when configuring the tag extension, the applicable link tracking data is collected:

  • Collect internal link clicks
  • Collect external link clicks
  • Collect download link clicks

See clickCollection for more information.