Adobe plug-in: getTimeSinceLastVisit

The getTimeSinceLastVisit plug-in allows you to track how long a visitor has taken to return to your site after their last visit.

Install the plug-in using the Web SDK extension

Adobe offers an extension that allows you to use most commonly-used plug-ins with the Web SDK.

1. Log in to Adobe Experience Platform Data Collection using your AdobeID credentials.
2. Click Tags on the left, then click the desired tag property.
3. Click Extensions on the left, then click the Catalog tab
4. Locate and install the Common Web SDK Plugins extension.
5. Click Data Elements on the left, then click the desired data element.
6. Set the desired data element name with the following configuration:
   • Extension: Common Web SDK Plugins
   • Data Element: getTimeSinceLastVisit
7. Save and publish the changes to the data element.

Install the plug-in manually implementing the Web SDK

This plug-in is not yet supported for use within a manual implementation of the Web SDK.

Install the plug-in using the Adobe Analytics extension

Adobe offers an extension that allows you to use most commonly-used plug-ins with Adobe Analytics.

1. Log in to Adobe Experience Platform Data Collection using your AdobeID credentials.
2. Click the desired tag property.
3. Go to the Extensions tab, then click on the Catalog button
4. Install and publish the Common Analytics Plugins extension
5. If you haven’t already, create a rule labeled “Initialize Plug-ins” with the following configuration:
   • Condition: None
   • Event: Core – Library Loaded (Page Top)
6. Add an action to the above rule with the following configuration:
   • Extension: Common Analytics Plugins
   • Action Type: Initialize getTimeSinceLastVisit
7. Save and publish the changes to the rule.

Install the plug-in using custom code editor

If you do not want to use the Common Analytics Plugins plug-in extension, you can use the custom code editor.

1. Log in to Adobe Experience Platform Data Collection using your AdobeID credentials.
2. Click on the desired property.
3. Go to the Extensions tab, then click the Configure button under the Adobe Analytics extension.
4. Expand the Configure tracking using custom code accordion, which reveals the Open Editor button.
5. Open the custom code editor and paste the plug-in code provided below into the edit window.
6. Save and publish the changes to the Analytics extension.

Install the plug-in using AppMeasurement

Copy and paste the following code anywhere in the AppMeasurement file after the Analytics tracking object is instantiated (using s_gi). Preserving comments and version numbers of the code in your implementation helps Adobe with troubleshooting any potential issues.

/******************************************* BEGIN CODE TO DEPLOY *******************************************/
/* Adobe Consulting Plugin: getTimeSinceLastVisit v2.0 */
 function getTimeSinceLastVisit(){if(arguments&&"-v"===arguments[0])return{plugin:"getTimeSinceLastVisit",version:"2.0"};var h=function(){if("undefined"!==typeof window.s_c_il)for(var c=0,b;c<window.s_c_il.length;c++)if(b=window.s_c_il[c],b._c&&"s_c"===b._c)return b}();"undefined"!==typeof h&&(h.contextData.getTimeSinceLastVisit="2.0");window.formatTime=window.formatTime||function(c,b,d){function f(b,d,c,e){if("string"!==typeof d)return!1;if("string"===typeof b)b=b.split(c||",");else if("object"!==typeof b)return!1;c=0;for(a=b.length;c<a;c++)if(1==e&&d===b[c]||d.toLowerCase()===b[c].toLowerCase())return!0;return!1}if(!("undefined"===typeof c||isNaN(c)||0>Number(c))){var e="";"string"===typeof b&&"d"===b||("string"!==typeof b||!f("h,m,s",b))&&86400<=c?(b=86400,e="days",d=isNaN(d)?1:b/(d*b)):"string"===typeof b&&"h"===b||("string"!==typeof b||!f("m,s",b))&&3600<=c?(b=3600,e="hours",d=isNaN(d)?4:b/(d*b)):"string"===typeof b&&"m"===b||("string"!==typeof b||!f("s",b))&&60<=c?(b=60,e="minutes",d=isNaN(d)?2:b/(d*b)):(b=1,e="seconds",d=isNaN(d)?.2:b/d);e=Math.round(c*d/b)/d+" "+e;0===e.indexOf("1 ")&&(e=e.substring(0,e.length-1));return e}};window.cookieWrite=window.cookieWrite||function(c,b,d){if("string"===typeof c){var f=window.location.hostname,e=window.location.hostname.split(".").length-1;if(f&&!/^[0-9.]+$/.test(f)){e=2<e?e:2;var k=f.lastIndexOf(".");if(0<=k){for(;0<=k&&1<e;)k=f.lastIndexOf(".",k-1),e--;k=0<k?f.substring(k):f}}g=k;b="undefined"!==typeof b?""+b:"";if(d||""===b)if(""===b&&(d=-60),"number"===typeof d){var h=new Date;h.setTime(h.getTime()+6E4*d)}else h=d;return c&&(document.cookie=encodeURIComponent(c)+"="+encodeURIComponent(b)+"; path=/;"+(d?" expires="+h.toUTCString()+";":"")+(g?" domain="+g+";":""),"undefined"!==typeof cookieRead)?cookieRead(c)===b:!1}};window.cookieRead=window.cookieRead||function(c){if("string"===typeof c)c=encodeURIComponent(c);else return"";var b=" "+document.cookie,d=b.indexOf(" "+c+"="),f=0>d?d:b.indexOf(";",d);return(c=0>d?"":decodeURIComponent(b.substring(d+2+c.length,0>f?b.length:f)))?c:""};h=new Date;var m=h.getTime(),n=cookieRead("s_tslv")||0,l=Math.round((m-n)/1E3);h.setTime(m+63072E6);cookieWrite("s_tslv",m,h);return n?1800<l||cookieRead("s_inv")?(cookieRead("s_inv")&&(l=cookieRead("s_inv")),cookieWrite("s_inv",l,30),"0"!==l?formatTime(l):"New Visitor"):"":(cookieWrite("s_inv","0",30),"New Visitor")};
/******************************************** END CODE TO DEPLOY ********************************************/

Use the plug-in

The getTimeSinceLastVisit function does not use any arguments. It returns the amount of time elapsed since the visitor last came to the site, bucketed in the following format:

• Time between 30 minutes and an hour since the last visit is set to the nearest half-minute benchmark. For example, "30.5 minutes", "53 minutes"
• Time between an hour and a day is rounded to the nearest quarter-hour benchmark. For example, "2.25 hours", "7.5 hours"
• Time greater than a day is rounded to the nearest day benchmark. For example, "1 day", "3 days", "9 days", "372 days"
• If a visitor has not visited before or the time elapsed is greater than two years, the value is set to "New Visitor".

This plug-in creates a first-party cookie called "s_tslv" set to a Unix timestamp of the current time. The cookie expires after two years of inactivity.

Examples

// Given a visitor's first visit to the site
// Sets prop1 to "New Visitor"
s.prop1 = getTimeSinceLastVisit();

// 35 minutes later, the same visitor returns
// Sets prop1 to "35 minutes"
s.prop1 = getTimeSinceLastVisit();

// 4 days later, the same visitor returns
// Sets prop1 to "4 days"
s.prop1 = getTimeSinceLastVisit();

Version History

2.0 (March 19, 2021)

• Added version number as context data.

1.0 (April 16, 2018)

• Point release (recompiled code and smaller size).
• Code derived from the getDaysSinceLastVisit plug-in (now deprecated and renamed).
• Now uses formatTime and inList plug-ins for the return value.