When do I use different JavaScript tracking methods?

ConversionRuler offers three ways of tracking actions using JavaScript on your web site, they are:

cr_track - For tracking landings and actions on page loads
cr_link - For tracking when visitors click on links
cr_submit - For tracking form submissions

Why different forms of tracking?

cr_link and cr_submit were added solve some specific issues with certain browsers and downloading non-web content (like installers, PDFs and other binary content).

The issue was, unfortunately, that tracking wouldn't work due to issues with those browsers.

What's the problem?

The issue is that for binary content, the page loads to a new URL and some browsers do not call our tracking code at all before the new content loads.

As a general rule, if a link or form opens a new window, or performs an AJAX call, you can use cr_track.

When to use cr_link

cr_link was added in order to solve a particular bug in browsers when downloading binary files, like installers, PDFs or executables.

cr_link works by:

Tracking the action with ConversionRuler ...
Delaying 300 microsectods
Following the link

This solves the bug in all browsers. (The bug was present at the time in FireFox and Safari.)

In prior versions of the tracking, you could use cr_track:

<a href="/page.html" onclick="return cr_track(2)">Track link</a>
<a href="/page.html" onclick="return cr_link(this, 2)">Track link</a>

Both tracking forms are still acceptable, but it is generally recommended to use cr_link as it handles all cases accurately for all kinds of links.