Metrics

Metrics track key interactions and KPIs on your site or mobile application. Plot them on Dashboards or analyze them in the Metrics section of the Fullstory UI.

In this article:

• What is a metric?
• Choose how to aggregate your metric
  • "Count of" aggregations
  • Property aggregations
• Plot and compare multiple metrics
  • Multiple Metrics
  • Custom Calculations
  • Summary Metrics
• Explore and analyze a metric
  • Metric filters
  • Adding or Comparing Segments
  • Group by Dimensions
  • Time Range and Comparing to past
  • Trend Charts
• Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative sessions
• Save a metric to a dashboard or Home
• Export a metric
• Frequently Asked Questions

What is a metric?

Use a metric to track a specific interaction or KPI—such as Add to Cart clicks, checkout conversions, or average order value—so you can monitor it over time and share it on a dashboard.

A metric combines an event (a click, page visit, error, or Custom Event), an aggregation (how to count or calculate that event), and a number format (%, $, and similar). Aggregations include the count of the event itself, the number of users who performed the event, the number of sessions in which the event was performed, or a calculation of a numeric event property.

To start building a metric, click Create > Metric from the sidebar.

Choose how to aggregate your metric

The aggregation you choose determines what the metric measures: unique people, total events, sessions, unique property values, or a numeric property such as revenue or page load time.

"Count of" aggregations

"Count of" aggregations answer questions like how many people performed an event, how many times it happened, or how many unique accounts were involved. Each option in the metric dropdown counts the same event a different way, so you can pick the tally that matches the KPI you want to track.

Choose a count type from the metric dropdown:

• Count of Unique Users: The number of unique users who performed the event. Learn more about how Fullstory determines a user.
• Count of Events: The number of times the event happened.
• Count of Unique Sessions: The number of sessions in which the event happened.
• Count of Unique Property: The number of unique values for a specific event, page, or user property. For example, a count of the unique accounts (property: AccountName) that performed a specific event.

The following four sessions show how the count types differ for the same Add to Cart event:

• Session 1: User A from Account 1 clicks Add to Cart 3 times
• Session 2: User B from Account 1 clicks Add to Cart once
• Session 3: User C from Account 2 visits the homepage and bounces
• Session 4: User A from Account 2 clicks Add to Cart twice

If the metric is unique users who clicked Add to cart:

The "Count of" aggregations return:

Property aggregations

When an event includes numeric properties—such as order revenue, shipping cost, or page load time—property aggregations calculate those values instead of counting the events themselves. Use them on numeric properties you send with Custom Events, and on properties Fullstory captures automatically.

Property aggregated by

Each option in the dropdown calculates the selected property differently:

• Average: The sum of a set of numbers divided by the count of those numbers for a particular metric.
  • For example, average session duration is the typical length of time users spend on your site or app during a single session.
• Median: The middle value of a particular metric.
  • For example, median session duration is the middle value of all captured session durations.
• Percentile: The value below which a percentage of your data falls. Percentiles are a common way to measure site performance and to reduce skew from uneven distributions. Choose the 75th, 90th, 95th, or 99th percentile.
  • For example, the 95th percentile of page load times is the duration that is faster than or equal to 95% of captured page load times.
• Sum: The total aggregated value of a particular metric or attribute measured over a specific period.
  • For example, the sum of Page Views is the total number of views captured over a specific timeframe.
• Min: The minimum value observed for a specific metric.
  • For example, the minimum Time on Page is the shortest duration a user spent on a particular page during their session.
• Max: The maximum value observed for a specific metric.
  • For example, the maximum Time on Page is the longest duration a user spent on a particular page during their session.

After you select a property aggregation, choose the Property to calculate:

In the example above, a Custom Event called Order Completed has three numeric properties that describe the event (revenue, shipping, and tax). Selecting Average and Revenue tracks Average Order Value in Fullstory.

You can also use these aggregation types on event properties Fullstory captures automatically. A common example is tracking average page load time from data Fullstory already collects:

All time-related data that Fullstory captures is in milliseconds (ms), so that format is selected automatically. Autoscale picks a readable time unit for the visualization; turning Autoscale off keeps the visualization in milliseconds.

The configuration above creates a metric for the average First Contentful Paint time experienced by users who visited the /cart page. Visualize it with a Trend card to track page speed over time:

When a metric needs to show a relationship between events—such as a ratio or percentage—rather than a single count, use Custom Calculations. See Custom Calculations below.

Plot and compare multiple metrics

A single chart can show related metrics together, formulas built from those metrics, and an at-a-glance summary value for each. Use the options below to plot multiple metrics, build custom calculations, and add Summary Metrics to a trend chart.

Multiple Metrics

Plot up to 5 metrics on a single chart to compare related interactions side by side, instead of building separate charts for each one.

Click Add Metric to add another metric to the chart. Each metric can be given a custom name so the chart legend is clearer—this name is preserved if you duplicate the metric.

Custom Calculations

Custom Calculations let you build formulas on top of the metrics in a multiple metrics chart, so you can show a relationship between events—like a ratio or percentage—instead of plotting each count on its own.

When a chart has exactly 2 metrics, Fullstory suggests common formulas you can add with one click. Selecting a suggested formula adds it to the chart and automatically hides the two underlying metrics used to calculate it, so the chart highlights the result rather than the inputs.

Summary Metrics

Summary Metrics adds a Summary box above a metric's trend chart, showing an at-a-glance value for each visible metric on the chart. Choose which value each metric's Summary box displays:

• Latest Value: The most recent data point in the selected time range.
• Average Value: The average of all data points in the selected time range.
• Total Value: The sum of all unique data points in the selected time range. For example, while an individual unique user can be counted across different days within a time period, when looking at the Total Value, they'll only be counted once across the selected time range.

Summary Metrics is on by default for trend charts and can be hidden per metric if you don't want it to appear.

Explore and analyze a metric

After you define a metric, use filters, segments, group-by dimensions, time range, and trend type to investigate what is driving the number. The options below change how the chart is sliced and displayed without requiring you to rebuild the metric.

Metric filters

Metric filters refine which events are included and how the result is calculated and displayed. Use the Metric Filters panel to configure the metric's event, add operators for calculations, and set the number format. Toggle the Filters switch to show or hide the panel. Click Apply filters when you make changes to update the results.

Adding or Comparing Segments

Add or compare segments to see how different groups of users contribute to the same metric. When a segment includes users who were not present in an earlier period, Fullstory cannot show past data for those users—there is nothing from that period to report.

Group by Dimensions

Group by a dimension to break a metric down by attributes such as browser, device, or element, so you can see which values contribute most to the result. If you group by Element or CSS Selector, Fullstory aggregates all Named Elements into single elements, removing potential duplicates. You can also hide CSS selectors from your results with the checkbox.

Changing these options on the visualization does not alter a saved metric. If you leave and return later, the dimension and time range reset. If you find a view you want to keep, create a dashboard card with those settings.

Group a custom calculation by a dimension

You can break a Custom Calculation down by a dimension—for example, the percentage of users who completed an order, grouped by browser. Group by operates on a single plotted series, so the chart must show only the formula, not the metrics it is built from. If more than one series is visible, Group by is disabled and Fullstory shows the message "Group by is not available with multiple metrics visible."

1. Build a Custom Calculation, such as B/A, on a chart with multiple metrics.
2. Hide the underlying metrics so that only the formula is visible on the chart. Selecting a suggested formula hides them for you automatically.
3. Choose a dimension from Group by. The chart breaks the formula's result down by that dimension.

Advanced options: Because the formula combines multiple metrics, you can control whether the grouping applies to every metric in the formula or only to some of them. Click the 3 dots (⋯) next to the selected Group by dimension to open advanced options.

Time Range and Comparing to past

Compare a metric to a previous period when you need to see whether a campaign, release, or seasonal event changed the trend—for example, weekly site visits during a campaign, or a holiday promotion this year versus last year.

Click Compare to past and select the date range to compare. The date picker uses two colors for the ranges: blue for the current period and red for the previous period. Click Apply to show both ranges on a trend chart.

The chart superimposes two lines, one for each date range. Hover over the data points for more detail.

Trend Charts

Trend type controls how each series is calculated over time, so you can show raw values, smooth cyclical traffic, or compute rolling activity such as daily, weekly, or monthly active users. Choose the trend type in each metric's configuration—not as a single switcher for the whole chart—so metrics on the same chart can use different trend types.

Open a metric's configuration and select Standard, Rolling Average, Rolling Window, or Cumulative Sum. Rolling Average and Rolling Window smooth short-term fluctuations so longer-term patterns stand out. After you choose a trend type, you can save the metric to a dashboard.

• Standard: Displays the value for each interval in the selected time range.
• Rolling Average: Displays the unweighted mean for the specified period. This is useful for smoothing charts with cyclical traffic. For example, if most users visit on weekdays rather than weekends, a rolling average reduces the weekend drop.
• Rolling Window: Aggregates the data over a distinct period of time. Rolling windows smooth short-term fluctuations and highlight longer-term trends. For example, the number of 7-day active users, plotted daily.
• Cumulative Sum: Displays data as the running total of all values in the time range.

Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative sessions

Session replay sits directly under the metric visualization so you can validate the number and understand why it changed. Fullstory lists the sessions that match the metric. If the metric includes multiple events—such as a Custom Calculation—toggle between those events to choose which experience to watch. Clicking a session opens playback at the moment the event in your metric occurs.

Save a metric to a dashboard or Home

After you save a metric in the Metrics section, anyone in the account can add it to dashboard cards or Home. Sharing a saved metric keeps reporting consistent across the team.

You can also add a metric to a dashboard with Add from Library.

To adjust a metric that is already on a dashboard, click Edit on the dashboard card, make your changes, then Save the changes or Save as a new metric.

To change a metric without overwriting the original, duplicate it first.

Export a metric

Export a metric as a CSV or an image when you need the underlying table or a snapshot of the chart. Click Export at the top right of the metric detail area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I convert a metric with multiple metrics back to a single or dual-metric chart?

No. Once a metric is saved with multiple metrics enabled, the conversion is one-way and it can't be reverted to a legacy single or dual-metric chart.

Can I turn Summary Metrics off for my whole org?

There's no global setting to disable Summary Metrics. You can hide the Summary box on a per-metric basis if you don't want it to appear on a specific chart.

Why doesn't a metric with multiple metrics show up where I expect it in Ask StoryAI (MCP)?

Ask StoryAI's MCP integration is still rolling out support for metrics saved with multiple metrics enabled. During this rollout, it may not immediately recognize these metrics.