Guides and Surveys - Troubleshooting

Guides and Surveys content—tours, checklists, banners, surveys, and smart tips—only appears when its targeting conditions match the current page and user. When a content item isn't showing up as expected, use the browser-console tool built into Guides and Surveys to see exactly why a specific item is or isn't targeted for the current page.

This article covers the following:

• Diagnose targeting with the browser console
• Frequently Asked Questions

Diagnose targeting with the browser console

Guides and Surveys includes a browser-console tool that re-evaluates every targeting condition for a specific content item and reports exactly why it does or doesn't match the current page.

Prerequisites:

• Guides and Surveys installed and loaded on the page you're testing.
• Access to your browser's developer console.

For the complete technical reference of window.USETIFUL.troubleshoot, including every field returned in the console report, see Troubleshoot in the Guides and Surveys developer documentation.

1. Open your browser's developer console. Confirm the troubleshoot tool is ready by pasting the following—it returns true once available:

   typeof window.USETIFUL?.troubleshoot?.checkTargeting === 'function'

2. Find the content ID. Find the item's content type and ID from its URL in the Guides and Surveys editor. See Finding the contentId in the developer documentation for examples by content type.

3. Run checkTargeting. Call it with the content type and ID:

   window.USETIFUL.troubleshoot.checkTargeting(contentType, contentId)

   For example:

   // Check whether a survey is targeted to show on the current page
   window.USETIFUL.troubleshoot.checkTargeting('survey', '1f15910d-ba3c-6b58-9c3c-b95f19c98615');
   
   // Check a tour by its numeric ID
   window.USETIFUL.troubleshoot.checkTargeting('tour', 1);

   checkTargeting prints a color-coded report directly to the console.

   

4. Read the results. The report shows whether the item currently matches the page, plus the result of each targeting condition, so you can see exactly which condition is blocking it:

   • Overall: Whether the item currently matches the page and would show.
   • Throttling: For autoplayed tours and surveys, whether Content Throttling limits are currently blocking the item, separately from targeting. Manually triggered content, and all other content types, are never throttled.

   If checkTargeting logs an error and returns null, either the content type isn't recognized, or no content item with that ID is currently loaded on the page. Double-check the type and ID from the editor URL and try again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean if checkTargeting returns null?

checkTargeting returns null and logs a console error when the content type isn't recognized, or when no currently loaded content item matches the ID you provided. Confirm the content type and ID from the item's editor URL, then try again.

Do I need to be a developer to use this tool?

No coding experience is required beyond opening your browser's developer console and pasting a single line of code. The tool is intended for anyone troubleshooting why a content item isn't appearing—developers, support engineers, or anyone comfortable using the browser console.

Why does content keep appearing after a user has already seen it?

Guides and Surveys records which content a user has already seen in the browser's localStorage. Recurrence settings—such as Every x days or Only once—depend on that record. If your application clears localStorage on page load, logout, or session expiry, Guides and Surveys has no record of the prior display and the content can appear again on the next visit. Private or incognito windows, and some ad blockers, can have the same effect.

If your application needs to clear localStorage, keep any key that starts with uf_, plus _uid and _fs_lua. Those Guides and Surveys keys must persist so frequency settings work as configured.

Why am I seeing an "Identity inconsistency" error?

This error means the Guides and Surveys userId doesn't match the Fullstory user ID for the current session.

The Guides and Surveys userId—set with window.usetifulTags.userId or window.USETIFUL.user.setId()—must exactly match the value passed to FS('setIdentity', ...) for that visitor. For visitors who aren't identified in Fullstory, don't send a placeholder value such as -1 or "PublicAnonymousUser"; leave the Guides and Surveys userId unset instead.

For more on how the two identities relate, see Working with Fullstory Analytics in the Guides and Surveys developer documentation.