Question
List Report shows items that are visible on the page but shows up under Not Visible on the List Report. Why?
Answer
The list report works this way:
- Anything that has an attribute of visible (or by default is visible) is tracked.
- Anything that is not visible on your site but is an element on your page, is tracked.
Our system tracks all clicks on all elements on the page. When we first process the creation of a snapshot our system takes an inventory of all elements on the page and certain attributes associated with them. These are things that you program into your site when developing the page.
When a visitor clicks on an element, if the attribute state changes (say from hidden to visible) and is compared with the original inventory we took at the beginning, then it is tracked under the not visible section of the list report.
Therefore, even if an element is shown on the static screenshot of the report, but shows up under the not visible section of the List report, it is because the attribute changed in some manner when compared to what we took an inventory at the beginning.
Also, it is possible (and evident in your web page designs) that elements be called the same thing but the element type is different. So even though an element has the same name the type could be a link, text, layout, form, etc. This is the raw programming aspect.
I hope that helps clarify things here. I know you are focused on the "tabs" now, but keep in mind, they look like tabs to you but how they are programmed and how they are grouped (all element types that make up that tab) will be treated differently. The List Report provides an opportunity for analysts to work with their programmers to better clarify element name conventions and how to ensure the tracking is accurate.