Glossary
This page is the CROForge dictionary. Every product word below is explained in everyday English first, then in the way CROForge uses it, then with a simple example. Use these words in the app, in campaign titles, and in other documentation so marketers and developers mean the same thing.
Words used on this page
| Word | Everyday meaning | Meaning in CROForge |
|---|---|---|
| Glossary | A list of words with plain-language definitions. | The canonical names for UI, API, and Smart Code terms used across the product. |
| Campaign / Experiment | A planned test. | Same object: the app says Campaign; the API and code say experiment. |
| Audience / Segment | A group of people who share traits. | Audience on a campaign is a Data Vista segment. All Traffic is the empty-condition segment. |
| Metric / Event | A score versus a thing that happened. | An event is a signal (page view, click, custom). A metric turns matching events into a success number for reports. |
Screenshots to upload later: glossary.png, experiment-statuses.png, data-vista-hub.png.
How to use this dictionary
Read the Everyday English meaning column if the word is new. Read Meaning in CROForge before you click that control in the app. Use the Simple example to check you have the right idea. Nearby words that people mix up (campaign vs experiment, audience vs traffic source, variant vs variation) are also grouped in short teaching sections after the table.
Full dictionary
| Word | Everyday English meaning | Meaning in CROForge | Simple example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A/B test | A fair comparison of two or more versions to see which works better. | A campaign (experiment) that splits eligible visitors between a Control and one or more variants, then scores them with metrics. | Half of homepage visitors see a green button; half see the original blue button. You compare Book demo clicks. |
| Account ID | The number or code that identifies “which account this belongs to.” | In Smart Code URLs this is the workspace id. It is not a separate personal login id. | The script https://app.croforge.com/1000/init.js uses 1000 as the Account ID / workspace id. |
| Admin | Someone who can manage a team’s tools without necessarily owning the company. | Workspace role that can invite or remove users, change settings, and work on campaigns and Data Vista. Cannot take over billing/ownership like Owner. | An Admin invites a designer as Member and edits workspace timezone. |
| All Traffic | “Everyone who shows up,” with no extra filter. | The default segment with no conditions. Visitors still must pass domain allowlist and URL targeting. | A homepage test uses All Traffic so every visitor on that URL can enter, including mobile and desktop. |
| apiName | A stable machine name, like a nickname code uses instead of a pretty label. | The identifier for events, event properties, and attributes. Letters, numbers, and underscore. Metrics and Smart Code match on this, not on the display name. | Display name “Book demo click”; apiName is book_demo_click. Renaming the label does not break the metric. |
| Archived | Put away for storage, not in daily use. | Campaign status for long-term storage. Not applied live by Smart Code. | Last quarter’s pricing test is Archived so the A/B list stays focused on current work. |
| Attribute | A fact about a person or visit, such as device or where they came from. | A typed visitor/session property in Data Vista (OS, browser, UTM, device type, custom). Segments use attributes in conditions. | Attribute deviceType is mobile, so a “Mobile Traffic” segment can include that visitor. |
| Audience | Who a message or test is meant for. | Who may enter the experiment after URL targeting passes. You attach one Data Vista segment. | Audience = “New Visitors” so only first-time visitors enter the onboarding CTA test. |
| Beacon | A tiny background signal a page sends so the server learns what happened, even if the user leaves. | How Smart Code delivers events to CROForge, typically sendBeacon (or an image pixel fallback) to the /e endpoint. | On click, the browser beacons the click event so the Report still counts it if the visitor navigates away immediately. |
| Campaign | A named, planned effort with a goal. | The word the UI uses for an A/B experiment. Same record in the database. | You click Create on the A/B list and name the campaign “Homepage hero — green CTA.” |
| Click | Pressing a button, link, or control with a mouse or finger. | A standard event Smart Code can capture (button, link, input, or .btn), with payload fields such as text, href, and selector. Often used as the event behind a CTA metric. | A metric counts clicks whose text is exactly “Book demo” on the pricing page. |
| Completed | Finished on purpose, kept for the record. | Campaign status after you decide. Not applied live. Reports remain available. | You pick a winner, set Completed, and stop new assignments without deleting history. |
| Condition | A yes/no rule: “this value must match that pattern.” | A comparison using a match type against an attribute, event property, or URL. Segments AND their conditions. Metrics require all of their conditions. Pages use include and exclude lists. | Condition: click text Exact match ["Start free trial"] so random footer clicks do not count. |
| Configuration tab | The place you fill in setup details. | Top campaign hub tab. Sub-tabs in order: Pages, Variations, Metrics, Audience. | You are still editing URL rules, so you stay on Configuration → Pages, not Report. |
| Control | The original version you keep as the baseline. | The baseline variation (isControl). Usually empty JS/CSS so it is “the site as it already is.” Product rules often protect Control from deletion. | Control is the current checkout. Variant B adds trust badges via CSS. You compare them against Control. |
| Conversion | The useful action you wanted the visitor to take. | Not a separate object. You express a conversion as a metric that matches an event (and optional conditions). | A “Purchase completed” custom event becomes the primary conversion metric for a checkout test. |
| CRO | Conversion rate optimization: improving the share of visitors who take the action you care about. | The product category. CROForge is the experimentation / CRO platform that runs campaigns on live sites via Smart Code. | Instead of permanently changing the hero for everyone, you CRO-test two headlines first. |
| Custom vs Standard | Something you invented versus something that came in the box. | Events, attributes, segments, and metrics are Standard (system/shared) or Custom (workspace-owned). Standard examples: page view, click, Desktop Traffic. Custom examples: purchase_completed, a UTM+URL segment you built. | You keep the Standard click event, then add a Custom signup_success event your app fires after account creation. |
| Data Vista | A library of reusable data building blocks. | The app area for Attributes, Segments, and Metrics. Campaigns attach a segment as audience and metrics as success measures. | You create “Mobile Traffic” once in Data Vista, then reuse it as audience on many campaigns. |
| Domain allowlist | The list of website hostnames that are allowed to use the tool. | Smart Code checks location.hostname against configured domains. If the host is not allowed, campaigns do not run. | You registered www.example.com. Opening a staging host that is not listed means Smart Code stays idle. |
| Draft | A work in progress, not published. | Campaign status while you build. Smart Code does not apply Draft campaigns. | You save JS for Variant B but leave status Draft until Live Preview looks good. |
| Event | Something that happened, with a time and some details. | A signal Smart Code (or your site) sends: standard (page view, click, scroll, unload) or custom. Metrics listen to events. Identity is the event apiName. | Smart Code fires a page view on load and a click when someone hits “Book demo.” |
| Exclude URL | A “do not run here” address rule. | If any exclude rule matches the current page, the experiment does not run, even if an include rule also matched. | Include starts with https://example.com; exclude starts with https://example.com/blog so blog posts stay out of a marketing-site test. |
| Experiment | A structured test with a control and a change. | The API, model, and Smart Code name for a campaign. Runtime only applies experiments whose status is Running. | Storage key _croforge_exp_{id} stores the sticky variation for that experiment id. |
| Hypothesis | A guess you can test: “If we change X, Y will improve because Z.” | Not a separate field. Capture it in the campaign title and description so the team remembers why the test exists. | Title: “Pricing page — annual toggle copy.” Description: “Clearer annual savings will raise plan clicks.” |
| Impression | A record that someone was shown something. | The event that a visitor was assigned and shown a variation (CSS/JS applied). Used as the “entered the test” signal for reporting. | After sticky assignment to Variant B, Smart Code sends an impression so Report sample size includes that visitor. |
| Include URL | A “you may run here” address rule. | At least one include rule must match the current page (after URL cleaning). Combined with excludes: include match AND not exclude match. | Include Exact https://example.com/pricing so the test runs only on that landing page. |
| Live Preview | A forced look at one version, skipping the usual random draw. | From Configuration → Variations, generate a preview URL/token so Smart Code loads that variation on the real target page. | You open Live Preview for Variant B on the pricing URL to QA the CSS before setting Running. |
| Match type | The comparison style: equals, contains, between, and so on. | The operator on a condition. Text/URL: Exact, Contains, Starts with, Regex, and their negatives. Boolean: is true/false. Number: equal, between, greater than, and similar. | URL Contains /pricing matches https://example.com/pricing and .../pricing/annual. |
| Member | Someone on the team with day-to-day access, not full admin rights. | Workspace role that can create and edit experiments and Data Vista objects, with limited settings and no user invite/remove. | A CRO specialist as Member builds campaigns but cannot remove other users. |
| Metric | A number that tells you whether you succeeded. | A Data Vista definition: which event counts, optional property conditions, how to calculate (unique visitor, unique session, event count, or property value), and whether up or down is good. Campaigns link metrics; they do not invent them from scratch. | Primary metric: unique visitors who clicked text “Book demo.” Secondary: page unload active time as supporting evidence only. |
| Owner | The person ultimately responsible for the account. | Highest workspace role. Includes billing/ownership transfer, plus everything Admin can do. | The Owner transfers the workspace if the company lead changes. |
| Page view | Someone loaded (or viewed) a page. | A standard event fired around Smart Code init / live mode, with URL, referrer, title, and device/UTM snapshot in the payload. | Every eligible page load sends a page view so you can relate clicks back to which URL was seen. |
| Payload | The bundle of details sent along with a message. | The object of properties on an event (and similar data on a beacon). Metric conditions inspect payload fields. | Click payload includes button text Book demo and href /contact. |
| Paused | Temporarily stopped, not thrown away. | Campaign status that stops live application without deleting the setup. Prefer pause → edit → resume instead of editing a Running test in place. | You pause to fix Variant JS, then set Running again after QA. |
| Preview mode | A temporary “show me this version” mode, not the normal live lottery. | Smart Code path when a preview token/query (such as _croforge_preview) is present. Live Preview is the product action that turns preview mode on for a chosen variation. | The preview tab shows Variant B even though live traffic split would have given you Control. |
| Property | A named field on a thing, like “color” on a car. | A field on an event (name, apiName, data type). Different from an attribute, which describes the visitor/session for segments. | Custom event purchase_completed has property amount (number) used in a value metric. |
| Report tab | The results page for this test. | Top campaign hub tab with date range, optional traffic source filter, charts by variation, and tables. Per campaign, not a global BI dashboard. | You open Report, set last 14 days, and compare Control vs Variant B on the primary metric. |
| Review tab | A summary you check before going live. | Top campaign hub tab that restates pages, variations, metrics, and audience so you can confirm the setup. | Review shows audience still All Traffic; you switch to Configuration → Audience before Running. |
| Running | Live, in production, affecting real people. | The only campaign status Smart Code applies. URL targeting and the audience segment must also match. | Status Running + include URL match + All Traffic → visitors get a sticky variation on that page. |
| Segment | A named group of people who share traits. | A Data Vista list of attribute conditions (AND). Experiments attach one segment as Audience. Empty conditions = everyone (All Traffic). | Segment “UTM Google or LinkedIn + homepage” requires those UTM values AND page URL rules. |
| Session UUID | An id for “this visit,” which ends when the visit ends. | Stored as _croforge_session_uuid (typically sessionStorage). Used when metrics count unique sessions. | Closing the tab starts a new session UUID next time; the visitor UUID can stay the same. |
| Smart Code | The snippet you paste so the product can run on a real website. | Workspace-scoped init.js from Configurations → Websites and Apps. Validates domain, evaluates Running campaigns, assigns variations, injects CSS/JS, sends events. Settings → Installation is legacy. | Without Smart Code, the A/B list can hold a perfect Draft, but the live homepage never changes. |
| Snippet | A short copy-paste block of HTML or JavaScript. | The Smart Code tag you install, or the event API snippet from an event’s API tab. Async is the default Smart Code form. | You paste the HTML snippet into the site <head> (or a GTM Custom HTML tag on All Pages). |
| Sticky assignment | Once you are put in a group, you stay in that group. | After a visitor is assigned a variation, Smart Code stores it (_croforge_exp_{id}) and reuses it on later eligible page views. Changing traffic split later affects new visitors, not already-sticky ones. | Monday you see Variant B. Tuesday you still see Variant B even if the split is now 90% Control. |
| Traffic | The people arriving at a website. | Visitors who can be considered for a campaign. Eligibility still requires domain, Running status, URL targeting, and audience. | “We have enough traffic on /pricing” means enough eligible visitors to fill Control and Variant sample sizes. |
| Traffic source | How someone arrived: typed the address, came from search, from a social post, and so on. | A Report filter (all / direct / referral / social / search / paid / non-paid). It is not Audience and does not change live assignment. | You filter Report to paid traffic to see if Variant B helped ads, while the live audience remains All Traffic. |
| Traffic split | How you divide people between versions, usually as percentages. | Equal (even 100% split) or Custom (manual percents). Eligible visitors get a random number in [0, 100); each variation owns a range, then the choice is stored for stickiness. Percents should sum to 100. | Custom 80% Control / 20% Variant while you limit risk on a checkout change. |
| Trash | The bin for things you meant to remove. | Soft-deleted campaign status. Not applied live. | A mistaken duplicate campaign is sent to Trash instead of staying in the Draft list. |
| URL targeting | Choosing which web addresses a test may run on. | The Pages step: include and exclude URL rules with match types. Runtime often compares origin + pathname (query/hash stripped, trailing slash normalized). | Include Contains /pricing, exclude Contains /pricing/enterprise. |
| Variant | An alternative version, not the original. | Everyday word for a non-control variation. In the product, each alternative is still stored as a variation with JS/CSS and a traffic percent. | You add Variant B “Green CTA” beside Control; both are variations in the Variations panel. |
| Variation | One version in a comparison. | Any experience in the experiment: Control or a variant. Holds name, traffic %, optional jsCode / cssCode. Smart Code injects CSS, runs JS, then sends an impression. | Variation “Green CTA” sets button background in CSS and does not rewrite the whole page in JS. |
| Visitor UUID | A long-lived id for “this browser / this person returning.” | Persistent id stored as _croforge_visitor_uuid (cookie or localStorage). Used for sticky identity and unique-visitor metrics. | The same laptop returning next week keeps the visitor UUID, so unique-visitor metrics do not double-count that person. |
| Workspace | A shared project space for one team or client. | Tenant container for users, websites, campaigns, events, Data Vista, activity logs, and the Smart Code Account ID (workspace id). Workspaces can be Active or Inactive. | Agency workspace “Acme” holds Acme’s sites and tests; switching to “Globex” hides Acme’s campaigns. |
Campaign, experiment, and A/B test
People use three words for the same live test. In everyday English, an A/B test is the method (compare versions), a campaign is the named effort, and an experiment is the scientific object. CROForge puts Campaign on buttons and lists, and experiment in the API, Smart Code, and storage keys. When you create a campaign, you are creating an experiment. When Smart Code loops CODE.experiments, it is looping your campaigns.
Control, variant, and variation
A variation is any one experience in the test. Control is the baseline variation (usually the original page with empty JS/CSS). A variant is any non-control variation. You edit JS and CSS on variations in the code editor. Assignment is sticky: the visitor keeps the same variation on later visits so results stay fair.
Audience is not traffic source
Audience answers who may enter the test. It is a segment of attribute conditions. All Traffic means that segment has no extra conditions—not that URL rules are ignored. Traffic source on the Report tab only filters how you look at results (direct, referral, and similar). Changing the report filter never changes live assignment. Runtime order is: domain allowlist → URL targeting → segment → variation assignment.
Events, properties, payloads, and metrics
An event is the raw “this happened” signal. Its payload is the bundle of properties (text, number, boolean, URL). A metric is the success definition: which event apiName counts, which property conditions must pass, and how to calculate (unique visitor, unique session, event count, or aggregate of a numeric property). Attach metrics on the campaign; define them in Data Vista. An impression is the special event that the visitor was shown a variation. A conversion in everyday CRO talk is whatever primary metric you chose.
Configuration, Review, and Report tabs
Every campaign hub has three top tabs. Configuration is the wizard: Pages (URL targeting), Variations (including traffic split and Live Preview), Metrics, Audience. Review is the read-back summary before you launch. Report is per-campaign analytics. Only after Review looks right and Live Preview QA passes should you set Running.
Campaign statuses
Status is the live on/off switch plus housekeeping. Smart Code applies a campaign only when status is Running and the page and audience match.
| Status | Everyday meaning | Applied live? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Still building. | No |
| Running | Live on the site. | Yes |
| Paused | Temporarily stopped. | No |
| Completed | Finished; keep results. | No |
| Archived | Long-term storage. | No |
| Trash | Soft-deleted. | No |
Typical path: Draft → (preview) → Running → optional Paused → Completed → Archived. Use Trash for mistakes.
Workspace roles
| Role | Everyday meaning | Meaning in CROForge |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Ultimately in charge. | Billing/ownership plus full admin capabilities. |
| Admin | Team manager. | Invite/remove users, settings, campaigns, Data Vista. |
| Member | Contributor. | Create/edit experiments and Data Vista; limited settings; no user management. |
Installation words: snippet, Smart Code, beacon, allowlist
The snippet is what you copy. Smart Code is that snippet plus the init.js runtime it loads. Get it from Configurations → Websites and Apps, not from Settings → Installation (legacy). The domain allowlist is the hostname gate. A beacon is how events leave the browser for CROForge. Account ID in the script URL is the workspace id. Visitor UUID and session UUID are how Smart Code remembers the person and the visit.
