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Write a dataLayer specification your brands can be checked against

Build one shared template of events and parameters, describe nested and array values in a flat table, keep separate templates for different kinds of site, and hand developers a spec they can implement.

ODDVXPractical guide

Without a spec, nothing can fail

Every tracking test compares something to an expectation. If the expectation lives in someone's head, or in a document nobody has opened since launch, you can't say a page is wrong; you can only say it looks different. DataLayer Governance keeps the expectation in one place: a template of every event the site should push and every parameter each event should carry.

The template then drives everything downstream: parity checks compare live pages against it, brand status tracks who has built it, and form tests check its parameters on real journeys.

One table of events and parameters. Nested keys and per-item keys are written in a flat form.

A template table with events, parameters, nested and array keys, and example values.

Describe nested data in a flat table

Real dataLayer pushes are nested: an ecommerce object, an items array, a user_data block. The template keeps them in one flat, editable table using two conventions:

  • Dots for nesting. user_data.address.city means the city key inside address inside user_data.
  • Brackets for arrays. ecommerce.items[].item_id means item_id on every item in the items array.

When you export, the flat keys are rebuilt into the real nested JSON shape, so developers see exactly what to push.

Flat keys in the template become real nested JSON in the exported spec.

Template keys with dots and brackets on the left, the equivalent nested JSON on the right.

One template per kind of site

Not every brand needs every event. A lead-generation site has no checkout; a simple brochure site may only need page views and one form. Rather than marking half the spec not applicable on every simple site, create more than one template, such as Full and Simple, and assign each brand the one that fits. Editing an event in one template only changes the standard for the brands assigned to it. Free keeps one template.

Two templates, each governing the brands it fits.

A Full template linked to two shop brands and a Simple template linked to two lead-generation brands.

Edit, copy and duplicate events

Each event has an id, the event value the site actually pushes, and its parameters with an example value for each. Duplicate an event to start a similar one, such as a callback form based on the lead form. If a site pushes a different event name from the one in the spec, change the event value: matching uses the pushed name, not the id.

Duplicate to start a similar event; edit the event value to match what the site really pushes.

A template editing table where an event is duplicated and another is renamed to the value the site pushes.

Hand the spec to developers

Export the template as an Excel sheet (one row per parameter) or as a standalone HTML spec sheet with nested JSON examples. That file becomes the brief for the development team and the reference for every test afterwards. Export is a Premium feature.

Write examples, not just namesAn example value for each parameter ("contact", "SKU-01", "Sydney") prevents the most common implementation mistakes: wrong case, wrong type, or an id where a name was meant.
Excel for the tracker, HTML for the developer brief.

Export steps followed by an Excel spec card and an HTML spec sheet card.

Keep going

ODDVX for Windows

From the page to the hit, proved.

Start free with one saved form, one page and one parity check. Premium adds batch runs, exports and scheduled QA.

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