About Source and Subsource Code
Source codes can help you understand the origin of your constituents’ interactions on your Luminate Online-powered site. When your constituents take certain actions on your site, Luminate Online automatically assigns a source code. You can also assign your own source codes to a link.
To better use source codes, understand these three areas of information: Source Code Type, Source Code, and Sub-source Code.
Source Code Type
Sources are associated with a source code type. The source code type is set based on information stored in the session.
How does Luminate Online know how to set the source code type?
The code goes through a progression of checks in priority order (highest to lowest) and then assigns the source code of the transaction based on the first source code type check that succeeds.
Here is the list of checks in the order in which they are performed. Did the user:
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Follow a link that was part of an eCard?
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Follow a link from a Tell-A-Friend message?
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Follow a link that was specially coded with the s_src argument?
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Follow a trackable link from a Luminate Online-powered email?
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Follow a link that was coded with the s_oo argument?
Note: Codes that are acceptable for use with this argument are provided by Luminate Online and must be specifically generated for individual customers. These are the "Other" values that are logged.
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If no other valid source code, and there is a "referrer" URL that initiated the Luminate Online session that is valid (e.g. not within the same site and not a web-based mail reader), then use that as the source code.
Source Codes and Sub-source Codes
Once a source code type is set for an interaction, Luminate Online then assigns a source code, possibly a sub-source code. The type, source code and subsource code is defined as follows:
| Source Code Type | Source Code | Sub-source Code |
|---|---|---|
| Email (original) | Name of the email message | URL of the link |
| Email (forwarded) | Name of the email message | URL of the link |
| Link with source code value | Text value passed in as the s_src argument | Text value passed in as the s_subsrc argument |
| Tell-A-Friend | The forwarding user's name | It will be blank |
| eCard | Name of the eCard campaign | Name of the Stationery Layout |
| Referrer | Hostname of the referrer | Path of the referrer unless it is a known search engine, in which case it will be the search terms |
| Other (Not Defined) | N/A | N/A |
The Anatomy of a Source Code
If you want to set a custom source code for a link, understand what a link with source code embedded in it looks like. A link that has an embedded source code and an embedded subsource code looks like this:
A URL that tracks source and sub-source has three parts:
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Standard URL pointing to a page or form on your site:
http://www.yourorg.org/PageServer?pagename=aboutus
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Code that describes the source of the user: &s_src=bannerad
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Code that describes the sub-source of the user: &s_subsrc=CNN
Which source code is used when a form has a default source code and the donor URL also contains a source code?
When a Luminate Online form uses a default source code but a donor URL also contains a source code, the URL source code is used.
So, when a constituent already has a source code stored in their session from some other part of your site, that source code is taken as the source code for the form instead of the form source code. Default source codes are used only when the user session doesn't already have a source code.
To enforce the use of a specific source code on a form, build the source code into the URL. For example, "donate2020" is the enforced source code in the URL below.
http://my.blackbaud.site.org/site/Donation2?df_id=1035&mfc_pref=T&1035.donation=form1&s_src=donate2020
Viewing Source Codes in Reports
Use Luminate Online reports to analyze source code information. For each of the different types of interactions, there are reports that focus on the sources of those interactions.
| Interaction | Available Reports |
| Donation | Fundraising Analysis Report |
| Action Alert | Advocacy Analysis Report |
| TeamRaiser registration | TeamRaiser Participant Registration Report |
| eCommerce | Orders by Source Code Report |
Source Codes and Email
Luminate Online already creates a source code for actions that originate from an email message sent by Email Campaign tools.
Note: Do not add the s_src= argument to any link inside of an email message because this overrides the default Luminate Online source code which is automatically set to be the name of the email message.
The best way to take advantage of source codes within Email Campaigns, is to use the s_subsrc= argument to set a sub-source code.