How to Use Fiddler with Firefox

Ever wanted to do QA and use Fiddler for Firefox? Are you frustrated with having Firebug restrict viewing downloaded objects on a page-by-page basis? Do you want to see all the downloaded objects for an entire session in a single list in Fiddler?

If you happen to answer ‘yes’ to any question above, then do this:

1. Open Fiddler.

2. Open Firefox.

• In Firefox, go to Tools > Options > Advanced.
• Go to the Network tab, and click “Settings…”.
• Change the Connection Settings and use the ones below:

Firefox traffic should then go through the Fiddler proxy, allowing the tool to capture your data. Once you are done, don’t forget to reset the proxy back to normal settings.

As an additional tip, you can download the Firefox “SwitchProxy” which allows you to configure different proxy setting profiles for easy proxy switching:


Nestor Archival Jr.
Senior Analyst, Consulting Services
Stratigent, LLC

WebTrends Releases Tag Builder v3.0 with a Slew of Improvements

WebTrends Tag Builder 3.0 went live toward the end of March and presented the renewed panache and enthusiasm that has been building up in the WebTrends organization recently. On the v3.0 release, WebTrends Technical Support Manager Wayne Denman said, “This is the first time the general public gets to sample the flavor of our customer centric approach to building products and marks an especially important milestone for WebTrends.”

There have been several iterations of the tool from its May 2008 initial release, which I discussed in my previous Tag Builder post. Since this initial release, a lot of incremental improvements have been introduced. The said improvements have carried over to this newest release along with several new enhancements. Here are some of the most essential changes I have seen:

1. The TB interface underwent a facelift, now offering to “support a more usable, task-based workflow.” A simple yet elegant interface greets you when you visit the TB site. The tool cuts to the chase as Required Settings, the minimum configurations you need to supply to build a tag, have been emphasized while not undercutting the ability to supply Additional Options when needed. Additionally, highlighted contextual help appears when you hover over each of the settings.

2. TB implemented an improved and dynamic field validation system. Error messages are clear and provide valuable context. It notifies you when you forget to enter a value on a required field or when you enter an invalid value. It even requires you to enter the correct DCSID format (dcsxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx).

3. TB provided support for other existing tagging technologies, namely WebTrends Ad Director and Quantcast. To enable the tag integrations, you will need to enter your customer IDs for the said technologies.

4. TB incorporated a more comprehensive Help section that caters to each and every configuration setting available in the tool. As a plus, Help shows up as a convenient AJAX popup that can easily be closed by hitting the “Esc” key on your keyboard or clicking on “close.”

5. TB resolved several minor quirks, including but not limited to removing case-sensitivity requirements for file download extensions (i.e. exe, pdf, doc, etc) and META tag name prefixes (i.e. WT, DCS, and DCSext), and correctly tracking Silverlight 2.0.

Note: For a complete list of changes, refer to the Tag Builder Release Notes. Additionally, refer to the WebTrends Blog for an introduction to the new Tag Builder design.

Needless to say, I am very excited for how the newest version of the ever-evolving Tag Builder turned out. I am also very thrilled for our WebTrends clients who are now able to utilize the newest Tag Builder in their tagging implementation efforts, basic or advanced. As someone who has performed several tagging implementations in the past, I highly recommend Tag Builder v3.0 for its great usability, outstanding flexibility, and its up-to-date improvements to a robust tagging code structure.

Nestor Archival Jr.
Senior Analyst, Consulting Services
Stratigent, LLC

Google Analytics and Stratigent Co-host Web Analytics Wednesday

Web Analytics Wednesday is the world's largest social network for web analytics professionals. Join Stratigent and Google for an evening of networking, and a presentation on best practices and real world examples for efficiently gaining actionable insights from your web analytics data. When you arrive, please tell the person at the security desk that you are here for Web Analytics Wednesday, and they will let you up to the 17th floor.

Host: Kristen Nomura (Email)

Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 6:00 PM

Venue:Google Chicago

Address: 20 W. Kinzie Street, 17th Floor, Chicago IL (Venue | Map | Group)

Sponsor: Event sponsored by Stratigent and Google

To Register Please visit: http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/wednesday/index.asp?event_id=2782