Management is the section of the Main Menu where you will be able to customize most aspects of your interaction with Countly, including the applications you can create to visualize insights derived from your chosen features, crucial information regarding the data being processed by Countly, team permissions, etc.

Note that some individual components might be partially or entirely restricted depending on whether you are using Countly Enterprise or Countly Lite. You can validate which features correspond to each edition here.

User Management

User Management lets you manage different user types, including global admins, admins, and regular users, each with specific permissions. For example, your marketing team might access only the dashboard, while a global admin can manage applications and users.

Key Functions

• Global Admins have the highest level of access, enabling them to add, edit, or remove both users and applications. 
• Admins can manage applications, including adding, editing, or deleting them, but cannot modify user accounts.
• Regular Users can only view the dashboard and do not have management capabilities.
• User Creation is restricted to global admins, who can enter user details and assign permissions according to their roles.
• Group Management allows for organizing users into groups, simplifying permission assignments and access control.
• Integration Options with Active Directory or Okta ensure user management aligns with existing organizational rules, enhancing efficiency.

To know more about user management in detail, click here.

Applications

The Application Management feature allows you to control, edit, and create all details related to all your web, mobile, and desktop applications. Applications can be managed by global users, and viewed by Admins of the apps. This feature ensures easy control over any quick changes you may want to implement, allowing Global Admins to create, edit, or delete apps, and allowing Admins to view app information, like app key, and to control settings, like setting up push notifications.

Understanding Applications

In the Application Management feature, you can add new applications to Countly, as well as edit and change any of the app details. The elements that you can address, for each app, under Application Management include:

• Basic app information
• App details
• App settings, including:
  • Push Notifications
  • API
  • Drill and Segmentation
  • Jira Integration

Using the above, you can edit any app details as required, as long as you have access to do so.

Using Applications

To start working on your apps, go to Management > Applications. You will see a list of all the apps you've already added on the left. Click on any app to open up its View.

Here you will find:

1. List of existing Applications. Note, for Admins, this would be a list of applications to which the user has admin access.
2. Edit button to change the App Information. Note that any change needs to be confirmed when the ensuing Save Changes button in the bottom of the page.
3. App Lock to disable data population for the app and disables any app info editing capability.
4. App menu, that allows you to clear data in the App, reset, or delete the App.
5. Button to create a new app.

Adding New Applications

You can also add new applications through Applications. To do so, once you go to Management > Applications, click on the + Add New App button at the top right of the page. A form will open up, and you will be required to fill in the below details:

• Application Name: Name of the application that you would like to maintain in Countly
• Application Type: Whether it is a web, mobile, or desktop app. Countly records data based on application type.
• Time Zone: The default time zone for your application, which will become the time zone in which all data will be recorded.
• Application Image: Add an image for your application. This will show up next to the app name in the list of apps on the Application Management page and will allow for easier reference.

You will be given an app key which is unique to that application. This key should be written in the SDK code snippet, which in turn, will be embedded in your application. For information on how to do this, please review SDK integration guides.

If you sell items from your mobile or web app, you can use Applications to enter your IAP (In-App Purchase) Event Key in order to collect IAP revenue data, and see the same under App Settings > Revenue feature.

Once you have filled in these details, click on Create to save your application. You will now be able to see this application in the list of applications under Applications. You can always edit its details and additional settings using the below-mentioned steps.

Editing Applications

Once you have clicked on an application, you can edit its many details. Although the application is not locked by default, if it is locked by user, then you need to first Unlock the App Lock. To do so, click on the three dots on the top right corner and select Unlock. Keeping your application details locked is recommended to avoid accidental data purge or population.

Once you have unlocked the App Lock, you can proceed to make the necessary changes. The basic details include:

• App Name
• App Type
• App Key (Note that this can be changed but has some consequences. A warning appears to notify the user about this.)
• Time Zone
• App ID (This cannot be edited)

You can also edit App Settings including Push Notifications, Jira, API, and Drill and Segmentation. Click on the drop down arrow to the left of each of these to expand the menu and make the necessary changes. When making any changes in Push Notifications, make sure to add necessary GCM/APN credentials.

Once you have completed making the required changes, remember to Lock the application before exiting.

Consolidate

The Consolidate feature is a powerful tool combining multiple Countly applications into a new, consolidated one. This new application, in turn, allows all the available data from the other applications to be accessed in a single place in your Countly platform.

With the Consolidate feature, you can create more wide-ranging reports that will let you analyze data from a higher level than one specific application

Getting Started

To enable the feature, go to Management > Feature Management and enable Consolidate.

Using Consolidate

Consolidating application data is one of the particular settings for each application, along with Jira Crashes, Push Notifications, and several others.

You can create a consolidated application by following these steps:

1. Create a new application in Countly.

2. In Management > Applications , select the application you created. Then, scroll down to App settings > Consolidate , and add pre-existing applications’ data to be consolidated into your new one. 

You will get a notification confirming your changes and be able to visualize the data from the applications you selected by searching for the newly created application. You can use the Application Selector to select your new application and analyze the data.

Use Case Example

Suppose you have a mobile and a web application in Countly and maintain them as separate apps. In both applications, you use user_id to identify customers.

You would like to be able to access and analyze the user_id values from both applications.

1. Check that the application is already tracking user_id values and that the property name matches both applications, i.e., in each application, you have a user_id property.
2. Simply create a new application with the name of your choice. Assuming your mobile and web applications are on the same server, you can consolidate them in the new application.
3. Select the new application and get your analysis started.

Deleting Applications

If you would like to delete an application, simply open the application by selecting it in the left menu and then click Delete. There may be some cases where you would only want to delete the data associated with an application but keep the application keys and other information. In this case, use Clear Data to remove all incoming data from this application, and start fresh.

Clearing the data is different form resetting the application. When you 'Clear Data', you only remove the collected data. However, if you reset the application, you will remove all user created things, like cohorts, funnels, etc.

Please note that if you clear data using this method, certain application configuration, such as push credentials and attribution configurations, will not be removed.

Preset Management

Preset Management enables you to save date ranges for different functionalities. When you perform a query for data within a specific date range and expect to need the same data again, Preset Management saves these date ranges for future use.

It enhances the traditional Date Picker with additional capabilities. Since many Countly features rely on the date picker for operation, Preset Management becomes an crucial tool for efficiency and productivity. For a detailed overview of Preset Management, click here.

Settings

This is the main control panel for the general settings of Countly.

Upon accessing from the Sidebar > Management > Settings, you will be greeted by the following View:

There are three main elements:

1. Core Settings: contains settings for everything that is not a feature and, thus, cannot be disabled (find more about enabling/disabling features in the Feature Management section). This section includes grouped settings for your Countly instance's API, Frontend, Logs, and Security.
2. Feature Management Settings: contains settings for the individual features of Countly. The parameters you set here will affect directly how some data gets displayed and collected by the corresponding feature. For further information on the meaning and impact of each setting, please refer to the User Guide corresponding to each particular feature. Also, note that these settings are independent of whether the individual features are enabled in Feature Management.
3. Panel visualizing the settings of the selected item in sections 1 or 2. By default, it will show the settings for the first item in the list (e.g., API, as in the image above).

Logs (Settings)

For the management of Server and Audit Logs, review the Logs section below.

Logs Settings consists of a comma-separated list of logger names for each logging level. The Default value is a logging level for loggers that are not listed in the config. To overwrite logging level WARNING for module api and to set it to DEBUG, for instance, you'll need to replace featurename:api on the screenshot above with featurename:api, api. This will automatically enable all api:XXX loggers as well, unless some of them have different log levels in the settings.

Also note, that due to the fact that these settings is not available on Countly upon startup, the default logging setting must be supplied to config.js as well. config.js preferences are used on startup and then get replaced by shared configuration stored in MongoDB:

var countlyConfig = {
    ...
    logging: {
        info: ["jobs"],
        default: "warning"
    }
};

module.exports = countlyConfig;

License Manager

The License Manager feature is designed to manage Countly licenses and their billing agreements seamlessly.

• Usage Tiers Visualization - It lets you see the usage tiers defined in your license agreement, established during your sign-up process with your account manager.
• Billing Metrics Insight - Understand how the billing metrics influence your usage and billing cycles based on your team's activities.
• License Adjustments - Easily determine when to upgrade or downgrade your licenses.

Moreover, it lets you add new licenses, monitor usage history, and review license changes for comprehensive control. For a detailed overview of the License Manager, click here.

Data Points

Benefits of Data Points

Countly operates through data points.

Monitoring your data consumption is crucial as it has a direct impact on the service-level agreements and, ultimately, your billing arrangements.

It is a good practice to regularly verify how many data points particular applications track and during which periods, so you can identify peaks and dips in user-generated data points to understand how much data is going through Countly.

Using Data Points

Upon accessing from the Sidebar > Management > Data Points , you will be greeted by the following View:

There are three main elements:

1. Summary panel - contains the three applications that have generated the most data points in the last 2 hours. Results are in real-time and refreshed every 10 seconds.
2. Data point graph - visual depiction of the number of data points processed by Countly. Depending on the time period selected, it can be shown as a bar graph (for 1-day visualizations) or as a punchcard (as shown above). This graph is divided into 0-23 (for 24 hours in total) and Sunday to Monday for the days of the week. Each blue dot represents the number of data points processed: the bigger and more intense the blue dot, the more users have been using your application or visiting your site and, thus, have generated a higher number of data points. When you hover over any dot, you will see information for each coordinate.
3. Table view with the information from all your applications, consolidated application, and breakdowns of all data points created by sessions, events, and push notifications. When you hover over the Event column, a detailed breakdown of the events will be displayed.

Upon clicking on any application name in the table, you will see the same data visualization but only for the selected application, as shown below. Note that in this particular example, the time bucket is set to "Today"; hence, it is displayed as a bar graph (as opposed to a time bucket longer than 24 hours, which would be displayed in a punchcard).

Logs

Using Logs

First of all, make sure Server Logs and Audit Logs are enabled. To do so, in the Sidebar, go to Management > Feature Management and enable the Server Logs toggle and the Audit Logs toggle.

Then, go to Management > Logs. The most important logs in this section are:

1. Server Logs: Shows errors occurring during server boot or run.
2. Audit Logs: all logs from your internal users (Countly users on your account) including changes made, and other details.

Server Logs

This is the default View upon accessing Logs. Here you will find:

1. Tabs for Server Logs and for Audit Logs. Note that by default, the first View of Logs will always be the Server Logs.
2. Log dropdown: select between API Log and Dashboard Log. You will also see additional options of all Install and Upgrade logs; this enables easier debugging in the event that something goes wrong with any installation or upgrade.
3. Download Log and Clear Log buttons.

Audit Logs

Upon clicking the Audit Logs tab, you will find:

1. Date range selector for the activities being audited.
2. Dropdown to filter the activities audited. Note that you can only filter by one type of activity.
3. Dropdown to select Countly users that have access to your server. Note that you can filter by the Name field of the users listed in User Management.
4. Table containing results for the audited activities. Note that you can collapse each entry to see the full log, using the arrow next to the time of each log.

Jobs

Understanding Jobs

For some Countly features, there is a requirement to perform automated background jobs. These jobs are listed in the Jobs table in Management.

For example, s uppose you have set up a Cohort, with the Cohorts Job to run every five minutes. This will result in the job running automatically in periods of five minutes, and the data is updated after each period of this time duration.

Using Jobs

To view the list of Jobs you have running, go to Management > Jobs.

Here, you will visualize jobs currently periodically scheduled to run in Countly.

If you are interested in a particular job, click on its name, where you will see the status and/or the outcome of the task. Note that for more details on each, you will need to refer to the individual feature in Countly.

For example, in the image below, two alerts show up as canceled. Thus, upon checking in Main Menu > Alerts, I may find the alert and identify the reasons why the task failed.

Data Migration

The Data Migration feature in Countly simplifies the process of transferring data between servers, which is crucial for businesses that want to manage their application data effectively.

Key Functions:

• Export All Data - Easily export all relevant data, including configurations and application details.
• Import with Ease - Quickly import the exported data to another server.
• Flexible Migration Methods - Choose between direct server-to-server communication or downloading the data for later upload.

With the Data Migration feature, you can easily transition to new server environments. To learn more about the Data Migration feature, click here.

Feature Management

Countly has an extensible setup, which means that you can add or remove as many features as you like. The features that can be added/removed in this way are known as Plugin Features. Features that cannot be enabled or disabled at the user's end are known as Core Features.

In Feature Management, you can enable or disable individual Plugin Features.

Using Feature Management

To add or remove any Plugin Feature, go to Management > Feature Management. You will see a list of the Plugin Features, including:

• their definition
• their corresponding View pages
• any dependent features, which indicate whether any feature is dependent on the activation of another
• a toggle button for each Plugin Feature

The toggle buttons indicate whether a Plugin Feature is enabled or disabled. You can enable or disable any of them by clicking their respective toggle buttons. Remember to always click Apply to save your changes.

Writing Your Own Plugin Features

Countly allows you to write your own Plugin and extend Countly’s functionality for both Countly Lite and Countly Enterprise. A plugin allows you to add more than one feature. To upload a Plugin, you will have to use the commands line tool. Here you can find the current Features that are available. You have to reach out to the Countly support team to get the file of Plugin file for a feature that you want to add to your Countly instance.

If you want to get started developing your own plugin, check out this dedicated section on the topic.

reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA is a free Google service that protects websites from spam and abuse by distinguishing human users from automated bots.

To use it with Countly, register your domain on the official reCAPTCHA website

Once, you register, login to Countly. Go to Management > Feature Management and select Recaptcha . The following window will appear.

Enable the feature, and write down the information that you retrieved while registering your domain on the official website.

Email Reports

Email Reports is a feature that generates automatic customizable reports that help product managers, application developers, and anyone involved with the product to get targeted summaries of analytics, crashes, or push notifications on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Using Email Reports

First of all, make sure Email Reports is enabled. To do so, in the Sidebar, go to Management > Feature Management and enable the Email Reports toggle.

After that, you will find Email Reports in the Management section.

Providing that you already have existing reports, they will be shown on this screen. There you can stop and resume the report's automatic delivery with the toggle button and, through the 3-dot ellipsis menu, you can Edit, Preview, Delete, or choose to Send Now (without breaking the reports' determined delivery frequency).

Adding a New Report

From the Email Reports screen, click on the + Create new report button on the top right corner of the screen. The Create new e-mail report drawer will appear. There, you are going to set the following parameters:

1. Report name: W hat the email report will be called.
2. Emails: Users who are going to receive this email report.
3. Report Type:
   • Core Reports provide data from the features used like Events, Analytics, Crashes, etc. This option is selected by default.
   • Dashboard Reports will be reflected in a dashboard, letting you select the dashboard in which you want to replicate the r eport .
4. Applications to Receive Reports from: Apps for which this report will be generated . You can define a report for as many apps as you want.
5. Data included: A selection of different metrics that should be included in the r eport . You can select as many metrics as you want.
6. Frequency: Daily, weekly, or monthly emails.
7. Time: Email sending time based on the selected time zone of the application.
8. Send as PDF attachment: As some email providers may not render the long format of the report correctly, this checkbox instructs Countly to attach the report as a PDF file, allowing you to download it from the email.

Alerts

The Alerts feature is designed to keep you informed about critical changes in your data by sending email notifications based on predefined conditions related to key metrics such as crashes, cohorts, data points, events, NPS, online users, rating revenue, sessions, survey, users, and views. It provides proactive monitoring to alert you promptly to any significant deviations or trends that require attention. This helps you maintain operational efficiency and promptly address issues to enhance user satisfaction. For a detailed overview of Alerts, click here.

Hooks

The Hooks feature in Countly allows different applications to communicate with each other by providing real-time data updates.

Key Functions:

• Real-Time Updates - Hooks keep you informed right away by tracking specific events, ensuring you never miss crucial updates.
• Event Tracking - This feature captures important actions and can send data to other services or trigger email alerts when something significant happens.
• Customizable Rules - You can set up rules that define a specific trigger and what actions should follow, allowing you to personalize your response to different situations.

To learn more about Hooks in detail, click here.

DB Viewer

The DB Viewer feature allows you to explore all Countly MongoDB collections at a single location in the user interface. You may filter documents, export results as CSV, XLS, or JSON files, and also take advantage of the powerful REST API Database Viewer exposes.

DB Viewer Overview

Functionalities Available

The following functionalities are available in the DB Viewer:

• Query builder: There is an input for your database queries which contains the JSON validator.
• Projection: Users can easily select custom fields with the projection feature for the result data of their queries.
• Sort: Users can select the sorting parameter and sorting type by UI.
• Collection filter: Users can separate their collections by application with the filter dropdown or search with the collection filter input.

Databases Available

Countly Lite only has one database (Countly ), whereas the Countly Enterprise has two databases (Countly and Countly Drill ). The Drill database also stores raw data, which is required for detailed segmentation of Events, Views, Crashes, User Profiles, etc.

Using DB Viewer

To use DB Viewer, go to Management > DB Viewer. You will then be able to check the different databases in the four tabs (1), namely:

• Countly Database (this is the default View when opening DB Viewer): The default database that contains core countly data.
• Countly Drill Database: The database that contains raw data, which is required for detailed segmentation.
• Countly Out Database: The database that contains some data (like remote config, etc.), which needs to be accessible outside of the Countly. This database can be placed on a separated server.
• Countly File System Database: The database that contains files (like member images, app icons, etc.) and makes that accessible between multiple servers.

Then, in each database, you will see:

2. Application selector: you choose the collections for all applications or only choose one application, and the corresponding database collections will appear.

3. Collections: All the collections for all apps or a specific application.

4. Query list controls: To filter and Expand/Collapse All the queries.

5. Query viewer: Open a pop-up for you to visualize the entire query selected.

6. Actions Dropdown: Action buttons that navigate the user to aggregation and indexes view for selected collection.

Aggregating queries

The View that allows users to execute custom aggregations on a selected collection.

Indexing queries

Table that shows indexes for a selected collection.

DB API

The DB Viewer also has an API. You may export data using this API. For more information, please refer to these posts:

• Exporting data from Countly through DB Viewer
• DB Viewer plugin to view and export your data

FAQ

Can app admins edit the app information?

Yes, in the current version, the app admins are allowed to edit the app informations. If you are an app administrator, you can go to Management > Applications and choose the application to be edited.