Submit Article Requests

Do you have a suggestion for an article you would like to see created?
Feel free to submit this form and add your suggestions to our document board.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Appcues Certifications & Training
  • Contact Us
  • Docs home
  • Installation & Developers
  • Installing Appcues

Calling Appcues.page() vs Appcues.identify()

Updated at April 6th, 2023

Submit Article Requests

Do you have a suggestion for an article you would like to see created?
Feel free to submit this form and add your suggestions to our document board.

Please fill out the contact form with the details about the help content you'd like to see.

  • Installation & Developers
    Installing Appcues Installing Appcues Mobile API & Data Troubleshooting Extras
  • User Experiences
    Web Experiences Use Cases Building Web Experiences Building Mobile Experiences Customization & Styling Targeting Studio FAQ Troubleshooting
  • Mobile
    Installation & Overview Mobile Use Cases Building Mobile Experiences Mobile Analytics Troubleshooting
  • Account Management
    Subscription Users & Data
  • Analytics
    Experience and Event Analytics Data
  • Best Practices
    Use Cases Pro Tips Product-led Growth FAQ
  • Integrations
    Integration Documents Use Cases Resources
  • System Status
    System Status & Incidents
+ More

Table of Contents

Appcues implementation best practice: Appcues.identify() Appcues.page()

There's sometimes confusion over Appcues.page() and Appcues.identify let's clarify.

Appcues implementation best practice:

Ensure that your Appcues.identify(); is called prior to the execution of the first page() call within your Appcues implementation code.

If not implemented this way, your end users could experience a delay due to events buffering while waiting on a user to be identified.

 

Appcues.identify()

  • This function should be called on page load with a userId and some set of user properties that you want to target by. The properties that are sent to Appcues are what is used to determine if a user qualifies for some Appcues content.
  • This function automatically calls Appcues.page(). You should never have to follow an identify call with a page call. In other words, your Appcues code should NOT look like this:
Appcues.identify("user1234", { 
    isAdmin: false,
    created: 12344556677
});
Appcues.page();   // Overkill :)
  • You can call this function multiple times per page to build up the properties on the user object if you're loading data asynchronously. For example:
YourAPI.getUsersFavoriteColor(function(data) {
    Appcues.identify("user1234", {
        favoriteColor: data.color
    });
});
// Further down in your code.
YourAPI.getUsersFavoriteSnack(function(data) {
    Appcues.identify("user1234", {
        favoriteSnack: data.snack   // Cheetos, right?
    });
})

By the time both of those calls return, Appcues knows both the user's favorite color and snack. In the intermediate state, when one has returned and the other is still in the process of returning, Appcues will only know one of the two properties.

Appcues.page()

  • This function should be called when the user has already been identified once since the current page load, but you want Appcues to attempt to show new content. We'll consult the list of content and the current user properties and show content if the user qualifies.
  • The most common scenario where this applies is in "single-page apps" (i.e. apps using React, Vue, Angular, Ember, etc). These apps only do a full page load once and afterwards all navigation occurs without full page loads. Due to this, calling Appcues.identify() once at page load in these apps should suffice. At any navigation change, Appcues.page() can be called and the previous set of user properties will be used.
appcues identify appcues page

Was this article helpful?

Yes
No
Give feedback about this article

Related Articles

  • Javascript API (Developer)
  • FAQ for Developers
  • User Properties Overview
  • Installation Overview (for Developers)
Appcues logo

Product

Why Appcues
How it works
Integrations
Security
Pricing
What's new

Use cases

User Onboarding Software
Feature Adoption Software
NPS & Surveys
Announcements
Insights
Mobile Adoption

Company

About
Careers
we're Hiring

Support

Developer Docs
Contact

Resources

The Appcues Blog
Product Adoption Academy
GoodUX
Case studies
Webinar Series
Made with Appcues
Appcues University

Follow us

Facebook iconTwitter icon greyLinkedin iconInstagram icon
© 2022 Appcues. All rights reserved.
SecurityTerms of ServicePrivacy Policy
Expand