Calculator Usage Analytics — GTM + GA4 Setup Guide (Part 3)

The speed-up calculator and the filler calculator now push usage events to the dataLayer. Nothing shows up in Google Analytics until you wire the events through in the GTM web UI — this is that checklist, and it is self-contained: every step is spelled out here, nothing requires opening the earlier guides. One-time setup of roughly 20 minutes.

Why: both tools are "grab a number and alt-tab back to the game" pages, so GA4's standard metrics can't tell successful 10-second visits from real bounces. These events measure actual tool usage — including visitors who compute a result and read it off the screen without ever clicking Copy.

Design guarantee: the site never fires a purchase event, and GA4 only counts revenue from purchase — so nothing here can ever appear as revenue. Monetization reports stay at $0.

The events the site sends

Speed-up calculator (/speed-up-calculator)

Filler calculator (/filler-calculator)

Every page seeds page_locale onto the dataLayer before GTM loads and the Google tag already forwards it, so all events above can be segmented by language with no extra wiring.

Part 1 — GTM (tagmanager.google.com → container GTM-NF8QBRSZ)

1. Create Data Layer Variables (24 of them)

Variables → User-Defined → New → Data Layer Variable (version 2). Create one per name below, naming the variable the same as the data layer key. If a variable with the name already exists from an earlier setup, skip it — do NOT create a duplicate. (snapshot_trigger, items_count and page_locale will already exist.)

Speed-up: total_seconds · total_days · distinct_denoms · seconds_regular · seconds_research · seconds_wall · seconds_healing · seconds_training · seconds_merging · seconds_crafting

Filler: comp · fill_size · ratio_t5 · output_lang · copy_ok · did_copy · comps_count · fills_count · ratios_count · line_count · pref · pref_value · list_type · list_action

2. Create one trigger for all events

Triggers → New → Custom Event →

• Event name: speedup_snapshot|filler_copy|filler_snapshot|filler_multi_generate|filler_multi_copy|filler_set_pref|filler_edit_list
• Tick "Use regex matching"
• Fires on: All Custom Events
• Name it e.g. "CE - calculator usage events"

3. Create one GA4 event tag

Tags → New → Google Analytics: GA4 Event:

• Measurement ID: your G-… (find it on the existing Google tag in the Tags list, or in GA4 under Admin → Data streams → your stream)
• **Event Name: ** — this forwards each event under its own name. (If isn't offered: Variables → Built-In Variables → Configure → tick Event.)
• Event Parameters — add one row per variable from step 1 (all 24 plus the pre-existing snapshot_trigger and items_count), parameter name = variable name, value = the : e.g. `total_days` → , comp → , `did_copy` → , …
• Do not tick "Send Ecommerce data" — these events carry no items
• Triggering: the step-2 trigger
• Name it e.g. "GA4 — calculator usage events"

(Unused parameter rows on an event are harmless — GA4 drops parameters that aren't present in a given event's payload, so one tag covers all seven events.)

4. Consent

Nothing to configure: the new tag gets the same built-in consent checks (analytics_storage) as the rest of the container — CookieYes + Consent Mode already gate it. Visitors who decline analytics won't send these events.

5. Preview, then publish

• Click Preview, enter https://lordstools.com/speed-up-calculator
• Speed-up page: enter a quantity on a couple of items, then switch to a different browser tab and back — hiding the page is what triggers the snapshot. Tag Assistant should show speedup_snapshot with the totals.
• Navigate to https://lordstools.com/filler-calculator:
  • type a comp (e.g. 208) and a fill size (e.g. 100k) → click Copy → filler_copy
  • open the multi-comp generator → Generate → filler_multi_generate, then its Copy → filler_multi_copy
  • open Settings → flip a display toggle → filler_set_pref; add an item to one of the lists → filler_edit_list
  • switch tabs and back → filler_snapshot (with did_copy: true since you copied earlier)
• In Tag Assistant, click each event → Data Layer tab to check the parameters (including page_locale)
• Back in GTM: Submit → Publish

Part 2 — GA4 (analytics.google.com → Admin)

6. Mark the key events

Marking filler_copy and speedup_snapshot as key events does two things: they show up as conversions, and GA4 counts their sessions as engaged — so the tool pages' bounce rate finally reflects reality instead of punishing 10-second successful visits.

(Google's April 2026 update removed the "Key events" admin page, hence the longer flow.)

1. Fire each event once so GA4 knows it exists: during the step-5 GTM Preview session, confirm both filler_copy and speedup_snapshot appear in Admin → Data display → DebugView.
2. Admin → Data display → Events.
3. Find the filler_copy row. (The list can lag DebugView by up to 24 h — if it's missing, come back later.)
4. On that row, turn on Mark as key event.
5. In the validation/settings flow, answer:
   • Counting method → Once per event
   • Value → none / don't use a value (these events carry no monetary value)
6. Repeat steps 3–5 for speedup_snapshot.

(If you later decide that read-off-the-screen usage should also count as engagement, mark filler_snapshot as a key event the same way — left off by default so the conversion list stays meaningful.)

7. Register custom definitions

Admin → Data display → Custom definitions:

Custom metrics (event scope, unit Standard):

• total_days
• fill_size
• line_count

Custom dimensions (all event scope):

• comp
• ratio_t5
• output_lang
• copy_ok
• did_copy
• pref
• pref_value
• list_type
• list_action

(snapshot_trigger, page_locale and the items_count metric are already registered from the earlier setups — skip them. The seven seconds_* params and the multi-comp *_count params are forwarded to GA4 but deliberately left unregistered to keep the definition quotas clean; register one later if a report needs it. Only registered parameters become usable in reports, and data before registration isn't backfilled — do this right after publishing.)

8. Verify in DebugView

While GTM Preview is connected: Admin → Data display → DebugView shows the events live. Confirm filler_copy carries comp/fill_size/ratio_t5, the snapshots carry snapshot_trigger, and Reports → Monetization still shows $0 revenue.

Where the answers show up (after ~24–48 h)

• "Do visitors actually use the filler tool?" — the headline question. Explore → free form → filter Page path contains filler-calculator → compare Sessions against sessions containing filler_copy or filler_snapshot. Users with a snapshot but did_copy = false are the read-off-the-screen crowd — real usage that every standard metric calls a bounce. Once the key events are marked, the page's Engagement rate in standard reports becomes trustworthy on its own.
• Speed-up usage & stash sizes: count of speedup_snapshot = real uses; average total_days (your custom metric) shows how big visitors' stashes are — useful for deciding which denominations/types deserve UI priority.
• Popular comps and ratios: filler_copy / filler_snapshot by comp and ratio_t5 — which rally comps and T5/T4 splits players actually run. Feed the winners back into the default suggestion lists.
• Multi-comp adoption: users with filler_multi_generate vs. users with plain filler_copy — is the power-user feature earning its modal? Average line_count shows how big the generated batches are.
• Localized output toggle: share of filler_copy with output_lang = 'en' on non-English pages — how many non-EN players want English paste-text for cross-language rallies.
• Settings depth: filler_edit_list by list_type/list_action and filler_set_pref by pref — which customization features get used at all.
• Clipboard health: any sustained share of copy_ok = false (typically iOS in-app browsers) means the copy path needs attention.
• Everything above can be broken down by page_locale to compare language audiences.