Google Analytics not filtering by dimension

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unusual situation with Google Analytics, hoping to get some feedback or help. I have set up a variety of views in our University's Google Anlytics. Each view has an attached Filter which filters by a "dimension" which I named "trafficsource".

Our page sends this "dimension" like so:

 ga('set', 'dimension1', '<?php echo $dimensionValue; ?>');

where the $dimensionValue is one of the four strings: "Wifi-Staff", "Wifi-Student", "Internal", "External". (I know in GA you can filter by IP, but some of our IP ranges are not reported externally correctly so this is the alternate solution).

The problem I'm having is regardless of what is ouput in the dimension, my filter always registers. When I view the page source, it is generated correctly eg I get:

ga('set', 'dimension1', 'External'); or ga('set', 'dimension1', 'Internal'); but the filter ( Custom Filter > Include, Filter Field: trafficSource , FilterPattern: ^Internal$, Case Sensitive: true) always includes, regardless of my Filter Pattern...

Any help is greatly appreciated!

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regexgoogle-analyticsdimensions
Do the values show up in the reports ? Can you use the Google Analytics debugger to see if they are actually sent (you need to record an interaction hit after you set the dimension, else it won't be sent, so that's a possible source of error). – Eike Pierstorff
If I look at the Real-time overview, I see the traffic, but I see traffic regardless of my dimensions value. I do not think I send an interaction hit. Is that the same as "ga('send', 'pageview');" Sorry SEO is not my forte. Thanks! – Bren1818
Not exactly the same. It depends on when you are sending the dimension. You need to tie it together with another interaction like Eike writes, be it an event or pageview. So if you set the dimension BEFORE the pageview, it should be showing up in your reports. – MrSponge
Hmm, Well I do the send dimension before the send pageview. I used the debugger and I see this: Running command: ga(set, dimension1, Internal) Running command: ga(send, pageview) Where in the reports should I see the dimension? Thanks! – Bren1818
Either you create a custom report or set them in the standard reports in the "second dimension" dropdown. To see that ga set is run is not quite enough, you should examine the data for the pageview to see if there is a value for "dimension1" send along. – Eike Pierstorff

1 Answers

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It appears the solution was to use the custom reports. This (although not real-time) gave me what I was looking for, it just took a few hours to generate the report =/