View a custom dimension report

Custom Dimensions each have their own dedicated reports page within the relevant section of Matomo. The primary reports for Visit scoped custom dimensions can be found within the Visitors section while Action scoped custom dimensions are found within the Behaviours section of the main navigation within Matomo. The available metrics may be different depending on the scope.

Visit Scoped Custom Dimension Reports

The screenshot below features an example User Type report, which is for a Visit scoped custom dimension. The unique values associated with this custom dimension are shown along the left hand side of this table, followed by Visit metrics for each dimension value. You can manipulate the collected data using Matomo’s standard table features.

The example report above would be useful for understanding the engagement levels of your different user types. This allows you to exclude your staff from sales optimisation analysis and understand whether registered users are more or less engaged than guest visitors.

Action Scoped Custom Dimension Reports

The next screenshot features an example Page Author report, which is for an Action scoped custom dimension. The unique values associated with this custom dimension are shown along the left hand side of this table, followed by Action metrics for each dimension value. This table’s display settings and data can be manipulated using the standard Matomo table tools.

This example report allows you to see which content creators are generating the most activity on your site. If several authors create content for your blog and one has a much lower bounce rate, you may want to investigate what they are doing right (or what others aren’t doing!). Alternatively, if one of your authors creates content for your funnels but has a higher bounce rate than average for your site, you might have a problem that needs addressing.

Custom Dimensions in the Visits Log

You can access custom dimensions of both scopes through the Visits Log section.
If a visitor is associated with any custom dimensions, Visit Scoped Custom Dimensions will be displayed on the left hand side of their visit log. For example, in the screenshot below User Type is a custom dimension and guest is the value associated with this particular visit.

Action Scoped Custom Dimensions can also be seen within the Visit Log, by hovering your mouse over an action they are attached to. For example, the screenshot above shows the Page Author, Page Location and Page Type custom dimensions associated with the pageview of a page about the Great Barrier Reef.

Discover Custom Dimensions for Registered Users

If you have enabled the User ID feature within your Matomo instance then you can also use this to discover the Visit Scoped Custom Dimensions associated with each of your users on their Visitor Profile. To do this, head to the User IDs page within the Visitors section of Matomo. Then click on the Visitor Profile icon next to the particular user that you’d like to investigate.

The screenshot above shows the Visitor profile of an example user. In addition to all of the standard Matomo metrics, you will also notice a Custom Dimensions (Visit) title on the lower left-hand side of the screen which will list any associated with that user. In the example above, it shows that there is a User Type custom dimension set to author for this visitor. Other users on the site might be listed as an admin, a guest or a customer.

Alternative examples of Custom Dimensions that could be useful in this view are; a visitor’s gender on a dating site, or their organisation in a B2B Enterprise sales environment. As always, you are only limited by the dimensions you have configured and your ability to collect the data from your site.