Data and Tracking Model

In short. SGEN manages five data capture surfaces — Forms, Analytics, Phone Taps, Events, and Discussions — with a built-in governance layer covering consent gating, retention, audit, and on-demand export. Tracking-class capture (analytics, phone taps) is suppressed until a visitor consents; form submissions are not gated. You read captured data through per-module admin lists, exports, or downstream integrations.

On this page: Capture surfaces · Governance discipline · Surfacing back to operators · Constraints · Examples · Vocabulary

SGEN's data-and-tracking model defines what gets captured (form submissions, analytics events, call records, custom events), how that data is governed (consent, retention, audit), and how it is surfaced back to operators (per-module record lists, exports, downstream integrations). This page is the shared definition — the vocabulary anchor for every Guide that mentions site data, tracking, or consent. Per-area Guides own the module-specific procedures.

Related shared concepts: Environments and Site States · Publishing Model · Roles and Access · Tracking Consent

Capture surfaces

SGEN exposes a small set of platform-managed capture surfaces. Each surface writes structured records into the per-site record store — administered through the admin, covered by backups, and reachable through the same audit and export disciplines that govern content records.

Forms arrive through Forms configured in the admin. Each submission becomes a record with the submission payload, the originating Form identity, the timestamp, and the visitor context (subject to consent posture). Submissions are visible per-Form in the admin and can be exported on demand.

Analytics captures page-level and visitor-level events. The capture is platform-managed; operators do not install third-party JavaScript tags to get baseline analytics. Captured events surface through the per-site Analytics view in the admin.

Phone Taps record engagement with call links on the site. The capture is per-engagement and surfaces through the Phone Taps record list in the admin alongside originating page context.

Events captures custom event records for operator workflows — appointments, registrations, calendar-style entries. Events are first-class records with their own per-module record list and audit posture.

Discussions captures conversation threads associated with site content (typically blog posts or community surfaces where the module is enabled). Each discussion entry is a record under the platform's audit and retention discipline.

Governance discipline

Every captured record sits under the platform's governance discipline. Operators do not configure the discipline per record; the platform applies it as part of the operating posture.

Consent gating — Tracking-class capture (Analytics, Phone Taps, downstream tracking integrations) is gated by the site's consent posture. Configuration and the consent banner live under the Tracking Consent surface in the admin. Until consent is recorded, tracking-class capture is suppressed for that visitor. Non-tracking capture (Form submissions explicitly initiated by the visitor) is not gated.

Retention — Each capture surface has a retention discipline that determines how long records remain in the record store. Retention is platform-managed by default and can be tuned per customer through the customer agreement. Records past retention are removed; backup coverage during the retention window protects against premature loss.

Audit — Every capture event is recorded with timestamp, originating surface, and (when consent allows) visitor context. The audit trail sits in the same surface that publishing-related events use, so a single audit query can answer "what was captured on this Page during this window" without leaving the platform.

Export model — Captured records can be exported on demand from the per-module surface in the admin. Site Editor or higher can run an export, which is itself an audit event recording who exported, when, and what scope.

Surfacing back to operators

Captured data becomes useful when operators can read it. SGEN exposes captured data through three surfaces.

Per-module record list — Each capture surface has a record list in the admin: Forms have a submissions list, Analytics has a per-Page event view, Phone Taps has a tap log, Events has a per-event record list, Discussions has a thread list. This is the day-to-day surface for reading captured data.

Exports — Take a scope of captured records and produce a downloadable artifact. Exports are operator-initiated, audited, and per-record-type — appropriate for one-shot reporting and stakeholder hand-off.

Downstream integrations — For ongoing pipelines (a CRM receiving Form submissions, an analytics warehouse receiving Analytics events), the platform supports downstream integrations through the Integrations surface. Configured once at SG-Admin, capture events route to the configured downstream system continuously.

Full detail: Integrations Model

Constraints and boundaries

• Capture is platform-managed. Operators do not install third-party JavaScript tags to get baseline tracking. The capture surfaces ship with the platform.
• Consent is gating, not cosmetic. The consent posture suppresses tracking-class capture until the visitor has consented.
• Retention is finite. Captured records do not stay forever. Operators who need permanent retention should configure a downstream integration that owns long-term storage.
• Export is per-scope. Exports are a defined scope (date range, surface, filter), audited per export — not a bulk "everything ever captured" operation.
• Per-area Reference owns module specifics. This page describes the model. Per-area References for Forms, Analytics, Phone Taps, Events, Discussions, and Tracking Consent describe the per-module specifics.

Examples

Example 1 — A Form submission routes to a CRM

A visitor submits a Contact Form. The platform writes the submission record to the per-site record store, visible in the Form's submissions list in the admin. The downstream CRM integration (configured under Integrations) routes the submission to the CRM as part of the same audit-tracked event. The operator sees the submission in both places: the admin submission list and the CRM.

Example 2 — A visitor declines consent

A visitor opens a page. The Tracking Consent banner appears. The visitor declines. Analytics, Phone Tap tracking, and downstream tracking integrations are suppressed for that visitor's session. A Form submission they explicitly initiate is still captured — explicit-action capture is not consent-gated.

Example 3 — Auditing a quarter's Form submissions

A reviewer needs Form submission counts for the prior quarter. The operator opens admin Forms, filters the submission list by date range, and runs Export. The downloaded file contains the submissions in scope. The audit trail records the export with operator identity, scope filter, and timestamp.

Example 4 — Retention concern

A compliance officer asks how long Form submissions are retained. The operator opens the Tracking Consent or Forms Reference page for the platform default, and cross-references the customer agreement for the site's specific window. If the default is shorter than required, the path is a per-customer retention adjustment through the agreement.

Example 5 — Phone Tap analytics for a campaign

A marketing operator wants to know how many Phone Taps a Landing Page generated. They open Phone Taps in the admin, filter by originating page, and read the count. For deeper analysis, they Export the scope. The campaign report is built from platform-tier data without a third-party call-tracking pixel.

Example 6 — Discussions moderated post-publish

A blog post receives Discussions. A Site Editor reviews the thread list, removes a spam entry, and the action is recorded as an audit event. The moderation event is preserved separately from the captured records, so a stakeholder can see both the thread history and the moderation log.

Vocabulary cross-reference

Related reading

• Environments and Site States — coordinates that captured records belong to.
• Publishing Model — the audit posture this model shares.
• Roles and Access — who can see and export captured data.
• Integrations Model — downstream integration detail.
• Shared Concepts Index — sibling concept pages.
• Tracking Consent — consent banner and policy surface.