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Link Builder

Who can use this feature?

Anyone on your team who signs in to N3O Cloud.

The Link Builder adds tags to the address of a page, so that every donation made through the link records where it came from. You enter the page, describe where the link will be used, and copy the finished link or open it as a QR code.

A tag is a name and a value added to the end of the link, such as utm_source=newsletter. The Link Builder screen calls tags parameters. A link can carry three kinds of tag:

  • Standard tags start with utm_. They record where the link is shown, the kind of placement and the appeal, and analytics tools such as Google Analytics read them too.
  • N3O advertising tags start with ntm_ad. They record the advertising platform, campaign and advert, chosen from lists once your advertising accounts are connected.
  • Custom tags record anything else your organisation wants, such as the name of an event. The Link Builder starts their names with ntm_.

N3O donation forms and crowdfunding also record some tags automatically, such as the page a donor arrived on, without anything being added to the link. These are described in

What gets recorded.

We recommend building every link your organisation shares with the Link Builder, including paid adverts, email newsletters, organic social posts, and QR codes on printed material and at events. When a donor follows a tagged link and gives, the donation records the link's source, medium and campaign, and for an advert the advertising campaign and the advert.

DiagramA tagged link: the page's address, then the standard tags, the N3O advertising tags and a custom tag. Each tag is a name, an equals sign and a value.

Where it works​

The tags are read by the N3O script that runs N3O donation forms and crowdfunding, on any website that embeds them, whether or not N3O built it, with nothing further to install. The script reads the tags from the page the link opens, so point each link at a page that loads it, such as a page with an N3O donation form. Your account manager can confirm which of your pages load it.

Why the record is kept with the donation​

The record of where a gift came from is stored with the donation in your own N3O Cloud data. It does not rely on an advertising platform's tracking script loading in the donor's browser, which an ad blocker or a refusal of cookies can stop.

The Link Builder is at linkbuilder.n3o.cloud/eu1. Signing in and building a first link are covered in Building a link.

In this section​