Getting started with the XO Google Chrome Extension

Introduction to the XO extension

The XO Extension is a tool that can be used in order to show visually, all the merchandising rules, weighing, algorithm put in place on a widget. It is a direct representation of what is happening on your website, and which part of the XO console have triggered the recommendations.

It is particularly useful when trying to troubleshoot parameters without having to open up an API call. In a way, it is the perfect link between the XO platform and the end-result on-site. 

Overview

Key information about this feature:

Logging in

Open the XO extension by clicking on its icon on the top right-hand side, and log into your account.

Top bar 

The top bar will show you which widgets are enabled on this page. As you can see, by clicking each widget its setup will appear on the extension. 

Enabled widgets are indicated by a white text and a full white circle. Disabled widgets are in dark blue with a crossed circle. 

As you can see there are three widgets on the page : 

Homepage → Enabled

Home Content Top → Disabled

Home Content Bottom → Enabled

To start using the extension we shall select the widget that we wish to use. 

Tab overview

There are five different tabs that you can navigate from in the extension. Simply change tags by clicking on the one that you wish to access at any point.

Shortcut 

The first tab is a shortcut tab. Clicking it will direct you to the XO console where you can directly change that widget configuration. 

Distributions 

The second tab is the distributions tab.

If you are using multiple distributions in the tab, the tool will show you how each one is set up. Click on the distribution you wish to see the configuration being applied. You can then make sure that the rules applied are aligned with the objectives for the specific widget. 

Below you can have an overview of each merchandising rule being applied. You can choose to select the rules one by one, to see which product tags are being called, and which rule they originate from. This will include both specific and master rules. For a more detailed viewed, click on this icon  to reveal the current breakdown. 

From here, you can obtain an overview of the widget configuration exactly as it was set up in the XO console. It therefore replicates the tabs found in console : 

• Rules - which master and specific rules are applied
  This includes all filters that can potentially merchandising :
  - Required tags (AND)
  - Required tags (OR) 
  - Required items
  - Excluded items
  - Min price
  - Max price
• Weighting - Which boost is being applied if any 
• Algorithm - Which algorithm is being called on the widget : eg: user recommandation ? Most Popular object ? This can indicate whether a user fell into the primary algorithm or the
  fallback. This also includes the product scores assigned to each product that has been recommended. 

AB Tests

This tab will indicate whether an ab test is currently running on the widget, and which population you have been assigned.

Variables 

This tab will indicate which variables are being used on the page. This includes context variables such as IP address and URL, User variables such as last items bought, and product variables such as price if any used. 

You will notice that on this tab, you are also given a shortcut to access the API call for this page and widget. This will be useful in case you need additional information from the API. 

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now know how to use the XO Chrome Extension.