How to use timers to schedule projects and variables

Create timed project audiences and variable targeting to let your optimizations appear to users exactly when you want them to.

On this page:

• What are timers?
• Configuring timers for local and fixed time zones
• How to create an audience with timers
• How to add variable targeting with timers
• Examples
• Timer types
• Troubleshooting
  • Testing audiences with timers
  • How to check timer values

What are timers?

Timers are time-based attributes that let you know when someone visits a website with an active  Evolv AI optimization. They track the time, day/date, month, and year.

Use these attributes to define a project audience for when you want users to see your optimization.

• For example, create an audience for a project that only runs on Sunday or between certain hours every day.

You can also apply timers to individual variables independent of the project audience.

Project audiences are always evaluated first.

Configuring timers for local and fixed time zones

Timers in the Evolv AI Manager are categorized as either "local" or "UTC."

Local

A local timer respects an individual user's device. Use local timer options if you want a project or variable to appear to users based on their local time zone.

• For example, you want to target people who commute between 4 pm and 7 pm on weekdays.

Local time is usually the time zone the user is in, but this isn't always the case and can't be guaranteed. Travelers may use a fixed time zone, and others may override their time zone.

See example

UTC

A UTC timer is based on a fixed time zone, GMT+0 or "UTC."

Use UTC timer options when you want users to see a project or variable at a fixed time, regardless of their local time zone.

• For example, you want to promote a football game every Sunday that runs at a specific time. In this case, a UTC timer is preferred because it won't run after the game is finished.

See example

How to create an audience with timers

To use timers in your account, the necessary timer attributes must be added to your schema.

Go to the Schema page in the Evolv AI Manager and check for a set of dateTime attributes.

Contact support to add the attributes to your account if they are missing.

See: How to create an audience in the Evolv AI Manager

1. In the audience panel, click ADD CRITERIA, or use the plus button if the audience already has some criteria.
2. Click Default Attributes and select dateTime.
   
3. Select local or utc, depending on your use case.
4. Select the required timer attribute from the list.
   • Here, we've clicked the dayOfWeek option and selected "Sunday."
     
     
     
5. Add any combination of timer options you need.
   • Use the AND and OR grouping to refine the audience.
6. Click SAVE when you're done.

How to add variable targeting with timers

Variable targeting with timers works the same as audiences. 

1. Go to the Draft tab.
2. Click on the Variables link in the side navigation.
3. Click on the variable you want to apply timers to.
4. Add the timer options the same way as for audiences above.

Examples

Remember, there are multiple ways to achieve the same result with timers and the Evolv AI audience builder.

#1: Use local timers to target commuters on their way home from work by running every weekday between 4 pm and 7 pm.

#2: Use UTC timers to target Sunday football fans across multiple time zones in the US by running a fixed-time promotion.

Timer types

Each timer attribute is a different type. Some let you enter values, while others let you select from a list of values.

These attributes let you select from a list of values:

The other attributes require you to enter a value.

You can use "time.hour" to create a range of time using "greater than" or "less than" operators. Or you could use "hourOfDay" to select a single hour, such as "4 pm," or a range of time by using the "in" operator and selecting multiple hour options.

Troubleshooting

Testing audiences with timers

If you're new to working with timers or want to be sure your new audience is working, the easiest way to check is to run an A/A test.

• Create a new project with a single non-control variant without code, and assign the timed audience to the project.
• Run the project for as long as necessary to determine the audience works.
• Check the project data to see when users were active.

You can also test by creating audiences relevant to your current time to see whether they allow you to enter the optimization.

• For example, try setting the hour, or a combination of hour and minute, to a time close to your current time. This lets you test much more quickly.
• You could also create a mock project with multiple variables, with different targeting for each, to see which variable is active at a time. You can use console logs to easily see when a variable is active when you have developer tools open in the browser.

This approach is useful for simple audiences that depend only on hours and minutes. For complex audiences, the A/A approach is more suitable.

How to check timer values

[Remove local context reference]

Timer values are stored locally in what's called the "local context." This means the timer values are not sent to the server. They are evaluated locally when the browser evaluates a project audience or variable targeting criteria.

Values are updated every minute and can be viewed by opening the console in the browser and typing a command.

evolv.context.resolve()

Expand the result to see the values for local and UTC options.