Since the developers who will be populating the data layer may or may not be familiar with your analytics tool, Apollo provides a vendor-agnostic way to share the data layer and tagging specifications to your developers. Using tools like GitHub, Apollo can transmit the information needed to your developers in a familiar environment that has advanced features like version and change controls.
When you deploy using the Data Layer Docs feature, the information that was previewed in the Document - Data Layer module is programmatically sent to tools like GitHub in a matter of seconds. At the time of your first deployment to Data Layer Docs, Apollo will create the repository with the Repository Name and within the Github Organization you have specified in the Property Settings. This repository is created as a Private repository. Each subsequent deployment will create a new “branch” underneath the root directory. Branch names correspond to the build names assigned in Apollo.
Here is an example of what a Data Layer Docs deployment might look like in GitHub:
ReadME.md File
This file by default includes generic instructions for how to install the applicable tag manager on the website/application. Otherwise, it will include any edits to the default text that have been made within the Implementation Notes from Apollo Documentation.
Data Layer Events Folder
Within the “Data Layer Events” folder, you will see each of the Apollo Events from the data layer specification in Apollo:
Clicking on any of these events will show the tagging required to populate the data layer:
This information mirrors what was found in the Document - Data Layer module and what is found in the tag management system configuration.
In some cases, there are extra details above the event code snippets that help developers know when the event timing is important based on the beacon settings for the event in Apollo. Example below:
Non Data Layer Events Folder
Within the “Non-Data Layer Events” folder, you will see each of the Apollo Events from the Non Data Layer specifications in Apollo. These are data sources outside of the data layer your implementation will rely upon.