Manual Heatmaps have been retired and replaced by Continuous Heatmaps.
Manual Heatmaps were fully retired on 2 May, 2022. It's no longer possible to create Manual Heatmaps or access data previously collected on old Manual Heatmaps, including those heatmaps that were collecting data at the time of retirement. You can find answers to common questions about this retirement in the section below titled Where happened to Manual Heatmaps?
See our article on How to Set Up Heatmaps to learn more about Continuous Heatmaps which have replaced Manual Heatmaps.
This article explains how much of the same Manual Heatmap functionality is found in Continuous Heatmaps, some key differences, and the benefits of using Continuous Heatmaps.
- Where happened to Manual Heatmaps?
- What are the benefits of Continuous Heatmaps?
- How do Continuous Heatmaps work?
- How do I get started with Continuous Heatmaps?
- How do I download an image or CSV data of a Continuous Heatmap?
- What’s on the roadmap for Heatmaps?
What happened to Manual Heatmaps?
On 2 May 2022, Manual Heatmaps were fully retired and replaced by Continuous Heatmaps. We've listed some common questions about this retirement below.
What happened to the Manual Heatmaps I created in the past?
The retirement of Manual Heatmaps means that the tool is no longer available to create new Manual Heatmaps or to view older Manual Heatmaps. Any data previously collected has been removed, and it's not possible to access this data. This also includes any Manual Heatmaps that were collecting data at the time of retirement.
I started a Manual Heatmap before retirement. Why can't I see it?
With the retirement of Manual Heatmaps having now occurred, access to the tool and previous data is not possible. Heatmaps for your site can now be viewed using Continuous Heatmaps, which you can learn more about below.
How come I can't add new heatmaps?
Using Continuous Heatmaps, your heatmap data is automatically gathered and available in our Continuous Heatmaps tool. You can learn more about Continuous Heatmaps, which have replaced Manual Heatmaps, in the sections below. With the retirement of Manual Heatmaps, it's not possible to add a new Manual Heatmap.
What are the benefits of Continuous Heatmaps?
Continuous Heatmaps give you instant access to heat data automatically gathered over time so you can find more relevant insights, quicker.
Looking to analyze A/B experiments? You can now apply filters to compare your A/B test variants.
Where you would have previously used targeting in Manual Heatmaps, with Continuous Heatmaps you can now filter your collected Heatmap data by each A/B test variant. For more detail on Heatmap filters and example use cases, including comparing A/B test variants, see our article on What are Continuous Heatmap filters?
We're also working on bringing segments to Heatmaps, enabling you to save a set of filters for each A/B test variant to use across both Heatmaps and Recordings.
- No need to plan what pages you want to track in advance. Your Heatmap data is available and ready for you to filter and analyze.
- With session capture enabled, Recordings and Heatmaps will automatically fill up with behavior data from your users.
- Continuous data capture over time gives you a more complete and unbiased view of user behavior.
- Compare Heatmap data for different periods of time by using the date filter - perfect for comparing user behavior before and after a product update.
- Focus on those sessions where users performed a specific action by using the events filter.
- Search faster with autocomplete recommendations which include some of the most popular pages on your site.
- Filter your Heatmap data using your company’s unique user attributes, like what plan a user subscribed to or what industry they’re in.
- Create a list of the heatmaps you care about most, for easy viewing, by "pinning" your searches to the list of pinned pages.
- Using the Highlights feature available with Continuous Heatmaps, you can save an area of a Heatmap to categorize, label, comment, and share with your team.
How do Continuous Heatmaps work?
Continuous Heatmaps capture data automatically and continuously across your website using the same session data collected by Recordings. That means data is always available in Hotjar when you need it, and you no longer need to manually create or restart Heatmaps.
Continuous Heatmaps are available automatically and will start collecting data as soon as the Hotjar Tracking Code is installed and session capture is enabled. Follow our guide on Configuring Site Settings to ensure that session capture is enabled and this setting applies to both Continuous Heatmaps and Recordings.
To view a Continuous Heatmap, enter the URL you want to see and Hotjar will show you a heatmap based on data that’s been gathered automatically over time. See the steps in How to view a Continuous Heatmap for more details. While viewing your heatmap, you can also filter the session data to focus only on the subset of users that interests you.
Export Continuous Heatmap data as a CSV file.
While viewing your continuous heatmap, click on the download icon and select Download CSV. This will download a CSV file of your heatmap's data that includes: the Element CSS selector, Total # of clicks, Visible in image, and percentage of total.
How do I get started with Continuous Heatmaps?
Here's what we recommend you do to get started using Continuous Heatmaps:
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Enable session capture
If you haven’t done so already, you need to enable session capture in your account so Hotjar can start automatically collecting data. Go to your site settings and make sure that session capture is enabled.
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Try out Continuous Heatmaps
Head over to Continuous Heatmaps and see for yourself how to view a Heatmap without having to create one. Or better still, drill down into your heat data and uncover new insights that you can save using Highlights, or organize into a collection of related insights that help get you buy-in.
How to retake a Continuous Heatmap screenshot that hasn’t appeared correctly
By default, screenshots are taken from the last recording found in the date range you've selected. However, you can refresh this screenshot or manually take a new screenshot from your live site. For help with this, see our How to Update a Heatmap Screenshot article.
Comparing Heatmaps before and after a design/product update
The custom date range feature allows you to view data for a specific date range to compare Heatmap data before and after a site change or a marketing campaign. Hotjar will show you a historical version of your page from within the date range you select.
Further questions can be found in our Continuous Heatmap FAQs
For more information on using Continuous Heatmaps, visit our Continuous Heatmap FAQs.
How do I download an image or CSV data of a Continuous Heatmap?
For details on downloading an image or CSV data of a Continuous Heatmap, see our FAQ entry for How can I download a Continuous Heatmap?
The number of clicks will not be visible on the downloaded Heatmap image
When you export/download a Heatmap image, you will not be able to visually see the number of clicks associated with elements. You will only be able to see the areas of heat representing where users clicked.
To analyze the number of clicks as well as the visual representation, we suggest that you also download a CSV file containing the click data.
What’s on the roadmap for Heatmaps?
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Improved loading time
We're improving performance, so you spend less time waiting and more time analyzing results.
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Support for dynamic content
We’re working on support for dynamic content like drop-downs and pop-ups to give you a new layer of insight into user behavior.
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Saved segments in Heatmaps
In the future, you’ll be able to save filter views as segments in Heatmaps so you can quickly analyze important user groups.
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Organizing your Hotjar account
We’re working on a solution that will allow you to organize Hotjar in a way that fits your team or project needs – so you can quickly find what’s relevant to you.