Configuring Syndicated Views

Capture analytics across all of your syndicated content into one view

Import and organize analytics from content shared by your external partners, syndicated partners, or other sites. The step-by-step instructions below allow you to import analytics from other sites and associate them to the matching story from your website imported in Metrics for News. 

This process requires manual gathering of data on a regular basis. If you’re unsure which processes for importing content and analytics works best for your situation, please contact us to discuss. 

Follow the steps below to set up syndicated views. 

Overview

Here is an overview of the steps for setting up syndicated views: 

1. Set up a spreadsheet for the syndicated analytics you want to import to MFN. 
2. Set up a custom metric for each syndicated publication and metric you want to view in MFN. 
3. Set up a custom import to import the spreadsheet. 
4. Gather the running total of analytics into the spreadsheet and import. 
5. (Optional) Create calculated metrics for combined views. 
6. Connect metrics to an organization dashboard (if needed). 

This setup is a one-time process; however, you will need to manually gather content and/or analytics on an ongoing basis after setup is complete (step 4 above). As new content is published and new pageviews are generated for existing content, update the spreadsheet to reflect the new running total of pageviews. When importing, you might set it up to run automatically on a daily or weekly basis. Some partners set up a manual import to run monthly, or at the frequency that works best for them. 

Set up a Spreadsheet

Create a spreadsheet with the following columns on the first tab: 

1. article_url: The URL for the article on your site, NOT the external site. 

   1. The reason is because MFN associates the syndicated data with the matching story already imported from your publication’s website. 

2. pub_date: The published date of the URL from column A.

   1. Format the date using one of the following formats: "YYYY-MM-DD" or "YYYY/MM/DD" or spelled out ("July 29, 2025"). 

   2. If the timezone is different than Eastern Standard Time (EST), it should be appended to the string as in "UTC -0700" or "PST".

   3. Whichever format you decide to use, please ensure it is consistent all the way down the column. 

3. Name of Metric: The name of the metric.

   1. This will be used in MFN as well, so choose a descriptive name. 

   2. If you have more than one external partner, create a column for each. 

   3. Enter the values of the metrics in this column. The value should be a rolling total, not just the value of the current upload. For example, if you are tracking pageviews, the value should be the total of all pageviews since the story was published, not just the current timeframe. 
4. Sharing Access: Set the Share setting to “Anyone with the link can access” so that MFN can access the document. “View Only” level is okay. 

Keep in Mind

• Please use “article_url” and “pub_date” titles for the first two column headers for a cleaner import. 
• The third column can be named as you please, but should match what you'll enter in the custom metric and custom import steps. 
• Ensure the formatting is consistent all the way down each column. Do not mix date formats. Write out numbers fully and commas are okay (“1,000” and not “1k”). 
• Empty cells are okay. MFN will ignore cells that are empty. 
• While you can add additional tabs to your spreadsheet, ensure the tab used for importing is the first tab (in the screenshot above, see the tab labeled “MFN Import”). MFN will not read from other tabs except the first. 
• You can use the same spreadsheet each time you want to run an import or you can set up a new spreadsheet and custom import form each time. It depends on how you want to organize your workflow. 
• Please be sure to set the "Share" access for the spreadsheet to “Anyone with the link can access.” “View Only” level is okay. 

Set up a Custom Metric

Next, go to Metrics for News to set up a custom metric for each external partner. For example, using the example from the spreadsheet above, you would create two custom metrics, one for the “Your Top News Syndicated Views” partner and another for the “Good News Daily Syndicated Views” partner. The steps are the same for both.

Follow the steps in the custom metrics article. Once the custom metrics are created, go to the next section. 

Set up the Custom Import

Next, fill out the custom import form to connect your spreadsheet to Metrics for News. Follow the steps in the custom imports article to create one import for all of the metrics in your spreadsheet. Once the custom import is created, go to the next section. 

Keep in Mind

• The name you give the metric should match exactly in all three locations: 1) the name of the custom metric; 2) the header title of the pageviews column in the spreadsheet; and 3) the Analytics field setting in the custom import. If these do not match, then MFN will not understand where the data should be stored in the database. 
• If the custom import is set to Manual, you will need to let us know when to run the import each time you would like data imported. Let us know after all the relevant data has been entered into the spreadsheet. If you would like us to import content starting from a specific publish date, include that with your message (e.g., please include all data beginning March 1, 2025). 
• Regarding frequency of import, some organizations run this import automatically daily or weekly, while others choose to manually import at a frequency that works best for them, such as monthly. Whichever frequency you choose is fine, and if you’d like to discuss a strategy, contact us and we would be glad to talk further. 

(Optional) Set up Custom Calculated Metrics

Optionally, at this stage, you can create custom calculated metrics to combine metrics. 

For example, if you have five external partners with whom you share content, and you are entering each as separate custom metrics in MFN, then create a sixth, calculated custom metric that combines all of the five partners’ data and your primary publication into one. 

See an example of a custom calculated metric in the custom metrics article. 

Connect Metrics to an Organization Dashboard

If your metrics need to be connected to an organizational dashboard, then please contact us with the details and we will connect them.