This guide explains how Crowd manages user identities on your websites, before and after identification, the value of anonymous data, and how to handle account switching on shared devices to maintain clean user profiles.
1. User Identity Lifecycle in Crowd
1.1 Before Identification (Anonymous Stage)
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Why Keep Anonymous Data?
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Watch session recordings of first-time visitors.
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Measure conversion from visit to signup without extra code.
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Debug onboarding flows by analyzing early user behavior.
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1.2 After Identification
Once you identify a user with crowd.identify():
2. Handling Shared Devices and Account Switching
To prevent cross-account mixing on shared devices:
3. ID Prefixes for Clarity
Crowd uses prefixes to distinguish user states:
4. Best Practices for a Healthy Workspace
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Identify Early: Call crowd.identify() as soon as you have a stable user ID.
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Use Durable Keys: Use a database primary key or UUID for the user_id, not an email, which may change.
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Include Key Traits: Send important traits (e.g., plan, is_admin) with every identify() call—Crowd upserts them.
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Always Reset on Logout: Use crowd.reset() on logout or account switch to avoid profile mixing.
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Monitor Anonymous Visitors: Check the Anonymous Visitors cohort in Crowd. A high ratio may indicate missed identify() calls.
By following these practices, Crowd will merge sessions, backfill history, and provide a reliable, unified view of each user for your team.
5. Next Steps
With user identification set up, explore tracking events to unlock deeper insights. See the Track an Event Guide for more.
For further assistance, check the full API reference or contact support.